J26-Whitman
The first passage that caught my eye in Whitman's work as being particularly American was: "You shall no longer take things at second or third hand... nor look through the eyes of the dead... nor feed on the specters in books,/ You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, /you shall listen to all sides and filter them form yourself."(2938;[2]:27-29) I find this to relate particularly to America today. We are a land of freedom of opinion, each person is entitled to their own, and like wise each person is allowed to chose what they believe and what they don't believe. To me this passage embodies the very mind set of American freedom. "Do not believe what you hear, do not believe what you read, do not believe what you are told... go out and find the truth for yourself!"
The second passage I found, seemed like it talked of America itself. "I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,/ Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,/Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,/ Stuffed with the stuff that is coarse, and stuffed with the stuff that is fine,/ One of the great nation, the nation of many nations--the smallest the same and the largest the same."(2948;[16]: 326-330) The greatest thing about America is that we are one nation filled with many different races/religions/cultures/traditions. We are one great Nation, but we are diverse and plentiful Maybe that is what Walt was getting at when he said "Do I contradict myself? /Very well, then, I contradict myself; /(I am large—I contain multitudes.)" America is a contradiction unto itself. One nation, filled with many nations. One people, filled with many people. It is what makes America so great.
The last quote I found that really caught my eye as being quintessentially American : "By God! I will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of on the same terms."(2954;[24]:8) I was going to put the lines after that too, but it just was too long. America is the land of freedom, we all have the same rights, we all obey the same laws (or are supposed to), Man, Woman, Child, Old, Young, Black, White, etc. Everyone has the same rights, and I think that is what Walt is saying here... that is how it SHOULD be. No one should be allowed something that everyone else cannot have access to.
~Hannah
America itself
Wow, i really liked this journal. You explain the points you bring up very well, and i love the phrases you used, especially the second one. And I'm sure you're right--it does sound like he was talking about America itself. Nice catch...when i read that phrase i was just confused :). But the way you explain it makes perfect sense. America is all those things--both young and old, both foolish and wise, both coarse and fine. I feel like a dork for not catching it before...
A lot of people
A lot of people seem to think that it was just the individidual Walt Whitman that he was writing about. I thought the same thing to when I first read it, but after you research it and reread it, you start to see that connection that he is making and I really think his main purpose was to write about the nation as a whole rather than just him as an individual.Mabye some parts were more along those lines, but generally I think he was speaking about all of America, which is why I loved this poem and it was my favorite reading in class thus far.
-Chloe
Don't feel bad
Honestly I didn't see the connection till I had read it, heard it in class, and read it again. Then I was like... Oh...wow. It also helps to just read that part by itself, when you start reading the whole poem you lose out on the individual pieces and their meaning!