Walt Whitman - Blog Entry Part 2

Rich Hoggan
English 48B
03-10-2011
Walt Whitman Blog Entry - Part 2

Walt Whitman is a meticulous writer. I say this because he chooses words that have meaning to what we are reading; he chooses words that give the utmost detail. Taken from his "Song Of Myself," Whitman writes:
Agonies are one of my changes of garments,
I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the
wounded person,
My hurts turn livid upon me as I lean on a cane and observe. (58)
As per our discussion today on Whitman being "egotistical," the argument can be made for Whitman not being egotistical. And the passage previously listed is a prime example as to how Whitman is not necessarily egotistical.

But aside from arguing for Whitman's lack of egotistical nature, this passage also gives credence to the fact that Whitman was artistic -- his having agonies. Continuing on with this argument, the passage describes the sheer fact that Whitman is but merely human. We see this in the fact that he faces agonies like everyone else. What's intriguing about this word though is that it's used in the context of being taken on and off. Much like how we analyze literary works with different analytic perspectives, Whitman writes from different "real world" perspectives. In doing so, Whitman is able to, in essence, bring himself down to our level. While this still sounds as egotistical, the evidence continues in Whitman's defense. Similarly, I think one of the more obvious lines is the one that reads "I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person" (58). This line makes it clear that Whitman doesn't tell the "wounded person" how to feel but becomes or understands how such a person might feel.

But suddenly the dynamic of the passage changes as Whitman writes "My hurts turn livid upon me as I lean on a cane and observe" (58). Still considering the fact that Whitman is simply "inserting" himself into society, the keyword to consider is "observe." While it's hard to tell what Whitman meant exactly by this line, it would sound as though he is "observing" others not interjecting his own thoughts.

Taken from sparknotes.com, commentary is given on "Songs of Myself" which reads "While 'Song of Myself' is crammed with significant detail, there are three key episodes that must be examined. The first of these is found in the sixth section of the poem. A child asks the narrator 'What is the grass?' and the narrator is forced to explore his own use of symbolism and his inability to break things down to essential principles" (sparknotes.com - Whitman - Song of Myself). This passage discusses Whitman's interaction with a kid who wants to know what grass is. But this passage also demonstrates that Whitman doesn't try to put off on society what he doesn't know.

To sum up, Whitman makes himself seem as though he is an egotistical, in the prime of his career, artist but the opposite can be seen. It's simply in Whitman's choice of words that creates this idea that he tends to sound egotistical.

Walt Whitman - Blog Entry Part 1

Rich Hoggan
English 48B
Walt Whitman Blog Entry - Part 1

As I began reading the introduction for Walt Whitman it hit me. Most of these great literary authors came up in some form of journalistic position. For example Whitman began working at a newspaper when he was only 12 years old. Obviously, there is a huge age difference back then as opposed to now, but it was at this early age that Whitman was exposed to the wonderful world of writing. This can be seen when the editors state "By the age of twelve he was employed in the printing office of a newspaper, reading the novels of Sir Walter Scott and contributing short items…In his midteens he contributed pieces to one of the best Manhattan papers, the Mirror…" (17). This passage is just a small portion of Whitman's life in the typesetting and publishing world, for his youth is littered with instances of Whitman working for some newspaper.

What's interesting about this is the fact that, if you were interested in it, you could pursue it -- leaving out the obvious implications of prejudice at the time. It's hard to say if Whitman just needed to find work or if he really wanted to work as a typesetter. Either way you look at it, Whitman had the chance to experience the writing world from a perspective many of us can't. It's obvious that we don't all work for the local newspaper, but we have been given the same ability to enter into the publishing/journalistic world by way of the "blog." Blogging for my generation would have been like working for the newspaper in Whitman's -- the sheer ability to write and be exposed to writing set me in the direction of having articles published in a magazine.

