Poet Webquest: Walt Whitman
In order to prepare for the poetry units, you will need to do some reading on Walt Whitman and
Emily Dickinson. Although there is a lot of information out there about both of them, I would
like you start with these reputable sites.
Please jot down notes for your own files. We will be having a test over Whitman and Dickinson
at the end of this short unit. You’ll want to know a little background.
Go To: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/126 and read.
Birth and Death Dates:
Explain Whitman’s employment through 1870:
Explain Emerson’s reaction to Whitman’s first Leaves of Grass edition.
Go to: http://whitmanarchive.org/biography/walt_whitman/index.html#americani
Then select “The American “I” and read.
What kind of poet did Emerson call for?
How did Whitman, in a way, answer this call?
What seeming contrasts appear in how Whitman’s poetry is described?
Go to “To the Battlefield” and read the first two paragraphs.
How did the Civil War threaten Whitman’s vision for America as reflected in his writing?
How did Whitman help the wounded?
Additional notes about Whitman:
Emily Dickinson:
Go to: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155 and read.
Birth and Death:
How did Dickinson feel about Whitman’s poetry?
How did Dickinson’s poetry come to be published?
Additional notes about Dickinson: