Preview

O Me O Life Walt Whitman Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
308 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
O Me O Life Walt Whitman Analysis
There can be several meanings and lessons take from the monologue said by John Keating. Keating is portrayed by Robin Williams and he does a wonderful job. He starts off by saying that poetry isn’t written just to be cute. It has a deeper meaning. It can stand for so many things. John takes time to discuss the necessities of the human race. We need medicine to heal us, laws to keep us in order, business to keep us off the coach and engineering to advance us. He is saying that we stay alive for “poetry, beauty, romance [and] love.” John quotes one of Walt Whitman’s poems “O me! O life” to gather further meaning to what he was saying to the students. It’s almost like John is saying the answer to our lives and why we’re still going is poetry.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Hardships Of War In Walt Whitman's Beat ! O Captain !
    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Hardships Of War In Walt Whitman's Beat ! O Captain !

    One of the most credited poets throughout the Civil War period was Walt Whitman, who wrote about the hardships of war in his work. In particular, two of his poems are not only heavily intertwined based on topic, but in structure and used literary techniques. “Beat! Beat! Drums!” and “O Captain! O Captain!” both share many similar qualities among figurative, sound and structural devices that Whitman uses to help further enhance the theme of how negatively war can impact individuals.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One Hard Life Poem Analysis
    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One Hard Life Poem Analysis

    Nothing about life is easy; you work, you try, and sometimes you fail regardless of your efforts.Some people believe in reincarnation, others in some form of an afterlife, and some believe you only have one life. Believing that you’re only able to live one life could benefit the person because they take that idea and they accept it. In that acceptance they choose to live everyday as if it were there last, so that by their last breath they can say they had a good life, even with the many struggles and heartache. Most people live with the belief that we only have one life; although life is a gift with endless possibilities, it's…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dynamic Characters In Dead Poets Society
    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dynamic Characters In Dead Poets Society

    Keating also changes his peers around him. As being a student once, Mr. Keating was used to all the lectures and sitting in classrooms reading straight from books, a boring way to teach. He decides to teach in a different more unique way. In one of the first scenes he has his students rip the introduction out of their poetry books. While they were doing this the Latin teacher walks in thinking the students were rebelling only to find Mr. Keating encouraging it. Mr. Keating also brings his students outside to the court yard and onto the fields to teach them poetry. The Latin teacher constantly watches Mr. Keating give his unique lessons, and by the end of the movie has taken his students outside too. The Latin teacher changes from the normal way of teaching to a nonconformity way of teaching, where as many people are conforming, he unconforms. Mr. Keating teaches him too that being a free thinker is more important than being part of the…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Close Reading: Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself
    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Close Reading: Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

    In Walt Whitman’s poem, Song of Myself, I found different key pieces of Whitman’s diction and language to be more in depth and not so cut, black and white. This poem really makes you think by giving you different perspectives of life to wonder about through the use of his words. I have gotten the impression that Whitman really values himself and his beliefs of a good world and being alive in the present is worthwhile to him. His words are very powerful, thoughtful and even strong enough to change somebodies view of how they see the world. Whitman includes inspirational, yet erotic views of how he feels for his soul and the life around him.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Story of Charles Whitman
    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Story of Charles Whitman

    Charles Whitman was born June 24, 1941. The town he was born in is called Lake Worth, the state is Florida. In the early years of Charles Whitman he was taught at a young age how to properly handle a gun. Charles was a model student and an Eagle Scout who left home early to escape a violent father. When Charles joined the Marine Corps be became a sharpshooter which in other words a sniper. Charles did his time in the marines before he enrolled into the University of Texas. During his time at Texas University Charles met his future wife, Kathryn Leissner, they soon married in 1962. Charles suffered from mental illness and severe anger fits.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Walt Whitman Poetic Devices
    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Walt Whitman Poetic Devices

    Free Verse – Free verse is a poem that is written without any type of rhyme in it and “A Noiseless Patient Spider” is a perfect example. It doesn’t rhyme, but to make the poem make sense he uses repetition, metaphor, alliteration and personification.…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself
    • 3042 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

    In “Song of Myself” Walt Whitman is trying to see self as a whole. He wants to find strength and beauty as to make self whole and to be unified with humanity and nature. While people are condemning him, because the expression of a sexual content and a connection that makes use body and soul as well as the shock value. Whitman’s friend Ralph Waldo Emerson decides to back him in his writing. Emerson’s letter to Whitman calling Leaves of Grass "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed" saved Whitman 's self-published first edition from sinking into obscurity. Yet even more important, Emerson 's work as a whole helped to prepare readers for the liberal, post-Christian spirituality that pervades Leaves of Grass. (Insert my source). Whitman wants to bring…

    • 3042 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Walt Whitman's Papers
    • 214 Words
    • 1 Page

