Late Romanticism: Whitman / Dickinson

Whitman – Reading and Review Questions:

1. How does Whitman’s use of free verse challenge readers? What features and/or elements of Whitman’s poetry help us to understand how to read it?
2. How does Whitman’s use of natural elements compare to his use of manmade or urban elements in his poetry?
3. How would you describe the voice of Whitman’s poetry?
4. How does Whitman’s poetry engage with the Civil War?

Dickinson – Reading and Review Questions:

1. Many of Dickinson’s poems are rhythmically similar to popular nineteenth-century songs. How do those similarities help us to understand Dickinson’s poetry?
2. Death and isolation are common themes in Dickinson’s poetry, yet her poems rarely seem melancholy. What elements prevent her poems from becoming too solemn?
3. How do Dickinson’s poems support or challenge what we think we know about gender roles in the nineteenth century?
4. Compare and contrast Dickinson’s isolation with Whitman’s aggressively public persona.