Day 2

Walt Whitman: Poems Lesson Plan

Discussion of Thought Questions

  1. 1

    "Thou Reader" is incredibly short—only two lines! Why do you think it is valuable and included as part of this lesson?

    Students will probably start by saying that "Thou Reader" functions well as a prelude or introduction to Whitman's poems: it is direct and inviting. They should also notice that it does a great job capturing many of Whitman's important themes in very few words—his love and joy for life, his ideas of human connectedness, and his purpose for his poetry.

  2. 2

    How do you interpret the poet's question in "O Me! O Life!"?

    The question the poet asks in the first stanza of the poem is not very clear, and this seems intentional—even the poet is not very sure...

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