Walt Whitman Collection

Walt Whitman Collection

"I Hear America Singing"

"A Noiseless Patient Spider"

Open Ended

Provide an OBJECTIVE SUMMARY of what you did over the break, any shows you watched, music you downloaded, etc.

Also, welcome back! Hi new students! -Ms. S

Standard

LAFS.1112.RL.1.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text. 

Essential Question

Analyze the central ideas present in both works. How do metaphors and abstract ideas help to develop the themes?

Multiple Select

Select our objectives for today! Hint: all of them

• Determine the central Ideas of both poems

• Analyze the thematic development in both selects

• Provide accurate objective summaries of each, including certain line numbers

Meet Walt, Walt Whitman.

• Whitman was considered "scandalous" in his day, so much so that he was fired from his job as a government clerk for his work. 

• "Father of Free Verse" (frequently called this)

• By the end of his life he was commonly known as “America’s good gray poet.”

• EMOTION + INTUITION > Reality

First poem: "I Hear America Singing" and preview of activity

• What is the central idea of the poem?   

• The general declaration the speaker makes in the first line (“I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear”) is a clue toward understanding a theme of the poem. Cite specific details that support this general statement. 

• What is a theme present in the poem?

• How does Whitman develop each theme throughout the poem?

• How do the themes interact with each other to create a complex account of America. 

Open Ended

No right or wrong answer. Based upon your first reading of the poem, what do you think is the CENTRAL IDEA so far? Aka, what is the text truly about?

Open Ended

How did the previous reading impact your understanding of the poem? Explain.

I DO: Lines 1-4 Analysis

It seems more likely that this "singing" is a metaphor.

Varied carols sticks out, and it's in line one. It seems like this is a hint at American attitude towards work, which is another repeated idea.

Evidence cited: "Mechanics" "Carpenter" "Plank" "Beam" "Mason" "Work" "Work"

Notice how much repetition helps us understand the central idea?

"America" itself is "singing." it seems like the author has a positive outlook on the relationship between America, work, and pride.

We do: Analyze the lines

Repetition in lines 5?

How has the theme of pride and America developed?

Turn and Talk! Provide an objective summary of the text!

Open Ended

You do: Analyze the following lines (see picture if easier). Provide an objective summary of what Walt Whitman means by the following:

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Multiple Choice

True or False: In the speaker’s vision, it seems everyone gets to participate in creating the American song, no matter their location, class, or gender (even if, to the modern eye, the terms of their participation are somewhat limited and constrained along traditional lines).

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Select the best objective summary for the following lines in the text:

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

• I hear America Singing: I hear a few weak cries from the poor and from the rich and everyone--all workers who are doing well and who are not

• I can hear all of America singing: I hear the many different songs that people sing. I hear mechanics singing, and all of them are singing proudly and strongly—as they should be

Multiple Choice

Select the best objective summary for the following lines in the text:

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

• I hear the sweet song of the mother or the new bride working, or of the girl who sews or washes clothes. Each of them sings about their own work, their own life, and nothing else.

• I hear a strange song of the mother or perhaps my late wife, she used to sew and wash, they do not like to sing about work

Open Ended

What might the "songs" the American workers sing represent? (Hint: they are not literally singing, are they?)

Open Ended

What is the central idea of the poem "I Hear America Singing"

Bonus: Can you think of any themes?

Let's switch gears. Second Poem!

• "A Noiseless Patient Spider"

• Share out your predictions!

Open Ended

After your initial read of the text, what do you think the poem is about?

Open Ended

Read the following lines. Then, identify at least three instances of repetition within the text.

A noiseless patient spider,

I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,

Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,

It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,

Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

I do: Summary of lines 1-4

The speaker noticed a silent spider, standing alone on a small ledge. The speaker further noticed that the spider, in order to investigate its huge, empty environment, sent out thread after thread. The spider is described as doing this constantly and perpetually, without appearing to get tired or slow down.

Open Ended

WE DO! As a class and/or with a partner, let's summarize the following lines:

And you O my soul where you stand,

Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,

Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,

Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,

Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

Possible answer/if you had something along these lines, yay!

The poem then addresses the speaker's soul, which likewise stands isolated and unconnected in a vast, open place. The soul is described as continually considering, exploring, and seeking connections. The speaker says that the soul will go on doing this until it succeeds in finding and creating links between itself and its surroundings.

Poll

Does summarizing the poem help you to better understand what is truly being said?

• Yes

• No

Turn and Talk

What are two or more themes present in the poem?

Open Ended

In what ways does the metaphor and/or repetition within "A Noiseless Patient Spider" help develop the themes within the text?