Al+WA

Al's Whitman Sampler [A lesson plan for this assignment version 3] Versions 1 and 2 attached below.

I. **Results** A. Primary goal: Can our readings/interpretations of "Song of Myself"///Leaves of Grass// be different depending on the contexts in which we are reading it? How might they differ in the same medium?--e.g. book to book. How might they differ in different media?--e.g. book to website.

B. Secondary goals: Are our own readings/interpretations of texts static, or are they in fact, like Whitman's creative process, very much dynamic and ongoing?

II. **Evidence of learning**: A. types of writing/evidence:

i. formal writing or project (summative) essay; curation; rhetorical; A writing response that identifies at least two different contexts in which student can find the text (i.e. how it functions in its original form, vs. [|a facsimile], vs. print in a hard copy today, vs. [|electronic print as part of an archive], etc.), and analyses of how the two different contexts change the way a reader might interpret it and assign different values on the poem--e.g. how is it different to read parts the poem on a page vs. on the computer screen, or in a digital archive vs. in someone else's academic essay, etc.

ii. informal writing (formative) A writing response to a different cultural text (other than the Whitman poem--e.g. another poem, a photograph/painting, a film's scene, etc.) in order to be equipped with skills to do the formal writing project above.

B. Students should be able to see that readings/interpretations (assigning meaning) will change depending on the variables they identify.

III. **Design** A. Students should be able to identify the different variables that may affect the way we inscribe a text's meaning. The choice of "two spaces" are highly open to interpretation so that students have freedom in exploring where the text might appear.

B. Students will develop these skills through the formative assignment in II.ii above.

C. Working on something other than the Whitman poem will be first in the formative assignment, so that students can first work on something they are familiar with and/or interested in, and can therefore focus on the concepts and process of context analysis.

Whitman Project version 1

We've established that the writing of a text, such as Walt Whitman's poem, //Leaves of Grass//, can be dynamic, not static--and even continuously dynamic with our, his audience's, own "remixing" of it. But what about our readings? Can our readings and interpretations of the work be just as dynamic--i.e. changing depending on certain contexts? The most basic example may be hermeneutic differences between reading said poem in a printed book compared to online on a website, and even then there are many variables from book to book/site to site.

When you feel that you have a better understanding of how different contexts can affect the way we read/interpret a text or work, do a similar analysis and response with Whitman's //Leaves of Grass//, and two or more different spaces where you have seen or can find the poem.

Further things to think about in your responses: Who has placed the text in that space? And for what purpose--personal, professional, academic, leisure, other? How do you know--i.e. what are the characteristics of the context that make you think so? What meanings and values does the space allow or deny the text? What does this say about texts and cultural contexts in general?

Whitman Project version 2 [development, elaboration, examples]

We've established that the writing of a text, such as Walt Whitman's poem, //Leaves of Grass//, can be dynamic, not static--and even continuously dynamic with our, his audience's, own "remixing" of it. But what about our readings? Can our readings and interpretations of the work be just as dynamic--i.e. changing depending on certain contexts? Although there are many variables that can affect our reading/interpretation (i.e. more internal ones such as reader's age, race, sex/gender, literary training, even your mood at the time, and so on) we are here focusing on the space(s) where you may find this text. The most basic example may be hermeneutic differences between reading said poem in a printed book compared to online on a website, and even then there are many variables from book to book/site to site.

Before jumping into Whitman's poem, let's get acquainted with the analytical approach and process you'll be using. Choose another cultural "text" that you like or are interested in--perhaps another poem, a photograph or painting, a film's scene, etc. Then think about two or more different spaces where you have seen or can find this text. For example, how is the //Mona Lisa// painting (a text) different when we view: the original painting first-hand in The Louvre vs. as a digital image attached to its Wikipedia entry vs. as a print pattern on an Andy Warhol pop art postcard? Be creative in thinking about where you might find your chosen text--nothing is off-limits! Write a short response about how the way you read your chosen text inscribes different meanings and values depending on where you find it and how it is presented.

When you feel that you have a better understanding of how different contexts can affect the way we read/interpret a text or work, do a similar analysis and response with Whitman's //Leaves of Grass//, and two or more different spaces where you have seen or can find the poem. Here are some suggestions to start you off (but feel free to go out and find other, unique, unusual places where you come across this text):


 * The original manuscript of the poem;
 * Any college "textbook" copy of the poem;
 * In bits and pieces, as part of the U.S. Government's Library of Congress' archives;
 * A digital copy with pop-up annotations, as part of an academic web text study;
 * In a photograph, being read by Marilyn Monroe;
 * An audio recording (reading) of the poem by Whitman himself;
 * any others.

Further things to think about in your responses: Who has placed the text in that space? And for what purpose--personal, professional, academic, leisure, other? How do you know--i.e. what are the characteristics of the context that make you think so? What meanings and values does the space allow or deny the text? What does this say about texts and cultural contexts in general?