Whitman Assignment

Objective: to condense, clarify, and structure an assignment centered on the interpretation and attempted understanding of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

Step One: We will begin under the auspice that the swallowing of the poem in its entirety may cause disastrous effects, including, but not limited to, acute feelings of despair (possibly leading to insomnia, depression, hopelessness), anxiety, sensations of being suddenly overwhelmed, sweating extremities, nausea, and possible death by asphyxiation. That being the case we will break our engagement with the poem into munchable steps.

Step Two: We will begin, after having begun as stated above, by looking at the assertion made in the last line of the first stanza--"every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you"--as a sort of thesis statement that might guide us through the poem. If this is a thesis of sorts (and one needn't necessarily agree that it is), how does the poet support, reconcile, or engage with this thesis throughout the poem?

Step Three: In order to answer, or begin to attempt to answer the question posited at the end of step two, we will look closely at the following section of the poem:

"The opium eater reclines with rigid head and just-opened lips, / The prostitute draggles her shawl, her bonnet bobs on her tipsy and pimpled neck, / The crowd laugh at her blackguard oaths, the men jeer and wink to each other, / (Miserable! I do not laugh at your oaths nor jeer you,) / The President holds a cabinet council, he is surrounded by the great secretaries."

In this section we see an interesting juxtaposition of characters. Indeed, in the same breath, we are introduced to an opium eater, a prostitute, and the President, and reintroduced, as is the case throughout the poem, to poet in his relationship to these particular characters. Can any of these characters tell us anything about the context of the poem?

Step Four: Let's start with the opium eater. Do a little research on opium and opium culture in the 19th century. For some preliminary research feel free to refer to my earlier blog post "The Opium Eater Reclines..." and gather from there what you can. Don't forget to check the links and explore those as well. While exploring 19th century opium culture don't forget about the other characters surrounding the opium eater. What do these characters have in common, if anything? How does the opium eater and the opium culture that implicitly surrounds him inform your understanding of the poem? Does this glance at the opium eater support or undermine Whitman's "thesis" or, if thesis is too abrasive, his preoccupation or theme of reconciling the individual self with the societal whole that makes up his surroundings? Is Whitman able to clearly establish the binary oppositions of self/whole, individual/community, while simultaneously dissolving these boundaries? Is he able to show the every atom belonging to him belongs as good to what is not him? Use the opium eater, including some cultural or historical context that surrounds opium culture and consumption in the 19th century, as a way into the immense population that inhabits the poem.

Step Five: Write a blog entry that engages with the questions given in step four. Please note that my interest in the opium eater is more or less arbitrary, or subjective if you like, and functioned for me as a starting point to inquiry. If there is a character or object present that you feel better articulates the preoccupations of the poem feel free to share that in your blog as well, though a brief explanation of your engagement with the opium eater and why you found him unimportant to your exploration of the poem might be an interesting addition to your study.