Walt Whitman example essay topic
Walt Whitman expresses his own distinct view of life in "Song of Myself". Whitman's radical ideas of individualism have a great deal to do with his Quaker background. The Quaker religion is one in which the authority is Inner Light. "Whitman himself was not only personally familiar with, but deeply impressed by, a religion whose only authority was the Inner Light" (Canon 481).
The Inner Light is a special influence, which made Whitman's poetry unique. This particular influence would guide Whitman on a path of soul searching, as well as help him define himself as an individual. In section fifteen of 'Song of Myself,' Whitman describes people from every class and every profession. He writes, "the young fellow drives the express-wagon... love him though I do not know him" (2753). Here we see evidence of the open-minded attitude Whitman wishes people would take toward each other.
Whitman demonstrates love for all things-with or without prior knowledge of them. He goes on to say "I... breathe the air and leave plenty after me, and am not stuck up, and am in my place" (2756). Whitman expresses contentment at having explore the world and found his place in it. Bartlett, John. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1992.
Canby, Henry Seidel, Johnson, Thomas H., Ludwig, Richard M., Spiller, Robert E., Thorp, Willard. Literary History of the United States. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963. Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography and Poor Richards almanacs. The Heath Anthology of American Literature.
3rd ed. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston, NewYork: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Renyolds, David S., Walt Whitman's America-A Cultural Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. 3rd ed. Ed, Paul Lauter.