ipl-logo

Walt Whitman Research Paper

488 Words2 Pages

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in Long Island, New York. He was on the many reformers who contributed to the Antebellum Period. Although he is recognized widely for his poetry, many don’t remember his written contribution towards anti- slavery. Walt Whitman was the poster child of the motto “ The pen is mightier then the sword”. Walt Whitman used his pen and his intellect to influence a generation through a hard and confusing time.
Walt Whitman's involvement with slavery began when he joined the newspaper editorials on the 1846 Wilmot Proviso. The Wilmot Proviso stated that “ that slavery was to be excluded from territory acquired in the war with Mexico”, was blocked by the senate in 1847 after the debate. Despite the Wilmots defeat, the bill gave rise to the great “ Free-Soil” movement that lead to the formation to the free soil party. Whitman showed his interest in the Free Soil party through his first editorials at the Newspaper Organization ‘Brooklyn Daily Eagle’ until he was fired for his strong views on slavery in 1850. …show more content…

In 1847 the poetry that he wrote showed a clear link between Poetry and his attitude towards slavery which was against the view of his family and the people around him. One of his poems proclaimed"I am the poet of slaves and of the masters of slaves / I am the poet of the body / I am.” (Notebooks 1:67). Whitman defined what he thought of slavery and stood up to whomever was believed otherwise. He said what most people in his time were afraid to say. Furthermore he added “ I go with the slaves of the earth equally with the masters.” This point of view was hated by most southerners and his family. However, influential people like Ralph Waldo Emerson appreciated his work and tried to promote anti- slavery through the

Show More
Related
685 Words | 3 Pages

Walt Whitman is one of nine children, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and Long Island and was faced with many different aspects of society. Growing up he had a great fascination of the atmosphere of Brooklyn which led him to journalism at the age of twenty. In 1855 Walt Whitman self-published a collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass which was expanded and revised through many editions until the ninth “deathbed” edition which was published in 1892. His brother was wounded in Fredericksburg Virginia, shortly after Walt Whitman traveled to see him. Once he saw the aftermath he was compelled to work as a nurse in Washington, D.C. as a volunteer nurse, in this time he wrote many more poems.

Read More
395 Words | 2 Pages

Walter Whitman was an American writer during the nineteenth century. Primarily, he was known for his practical poetry and down to earth style. In his work, he displayed both realistic and philosophical views. His works, are mainly drawn from both the love of his county and his theistic world view. Whitman was greatly influential to American literature and writings.

Read More
1080 Words | 5 Pages

Frederick Douglass, an eminent human rights leader in the anti-slavery movement, advises high official officers on a range of causes: women’s rights, anti-slavery, and Irish home rule. Before gaining freedom, he acquired the ideological opposition to slavery from reading newspapers and political writings even with the defying ban of literacy for slaves. After a anti-slavery lecturer, William Garrison, urged Douglass, he wrote his first narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, a thought-provoking memoir portraying the hardships of slavery. He vividly illustrated the institution of slavery and its destructive force effectively through the use of imagery and biblical allusions. Comparably, Mary Wollstonecraft,

Read More
1080 Words | 5 Pages

Most of his time was in the movement of the abolition of slavery. He did not want any other black person to face brutality, humiliation, and pain. His arguments became very useful in the anti-slavery movement. It is through his experiences of being a slave that he urged for the abolition of slavery (Douglass, 1845). Douglass’ style of narration makes the reader to be involved in the story emotionally.

Read More
343 Words | 2 Pages

When it comes to Whitfield’s poetry, his tone stands out as a key factor of his writing style. Most of the writing about slavery from black authors in the 1800s features ugly themes and retelling of experiences, but Whitfield excels at bringing his cynical attitude to the surface of his poetry. He also includes redeeming moments that instill hopefulness. His poem America exemplifies his direct tone of writing. He wastes no time to set the tone in his opening passage “America, it is to thee,| Thou boasted land of liberty,

Read More
361 Words | 2 Pages

He embodies the right to life on how bad he was treated and how sometimes he felt like he rather die than to keep living. A slave's life was not a life anyone should have to live. But he kept fighting because he knew once he could read and write he would be able to change the way things were. He wrote about how being a slave owner as well could put a damper on their life as well.

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

Douglass’s speeches caused compassion and sympathy to be felt for slaves by people distant from slavery itself. He called out the fact that prejudice and discrimination clouded the so-called-Christian lives many proslavery citizens claimed to be living. (Feminist Writers). He was able to express feelings as well as the injustice of the whole situation in understandable arguments with clear reason behind them. The abuse and immorality of slavery was impossible to deny after hearing or reading Douglass’s works.

Read More
1237 Words | 5 Pages

In his writing, he strongly criticizes slavery and racism, which significantly contributed the spread of abolitionist and antiracist movement in American and

Read More
577 Words | 3 Pages

The way he used his narrative to show his position on slavery is he showed how it changed people. He also wrote about ways he tried to stop it. He also informed the reader hor slaveholders threatened them and torched them also how they used food as a weapon. Also, he presented how slavery affected his relationship with his family.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

When it comes down to evaluating short stories from two different authors it is ideal to bear in mind that the two stories will have varying strengths and weaknesses, mostly concerning the use of different literary elements, over the other one. For example, Ursula K. Le Guin 's “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” deals mostly with tone, point of view, and symbols. On the other hand Octavio Paz’s “My Life With The Wave” puts more emphasis on plot, characters, and individual scenes and events. As has been stated before both stories excel in different categories which make them strong in their own right, each particular strength and weakness will be looked at thoroughly in this essay.

Read More
440 Words | 2 Pages

Whitman is one of America’s first early Romantics known in English literature. Walt formally was a poet, essayist, teacher, printer, and also a well-known journalist

Read More
682 Words | 3 Pages

Walt Whitman is the self-identified representative poet of the nineteenth century. His poetry focused on current events of the time and his own opinion, but his most infamous legacy is that of claiming to represent all of the great nation of America in his work. One of his sweeping claims of representation states, "I am the poet of the woman the same as the man, / And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man, / And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men" ("Song of Myself," section 21).

Read More
1496 Words | 6 Pages

An iconic figure in the history of American literature, Walt Whitman was born on the 31st May 1819. Today his contribution and works in the poetic world have come to define sentimentalism, ambitions and some key experiences that Americans underwent in the 19th century. Even though he may have been politically inactive, his work had the will to display political views. Having survived through the civil war, he grew much affectionate perception on the nature and complexity of American polity. Whitman’s view of America was that of a culturally diverse society that we currently witness as such this vision was mainly expressed in his poetic works.

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

Whitman’s influential writing stems from his positive and uplifting messages. This is where Whitman was far divergent than Dickinson. Walt had tendencies to mainly use free-verse. He was a straight forward writer whom wrote lengthy pieces that revolved around the individual. Whitman's writing are depictions of individuals everyday life struggles, and how to consistently have positive outcomes the most horrid situations.

Read More
1125 Words | 5 Pages

Walter Whitman was transcendentalist who believed in individual freedom and democracy and it definitely affected his poetry which is mainly focused on the ideas of democracy, equality, and brotherhood. For instance, in the poem Song of Myself, Whitman puts an emphasis on equality of all men and women. To him, all individuals are equal and all professions are equally honorable. In his interpretation, Whitman states that the freedom which is offered by democracy is for all should include all people, and not renounce those of other races, whether any social standings. This essay will focus on the main ideas presented in Whitman 's vision of equality in democracy in his Song of Myself.

Read More

More about Walt Whitman Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document