Taken from his wikipedia page we read, "Whitman paid for the first publication of the first edition of Leaves of Grass himself and had it printed at a local print shop during their breaks from commercial jobs. (Wikipedia - Walt Whitman). This is another prime example at the differences between the time when Whitman was writing to the time when say any of us would attempt to publish something. We wouldn't necessarily have to pay any money out of our pockets to have something published. Even if we did have to pay for publishing, the cost of publishing has decreased so much that it's now possible to publish anything you write in book form.

But what can be taken away from both of these passages? For the most part, I think it's important for us to realize that there has been a major shift in writing as well as publishing. So much so that Whitman himself would write much like he did in "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" about the new ways in which we reach the world through writing. The tough decision to be made here is whether or not the way we write and promote or prose to the world has diminished the value of writing or has blustered it? When we look at Twitter it's hard to find much in the way of "information to live by" as we mainly read about what toast people made. But if we were to take this idea of Twitter and place it in the context of rebellion, well then we have created a tool of speaking out against repression.

The same can be said of blogging. Has it changed out understanding of the news or how we get our news? I think blogging has added a new element to how we receive information in our daily lives, but blogging has done more, it's made us all into "Walt Whitmans." I say this because there is no longer a need to hand write everything, even though hand writing poetry seems to slow down the writing process that we can better think of the words we are using. To sum up, I think we can look to Whitman's early career as a publisher and journalist and be able to transplant it to our own writing in a way that allows us the same ability to reach the world. Whether we are hand writing everything or typing it out in a blog, writing is the vehicle with which our emotions and feelings can be expressed.

Kate Chopin Journal Posting - Part 1

Rich Hoggan
English 48B
Kate Chopin Journal - Part 1

Kate Chopin might have written about romance and "adultery" but she wrote with the undertones of creativity, namely musical creativity. It wouldn't seem that far off that Chopin would add such undertones seeing as how they are very similar to her undertones of romance. The ability to create, to perform with an instrument, to write music is enough to incite the same feelings as entering into a romance. In fact it could even be considered a romance that we musicians enter into with music.

The following passage demonstrates the prescribed undertones, "Edna was what she herself called very fond of music. Musical strains, well rendered, had a way of evoking pictures in her mind…The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier's spinal column. It was not the first time she had heard an artist at the piano. Perhaps it was the first time she was ready, perhaps the first time her being was tempered to take an impress of the abiding truth" (554). Breaking this quote down, we first read that music evoked pictures in Edna's mind. When music becomes emotional, it's not uncommon for music to take listeners on a journey.

More importantly, the key word in this passage is "truth." I consider this the keyword of the passage because there is an inherent truth in music. But music can be considered permanently truthful -- innocent. This is especially true in the addition of lyrics to music. We can hear such examples in urban rap music where the lyrics tell the story of life on the streets. And it's in such lyrics that there is an undeniable truth that can not be taken away. Similarly, while Mr. Ponteller has ended up "marrying" his job if you will, it would appear that Mrs. Pontellier lost the truth in her marriage forcing her to obtain truth from another source.

Taken from the Kate Chopin website, one production company mentions "…and incorporates music and movement to do justice to a story that begins in a workman's heart, then radiates with seismic repercussions into the world around her" (katechopin.org). This quote encompasses the story quite well in that Mrs. Pontellier seems to keep her feelings to herself for the most part. At the beginning of the story she did happen to cry but it is obvious that she is not very outward about her feelings. This is another obviousness that Mrs. Pontellier is a musician because our emotions seem to be displayed far better in music than by other sources.

To conclude, Chopin's touching on music brings a whole new level of understanding to her writing -- it allows us to understand how she tied romance, emotion, and truth together. Because the truth wasn't immediately present at the beginning of the story, Chopin's tie-in of music allows us to understand that truth must always be present as it is with music. The truth that Mrs. Pontellier might have been in love with her husband but secretly -- passionately -- experiences romance with Robert is a prime example. Love, romance, truth, passion, emotion, each has taken up the verses and choruses of music, but each has also been the undertone of Chopin's work.