Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. Describe Whitman’s conceptions of
the soul and the body, and the relationship between the two. Which
is more important, in his view?
The soul and the body are inextricably linked
for Whitman. While the soul is the ultimate repository of the self,
and connection between souls is the highest order of relating, the
body is the vessel that allows the soul to experience the world.
Therefore the body is just as important. This is why he says in “Starting
from Paumanok” that he will make his poems from the
body and from material things, for the soul will follow from those.
The body is also the source of identity in the world and the means
for connection to others. Thus in “Crossing
Brooklyn Ferry” he speaks of the body as one’s identity:
it is the means by which different generations can experience the
same thing (in this case the ferry crossing). Whitman values both
the soul and the body, but the body is much easier to work with.
2. How do you account for the eroticism
in Whitman’s poetry? Does he use homosexual eroticism differently
from heterosexual eroticism?
Eroticism, in Whitman’s poetry, symbolizes
the profound but always incomplete communion between people. Sex
is as close as two people can get to becoming one, but the physical
body, while it enables this closeness, is also a barrier to complete
connection. Heterosexual eroticism is often used to discuss childbearing,
which comes out of the same generative process that creates poetry.
Homoeroticism, since it is purely about the connection between two
people and has no biological function, can be used to talk about
a broader range of ideas. In particular, homoeroticism comes to
symbolize the kind of valorization of the body and the kind of sympathetic
connection between people that Whitman values most.
3. What kinds of structures does Whitman
use in his poetry? Why might he be using these rather than traditional
structures like rhyme?
Two of the most important structures in Whitman’s
poetry are the list and the anecdote. The list enables Whitman to
present a great number of disparate items without having to make
any claims as to their relative worth; this is a truly democratic
way of presenting material. It is also an easy way for him to go
about cataloguing America, a nation that is raw material for poetry.
Anecdotes, on the other hand, are a way for him to demonstrate the
kind of sympathetic experience he hopes his poetry will be. When
he presents a story he’s heard from another, he presents it as something
that has become so real to him that he feels he has experienced it
himself. This kind of intense connection between people is the goal
of Whitman’s poetry. He avoids traditional structures like rhyme
because he wants to show that his is a truly American poetry, one
that is fresh and new, and not indebted to previous poets from other
countries.
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Describe Whitman’s diction. What kind of language
does he use? Does this have implications politically? Poetically?
2. Discuss the relationship of the poems in Leaves
of Grass to one another. Are they intended to be read together
or separately? Do they form one larger document? What about the
different editions of Leaves of Grass? Why did
Whitman keep revising this work?
3. How does Whitman handle modernity and technological
change? What kinds of landscapes do we see in his poetry? What role
does the city play? What role does nature play?
4. What is uniquely American about Whitman’s poetry?
Consider both substance and style.
5. How does Whitman incorporate current events into
his poetry? What about the Civil War?
6. What, in Whitman’s view, is the function of poetry?
Does it have a public or ceremonial role?
7. Describe Whitman’s account of his development as
a poet. What experiences were important, and why?
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