Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
whitman in contrast with emerson
define walt whitman's song of myself
define walt whitman's song of myself
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: whitman in contrast with emerson
Every sentence in Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" tends to either repeat or contradict. He even says of himself, "I contradict myself" (Lauter, p. 2793). This can make Whitman's poetry a little confusing to some. In his many stanzas, definition of the soul is ambiguous and somewhat contradictory.
Whitman says, "Clear and sweet is my soul....and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul" (Lauter, p. 2745). What I believe Whitman is saying here is that his soul and everything else that is not his soul, including the souls of others, is clear and sweet. He goes on to say in the lines following, "Lacks one lacks both..." (Lauter, p. 2745). In other words, a soul cannot be clear if it is not sweet and a soul cannot be sweet if it is not clear. If it does not have one of the qualities, then it cannot have the other. By his words, a soul is not a soul unless it has both qualities: clear and sweet.
He says many lines down, "I believe in you my soul....the other I must not abase itself to you, And you must not be abased to the other" (Latuer, p. 2746). Whitman ...
... the nation. And it definitely advises us to be vigilant against those who would still claim superiority over people of color—there’s clearly more racism than some Americans may be aware of. The one minor flaw the JBAKC makes is to perhaps get “too persuasive” in this piece. That is, if it were to be labeled “extremist,” it could take away from the information and their message. Unfounded claims, also, could debunk their message as erroneous to the general public. However, imperfections aside, one thing most Americans can agree on is that racism ought to be a thing of the past in our free society, and Take a Stand Against the Klan is an effective and fiery call to action on that account. And if it fails to provoke action, at the very least its controversy provokes thought—one way or another bringing us one step closer to ending white supremacy and oppression.
President Franklin Roosevelt was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. He created economic stability when the United States was suffering through the Great Depression. In his first three months of office, known as the Hundred Days, Roosevelt took immediate action to help the struggling nation.1 "In a period of massive unemployment, a collapsed stock market, thousands of banks closing for lack of liquidity, and agricultural prices fallen below the cost of production," Roosevelt passed a series of relief measures.2 These relief measures, known as the New Deal, provided help for individuals and businesses to prevent bankruptcy. Also, the New Deal is responsible for social security, welfare, and national parks. A further reason why Roosevelt is considered a great president is because he was a good role model for being determined in his...
In the early 1930’s, America was facing an enormous depression that seemed impossible to escape and never ending. When FDR was elected, he was able to save the country with his positive thoughts and brilliant ideas. Not only was he capable of almost bringing the nation completely out of the Great Depression and rebuilding the economy, but was also able to lead the United States through a complex war such as World War Two. If Roosevelt’s intelligence were not present, not only the United States, but the entire world could have ended up differently. Without a doubt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the greatest president to ever be elected.
...black waves of war rolled through both the Atlantic and Pacific and threatened to drown the “sleeping giant” that lay in-between. Only then did the unemployment rate drastically decrease because instead of more people needing jobs, more people were needed for jobs that would help manufacture weapons for Great Britain and eventually the US. Additionally, he, in a way, hurt the economy through deficit spending. However, he expanded the federal government, and especially the executive branch, so that it could help the American people in the decades to come. He set a precedent and established a legacy that, if elected politicians remember to serve the people, will live on. Through his aggressive legislation, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt paved a road to a future where workers are respected, minorities treated equally, and government is truly “for the people.”
The study of past events have been a common practice of mankind since the verbal telling of stories by our ancestors. William Cronon, in his article “Why the Past Matters,” asserts that the remembrance of the past “keeps us in place.” Our individual memories and experiences shape how we act in our daily lives. In addition to influencing us at an individual level, our collective history binds us together as a society. Without knowing where we have been or what we have experienced, it is nearly impossible to judge progress or know which courses of action to pursue. The goal of the historian is to analyze and explain past events, of which they rarely have firsthand memory of, and apply the gained knowledge to make connections with current and future events.
Franklin Roosevelt was overall, an effective president albeit had some major blunders during his administration. Without Roosevelt, the Great Depression could have lasted a lot longer. Roosevelt’s New Deal provided jobs to millions and provided relief for ailing farmers. Public works projects and Roosevelt’s water policy improved the standard of living in under developed rural areas. For the first time in American history, the government took responsibility for helping citizens. With Roosevelt’s leadership, America was able to recovery from the Great Depression and emerge an economic superpower.
"Ku Klux Klan." UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Vol. 5. Detroit: UXL, 2009. 882-884. U.S. History in Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
FDR faced many problems during his presidency; some he handled poorly while most others most were handled in a way that benefited the nation and the public. Roosevelt’s reputation of national debt was overshadowed by the amount of things he did to help the American work force, the economy, and change of public moral. People were feeling better and working harder, based on the Puritanism way of life that Roosevelt unintentionally created. A working environment in America that expressed hard work and good values was prominent. FDR was a great president and will always have the title of best 100 days in office.
Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. C. New York: Norton, 2012. 24-67. Print.
We are first introduced to Lady Macbeth at the beginning of Act 1, scene 5, through the letter that Macbeth sends her. This shows her to be his, ‘dearest partner of greatness’ and that he has no secrets from her. The witches’ prophecies intensify her ambitions for her husband, to be the King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is the one who encourages him to kill the king and she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself. We see how clever she is and how she understands her husband well, she knows he has great ambitions, but she also knows that he is honourable and mentally weak:
In “Song of Myself”, he talks about many things including death. He begins by asking, “What do you think has become of the young and old men…[and] women and children?” (Whitman). He implies that death happens to everyone, but goes on to say that, “they are alive and well somewhere, /the smallest sprout shows there is really no death” (Whitman). He believes that the soul lives forever and people do not ever fully leave because they can be found in nature. It is a circle of life, everyone is connected and “all goes onward and outward, nothing collapses” (Whitman). The soul is not altered by death and the body becomes one with the earth after death. He continues to insist that death is not to be feared because it is almost an adventure, saying, “to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier” (Whitman). Because people are not fully contained in their bodies, they live on. Most people do not know that the soul is immortal, and that causes fear of death. Whitman affirms the idea that death does not exist because the soul lives
Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is a vision of the American spirit, a vision of Whitman himself. It is his cry for democracy, giving each of us a voice through his poetry. Each of us has a voice and desires, and this is Whitman's representation of our voices, the voice of America. America, the great melting pot, was founded for freedom and democracy, and this poem is his way of re-instilling these lost American ideals. In this passage from "Song of Myself" Whitman speaks through his fellow man and speaks for his fellow man when his voice is not socially acceptable to be heard.
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the focus that is placed on the character of Lady Macbeth helps to convey the play's theme of the strife created by the struggle for power and control that is present throughout the entire work. Shakespeare presents her character in great detail and shows her to be a dominating, authoritative woman who thrives on the power she holds over her husband. He then shows the principle character, Macbeth, rise up and join his wife in a struggle for power of his own. It is the actions that Macbeth takes in attempt to achieve ultimate authority that lead to his downfall, and it is Lady Macbeth's loss of control over her husband as he gains this independence which causes her own weakening and eventually leads to her demise as well.
Ultimately to Whitman the self is everything we have experienced and seen. All the people we meet have an effect on us. We are them and they are us. In Song of Myself, section one he claimed that “every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” meaning that we are each other and we share everything, even the smallest particles that make us.