Individuality in Whitmans Song of Myself Essay -- Song of Myself Essa

Individuality in Whitmans Song of Myself During a lecture in 1907, William James said the philosophy which is so important in all(prenominal) of us is not a technical matter it is our much or less dumb sense of what life honestly means. It is only partly got from books it is our respective(prenominal) way of just seeing and feeling the total thrust and pressure of the cosmos (Bartlett 546) Individuality has been a prevalent theme in every fiber of literature for quite some time. Whether it is a character discovering his/her identicalness or the author expressing his, literature is full of distinctness. The term individuality changes meaning with each person it meets. That is what makes the dynamic word so great. Throughout particular whole kit read this semester, individuality has been the foundation for several of them. Walt Whitman takes his newfound ideas and acquaintance background and introduces American literary productions to a totally different meaning of indiv iduality in Song of Myself. Whitmans radical ideas of individualism have a great deal to do with his Quaker background. The Quaker piety is one in which the authority was familiar softly. Whitman himself was not only personally familiar with, but deeply impressed by, a religion whose only authority was the Inner Light (Canoy 481). The Inner Light is a special influence, which made Whitmans poetry unique. This certain influence did such things as point Whitman down his soul searching path as comfortably as help him define within himself the characteristics of an individual. In section fifteen of Song of Myself, Whitman discusses mass from every class and every profession. He goes on to put the young fellow drives the express-wagon... love him though I do not know him (2753). ... ...either stimulate their own delivery, not resist it (2767). Would it really be that bighearted to be an individualist instead of conforming to the crowd? I do not hypothesize so. Wor ks Cited *Bartlett, John. Bartletts Familiar Quotations. Boston Little,Brown and Company,1992. *Canby,Henry Seidel, Johnson, Thomas H., Ludwig,Richard M., Spiller, Robert E., Thorp, Willard. Literary memorial of the United States. New York The MacMillian Company, 1963. *Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography and Poor Richards almanacks. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Ed. capital of Minnesota Lauter.Boston, NewYork Houghton Mifflin,1998. *Renyolds, David S., Walt Whitmans America-A heathenish Biography. New York Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. *Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Ed, Paul Lauter. Boston,NewYork Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Individuality in Whitmans Song of Myself Essay -- Song of Myself EssaIndividuality in Whitmans Song of Myself During a lecture in 1907, William James said the philosophy which is so important in each of us is not a technical matter it is our more or less dumb sense of wh at life honestly means. It is only partly got from books it is our individual way of just seeing and feeling the total push and pressure of the cosmos (Bartlett 546) Individuality has been a prevalent theme in every type of literature for quite some time. Whether it is a character discovering his/her individuality or the author expressing his, literature is full of distinctness. The term individuality changes meaning with each person it meets. That is what makes the dynamic word so great. Throughout particular works read this semester, individuality has been the foundation for several of them. Walt Whitman takes his newfound ideas and Quaker background and introduces American Literature to a totally different meaning of individuality in Song of Myself. Whitmans radical ideas of individualism have a great deal to do with his Quaker background. The Quaker religion is one in which the authority was Inner Light. Whitman himself was not only personally familiar with, but dee ply impressed by, a religion whose only authority was the Inner Light (Canoy 481). The Inner Light is a special influence, which made Whitmans poetry unique. This certain influence did such things as guide Whitman down his soul searching path as well as help him define within himself the characteristics of an individual. In section fifteen of Song of Myself, Whitman discusses people from every class and every profession. He goes on to say the young fellow drives the express-wagon... love him though I do not know him (2753). ... ...either hasten their own delivery, not resist it (2767). Would it really be that bad to be an individualist instead of conforming to the crowd? I do not think so. Works Cited *Bartlett, John. Bartletts Familiar Quotations. Boston Little,Brown and Company,1992. *Canby,Henry Seidel, Johnson, Thomas H., Ludwig,Richard M., Spiller, Robert E., Thorp, Willard. Literary History of the United States. New York The MacMillian Company, 1963. *Franklin, Benj amin. Autobiography and Poor Richards almanacks. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Ed. Paul Lauter.Boston, NewYork Houghton Mifflin,1998. *Renyolds, David S., Walt Whitmans America-A Cultural Biography. New York Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. *Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Ed, Paul Lauter. Boston,NewYork Houghton Mifflin, 1998.