Walt Whitman's 'Song Of The Open Road'

What does it mean to be an American? This question has often been purposed throughout American Literature. This answer depends on one singular important factor, time. Timing is everything, it determines what is happening in the present, what has occurred in the past, and it gives us a glimpse of the possibilities yet to come. Benjamin Franklin and John Winthrop, both knew a very different America, because of this they both have a very different sense American identity and a sense of community that was present in America during those time periods. Winthrop lived in early America when the country was just starting to take shape with the first colonies being

Whitman wrote broad stanzas and focused on the whole of America as his inspiration. His lines covered a wide range of topics and generated multiple points of view for the reader. He called his life’s work “Leaves of Grass”; stressing the

The two thematic poems I got from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman are Visions of America in section six, ten, and fifteen and Friendship in sections one, two, and six. Visions of America Walt Whitman’s views on America were not just a place where he was born and raised and where he lived. America was an idea and a goal that everyone should have (Shmoop Editorial Team). There is a lot of opportunity in America. The America he had in his mind was equal.

To be an American can mean a lot of things to others, but one thing everyone has in common on what they think it means is to be free. It means you can vote for who and what you want. It means you can say “The Pledge of Allegiance.” It means you can have a good education and the job you want. It means to be proud in living in the United States of America. Being an American is having freedom and being able to do things with that freedom. It’s about having freedom of religion, rights, and justice. It also means having equality. To be an American means you have the right and freedom to do what you want. It means having the freedom of speech. It means you can be yourself. To be an American mainly means having freedom.

What does it mean to be an American? In today's day and age, the general perception of an American is to be free, free to practice any religion, free to speak your mind, free in general. However, America has only been able to be perceived as a promised land due to the obstacles and barriers that have been challenged by early Americans. From having to accept others religious beliefs to the abolishment of slavery. A good example is J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer (1782). Letters from an American Farmer is a collection of twelve letters written from the perspective of a fictional character. These letters do a magnificent job at emphasizing on how America is similar to the environment and the people who feed

The symbol of "the road" in Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road" and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken,” is similar or comparable by the fact that they both represent life’s journey their different or contrasting by Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road" representing freedom and the openness and lack of direction in someone’s life and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken,” representing that once you make a choice and follow a road you can never go back. The symbol of "the road" in Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road," is that it represents freedom and the openness and lack of direction in someone’s life. I am able to tell this due to the fact that it says “…From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines…” in other words

What does it mean to be an American? Well think of it like this our generation has changed a lot throughout the years one big thing is technology we've went from just using paper and pencil to making documents and reading online. If you think about it we get new ways to learn and write stuff online and avoid paper and pencil we don't use it as often anymore, most things we use is on technology. We went from writing essays on paper to now doing most of it online we find it easier and faster and new ways to learn that aren't on paper and pencil.

Walt Whitman’s portfolio of poetry was a crucial staple in the American identity. Whitman used his poetry to contribute to the evolution of self-reliance, human freedom and concepts of democracy. These influences can be seen throughout all of his poems, but more relevantly in “Song of Myself”, “For You O Democracy” and in “Live Oak, with Moss”. After analyzing these works thoroughly, Whitman has undeniably aided in the development of American identity and influenced many more American poets and literary authors. Whitman is able to influence his beliefs by creating personal connections in his poems that will resonate with his audience. During the time of Whitman, the Civil War was on the rise

In section fifteen of Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself, Whitman makes working Americans the subject of most of his sentences while sparingly using concepts, instead of people, as subjects on other sentences. Most of the non-living subjects are closely tied to the concepts of Life and Death, Time, and Nature. By using nonliving conceptual subjects to contrast concrete images of working Americans, he demonstrates that though working Americans control society, Life and Death, Time, and Nature control working Americans.

His contemporary poem was written about himself for his readers. He depicts all the confusion of the American ideal and emphasizes independence, equality, optimism and love. b. Song of Myself consists of the following main points: i. Whitman is viewing himself as a part

Walt Whitman was a renowned American poet and essayist whose literary works were extremely controversial in his lifetime. One of his most famous literary works is the collection of poetry titled Leaves of Grass. In the preface to the 1855 edition of leaves of grass, Whitman greatly shows his admiration of America. This first becomes apparent with the statement “The Americans of all nations at any time upon the earth have probably the fullest poetical nature. The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem” (Whitman para. 2). By this Whitman is referring that America is the central poem and the individuals whom inhabit America as the poets. This almost seems to be a metaphor for the fact that each individual living in America,

Of all the questions that have vexed contemplative minds for centuries, one of the most persistent is that of enlightenment. What exactly does it entail? Who has the capacity for it, and how is it accomplished? Answering questions such as these must be a collaborative effort, across generations, geography, class, and all schismatic divisions between humanity. From the Greek philosophers in Plato’s dialogue Republic, to transcendentalist American thought in Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of the Open Road,” to modern Jesuit teaching in “Challenges to Jesuit Higher Education Today,” a keynote address from Superior General Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, the thread of attempted understand regarding enlightenment is incontrovertible. The works of Plato, Whitman,

In his first anthology of poems entitled “Song of Myself”, Walt Whitman reveals some of his views on democracy through the use of symbolism and free verse poetry. His use of symbolism and free verse poetry creates indeterminacy, giving the reader hints rather than answers about the nature of the poem. In the sixth part of “Song of Myself”, a child asks the narrator of the poem, “What is the grass?” (Whitman). Instead of simply giving an answer, the narrator cannot make up his mind, and stumbles on how to explain the grass to the child. Through the use of specific symbolisms, Whitman, as the narrator, explicates his views while remaining under the façade of explaining grass to the child. The views Whitman conveys remain indeterminate and

In Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, the poet showcases his feelings of people and himself by using literary descriptors to convey his thoughts on these and various other subjects. In section 20, Whitman’s purpose is to showcase self-assuredness regardless of what the world tries to state otherwise by maintaining his resolute happiness in being himself. This is what sets him apart from being like the other people in the world.

Walt Whitman is an influential national American poet; he creates the image of America for itself and to his readers. As an individual who advocates for diversity in this country, I saw a few elements of Whitman’s beliefs in me. Starting off with that notion, I began flipping through the pages of the corpus to locate common themes that I could relate to myself. Because Whitman believes he speaks for everyone, finding poems that seemed relatable to this country and me were not that difficult. I then contemplated what I could do with the poems—if I should completely re-write them, change a couple of words to make it seem like it fit me as an individual, or to evoke his style.