The United States has had a history of turmoil and events of drastic changes that rupture the social fabric, and because of this, intellectual minds of varying generations must respond for the sake of the people. For Walt Whitman, his lifetime took place during the Civil War, and with that came a wave of the […]
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The Weird White Father and 2019
The year 2019 marks the 200-year anniversary of the birth of America’s infamous good gray poet, the “weird white father” (Jordan, 408) to which so many of America’s writers owe their literary genealogy. As a result, America has found itself celebrating, critiquing, and thinking about Walt Whitman in new ways that incorporate modern culture. This […]
Walt Whitman and The Hudson River School
Over the carnage rose prophetic a voice, Be not dishearten’d, affection shall solve the problems of freedom yet, Those who love each other shall become invincible, They shall yet make Columbia Victorious” Walt Whitman The idea that poetry, or even consciousness, can set one free of the ruins of history and culture is the grand […]
Final Project Presentation: Photo Essay
“No man has been photographed more than I have” (Walt Whitman). According to Ed Folsom in his article, Photographs and Photographers, Walt Whitman was “the most photographed writer of the nineteenth century,” with over 130 portraits taken during his lifetime. Photography, then, was a crucial and integral piece of Whitman’s life, capturing his journey from […]
Whitman: Popular vs the Literary
Visionary, prophet, tyrant, racist, bigot. It is perhaps sufficient in saying that no other poet can hold as many of those modifiers as Walt Whitman. From scholars and poets ranging in ethnic background and sexual orientation, the response to Whitman has been incredibly varied. Many see his work as a stepping stone for future generations, […]
The Decay of Walt Whitman’s World: A Photo Essay
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts” (Rachel Carson). Born in 1819 and dying in 1892, Walt Whitman’s life spanned much of the ever-changing socio-cultural climate of the 19th century. Witnessing the soar of Industrialism in America and, perhaps more impactful, the […]
Whitman Through Photography
Walt Whitman is America’s poet, a man who had a large idea of America’s then current and potential greatness. Whitman came at a time when the American people needed guidance, the Civil War, and he helped the country lick its wounds and begin bringing people back together after such a long period of division. Due […]
Project Pitch: Molly Epps
In a time in which we are constantly bombarded with apocalyptic tragedies, political instability, and protests against inequality and injustices, it’s possible for someone in 2019 to feel many different things when reading Whitman’s poetry, especially regarding his advocation for brotherhood, love, and political unity under poetry. This made me want to explore how Whitman’s […]
Project Pitch – Podcast – Ivy, Abrie, and Elie
Much of the course has focused on the reverberations that Whitman’s work has made throughout American literary tradition unto today. In Langston Hughes’ essay “The Ceaseless Rings of Walt Whitman” he states that Whitman remains relevant, “because the vast sweep of democracy is still incomplete even in America today, because revolutionaries seeking to break old […]
Final Project Proposal: Photo Essay
“No man has been photographed more than I have” (Walt Whitman). According to Ed Folsom in his article, Photographs and Photographers, Walt Whitman was “the most photographed writer of the nineteenth century,” with over 130 portraits taken during his lifetime. Photography, then, was a crucial and integral piece of Whitman’s life, capturing his journey from […]