How could I answer the child? . . . . I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark,
and say Whose?
Or I guess the grass is itself a child . . . . the produced babe of the vegetation.
Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the
same.
And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves."
By reflecting on this passage from Walt Whitman's "Blades of Grass" (1855), what do you think Whitman is trying to say about life, death, existence in the universe? What meaning can you infer from this portion being set in a cemetery? How does this passage relate to other themes in the poem? Write a reflective, free versed journal entry to work out some thoughts about this passage and its meaning. This journal entry shall not be more than 1 page and there need not be any particular argumentative structure unless you feel compelled. This is to help you construct some thoughts about the passage in relation to the rest of the text so that you can then formulate an argumentative statement about the passage. Then compose a 3-5 page short formal essay with an argumentative statement addressing some of the questions posed above, supported by textural evidence from the poem to support your claims. You may use outside sources from academically reliable resources if you wish but it is merely optional.
ok . .but where's the cultural object? i.e. the goal is to use a cultural object as a heuristic that can bring cultural context and poem together . . .a material emblem that helps readers/students to "read" Whitman's poem. If your goal is to "get" students to understand something about Whitman's understanding of life/death/existence - - what are you going to do help them grapple with these issues?
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool passage and it makes grass a little more interesting especially being set in a cemetery. I think the cemetery is your cultural object, if I can remember? Now I'm a little curious as to how cemeteries were constructed and how bodies pre-burial were treated. Did people cremate back then? Word.
ReplyDeleteOh, and as for the assignment- I'm a big fan of the journal entry especially if they build on it throughout the unit on Whitman, and it's a good place to start for eventually turning in a more formal assignment.
ReplyDelete