Walt Whitman

From “I Hear America Singing” – pg. 352

1. What “song” does Whitman actually mean he hears when he says, “I hear America singing”?

2. “I Hear America Singing” is a celebration of something. What do you think Whitman is saying we should celebrate?

3. What is your opinion of Whitman’s cataloging in this poem? Does it help better emphasize his meaning, or is it too much? WHY?

From “Song of Myself”: #33 – pg. 356

4. Quote one line of distinct imagery that Whitman uses to help us feel like we are there.

5. Whitman’s poetry alternates between groups of very long lines and very shorts ones? What effect is created when Whitman does this, or why do you think he does this?

6. What is the effect of Whitman’s restatements of lines such as “I am man” or “I was there,” AND why do you think he does this?

From “Song of Myself”: #52 – pg. 359

7. What is parallel structure, AND by repeatedly using it in this poem,what is Whitman trying to help us to realize?

8. Based on what Whitman states throughout this poem, what does he feel we are all Romantically a part of?

9. In order to “find” Whitman, what does he say we must do?

Emily Dickinson

“Heart! We Will Forget Him!” – pg. 374

1. What is an apostrophe, and to whom or what is the speaker referring to or addressing?

2. Why does the speaker say that the heart must take the lead and forget first before the head can begin?

“Much Madness is divinest Sense” – pg. 383

3. Dickinson is using a paradox throughout this poem. What is her paradox?

4. What is Dickinson saying about how society perceives new thoughts or ideas?

5. Dickinson often uses odd punctuation and dashes in her poetry. Do the dashes help this poem by emphasizing certain ideas, or do they hurt it? Why?

“Because I could not stop for Death” – pg. 391

6. Paraphrase the first two lines of the poem; what word indicates their irony?

7. Stanza five is a riddle in itself. What is the nearly buried house?

8. What is the tone of this poem and why?

“I heard a Fly buzz – when I died” – pg. 392

9. What is everyone in the room expecting to soon occur? According to the 2nd and 3rd stanzas, how had the speaker and those around her prepared for death?

10. Who is the “King” in line 7? What does the phrase “the Windows failed” mean in 15?

11. What do you feel is the tone of this poem, especially with a fly being inserted into a deathbed scene?