    Walt Whitman's Papers

    In 1942, the Library of Congress took the precaution of sending national treasures to the guarded facility in the Midwest. Walt Whitman’s paper was in a packed case ready to shipped. Whitman’s notebook was the most intriguing example in the world of art investigation. The FBI were trying to find stolen items that have been missing decades ago. They have decided to bring modern technology to the effort.…

    • 214 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Walt Whitman Paper
    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Walt Whitman Paper

    Walter Whitman was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. Born on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War in addition to publishing his poetry. Early in his career, he also produced a temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey where his health further declined. He died at age 72 and his funeral became a public spectacle. Whitman's sexuality is often discussed alongside his poetry. Though biographers continue to debate his sexuality, he is usually described as either homosexual or bisexual in his feelings and attractions. However, there is disagreement among biographers as to whether Whitman had actual sexual experiences with men. Whitman was concerned with politics throughout his life. He supported the Wilmot Proviso and opposed the extension of slavery generally. His poetry presented an egalitarian view of the races, and at one point he called for the abolition of slavery, but later he saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to democracy.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Man In Those Winter Sundays Essay
    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Man In Those Winter Sundays Essay

    Poets create poetry based on their lives and experiences. While reading poetry each reader can interpret what the poem is about. The reader can take those words and relate them back to their own lives. While I read the poetry I related the stories to own life and found that these people have problems greater than mine. Poetry taught me that I need to value and appreciate my life because some people have it worse.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Revealed In Walt Whitman's Poem Song Of Myself
    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Who Is Revealed In Walt Whitman's Poem Song Of Myself

    In Walt Whitman's poem, “Song of Myself” he offers an interpretation of the grass as being when a life’s lost, another reborn. The poet states that, “I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord/ A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt”(11.17-18). This quote portrays that life is remembered, but also quickly forgotten. We could have an object or smell that reminds of someone, but overtime he forgets and never remember them. Walt shows that you end up forgetting them because you learn to live without them and you know you’ll meet again. Whitman describes that, “This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers,/ Darker than the colorless beards of old men,/ Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths” (11.31-33).…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Walt Whitman
    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Walt Whitman

    I chose Walt Whitman for my biography report because Mr. Farlow said that if I wasn't going to take this class seriously and pick a real poet I might as well not come to class anymore. Walt Whitman was an awful child molester who was born in ancient Hong Kong. He is over 3,000 years old and remembers the names of all the forgotten Gods.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Robert Frost and E.E. Cumings
    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Robert Frost and E.E. Cumings

    Poetry is considered to be a representational text in which one explores ideas by using symbols. Poetry can be interpreted many different ways and is even harder to interpret when the original author has come and gone. Poetry is an incredible form of literature because the way it has the ability to use the reader as part of its own power. In other words, poetry uses the feelings and past experiences of the reader to interpret things differently from one to another, sometimes not even by choice of the author. Two famous poets come to mind to anybody who has ever been in an English class, Robert Frost and E.E. Cummings. Both of these poets have had numerous famous pieces due to the fact that they both captivate the readers attention and can even keep them intrigued in a piece long after their first time reading it. A line such as one of the most memorable lines from Robert Frost, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (1). Many recognize this line and many may have their own opinions on how to look at his poem ‘The Road Not Taken’. Another poem with a shared theme is E.E. Cummings poem “Anyone lived in a pretty how town” these two poems are very different in delivery and literary devises, but both have a common theme, a theme of how time goes on and the choices one makes, shapes who they become. This reoccurring theme is important because live doesn’t stop going it is a clock that will never stop ticking and every time the clock ticks we make a choice that shapes who we are and who we will be in the future.…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself
    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

    When comparing writers, or musicians, or artists, it's really difficult to say who is better or who is more deserving of recognition. I say this because, in my mind, it is unfair and wrong to make competition between forms of art, its like saying that blue is better then yellow; who's to decide something like that? Good for the Grammy's, but music to me is the same way. There is no reason why my song is better or worse then yours, they are different and beautiful in individual ways. I view writers the same way, including Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. They both have amazing thing to say and concepts to share. They are very unique and have their own style and personality.…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Transcendentalism In Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself
    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Transcendentalism In Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

    Walt Whitman in ¨A Song Of Myself ¨, Leaves of Grass, states that all individuals are the same, because the same matter composes all people. Whitman authored his poem during the industrial revolution when the individuals felt that they meant less to society because more anonymity exists. Firstly, the poet emphasizes that ¨for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you¨ (ll. 3). This demonstrates that all beings in the universe are bonded together, so Whitman uses words such as atom belonging to me, and ¨good belonging to you,¨ to describe democracy binds everyone and everything on a basic level of existence. Whitman feels that people had little power in society so they came up with a new thinking called transcendentalism which believes…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More