Stephani's+Whitman+Assignment+Design

You can find Stephani's Whitman assignment [|here]

I. **Results** A. Primary goal: What do you want the students to understand more fully about "Song of Myself"? Frame this as a question.
 * What can Whitman tell us about travel narratives, or travel narratives tell us about Whitman?

Why is this topic important to Whitman?
 * Much of Whitman's poem purports to be a kind of crazy, almost psychedelic, cinematic kind of travel narrative. It reminds me of the beginning of the film [|Adaptation.] I want students to explore what looking at Whitman's poem alongside a standard travel narrative might do to their reading of the poem.

How does this topic connect to other themes or concerns of the poem?


 * This topic attempts to zero in on Whitman's use of "America" as a concept and as a theme.

How might this topic or question engage students' interest and/or experience?
 * Well, 1) I assume a certain level of prior interest in the concept of "America" and in Whitman's poem, and 2) I hope that reading Murray's lively and readable travel narrative will encourage students' to become more interested in the period.

How does this topic or question related to broader issues in literature?


 * I want students to think about how the two texts use the same place, America, and idea of place, "America", to very different ends in ways which connect to much broader themes. More specifically, I want them to look at one particular subject, say the Croton aqueduct, and to see how the two different texts can see the subject similarly, as a great example of American energy and the wonder of the industrial age, and yet make different claims for what the object "means" within their larger text, as Whitman's Transcendentalist ethos of immanence is profoundly opposed to Murray's point of view in which object after object is categorized and distanced from the speaker.

How does it relate to broader cultural or social issues?


 * The poet's claims that he is the prophet of his land (v) stand in stark contrast to Murray's unassuming narrative's stated goal, which is simply to entertain and enlighten the curious about America. Whitman's Transcendentalist mysticism, whether inspiring or naive, encourages the idea that we are not as separate from others as we would think, and would discard traditional hierarchies and prejudices. Murray's narrative would encourage them.

B. Secondary goals: what do you want students to understand about reading poetry? about how to write about poetry? about how to connect text and context?


 * Students should be learning something about how to focus on a small part of the text to make an argument about the larger text, as well as how to compare two different types of texts. I also want them to appreciate the revolutionary nature of Whitman's perspective in a 19th century context. Another secondary goal is to have students write towards a thesis. They will also learn something about how to navigate within the Library of Congress' archive.

II. **Evidence of learning**:

i. informal writing (formative)


 * Informal writing is writing an initial couple of paragraphs.

ii. formal writing or project:


 * Formal writing is writing a final paragraph which could being a longer essay.

B. How will this show you that they've learned? how will you evaluate its success or failure in relation to your goals?


 * I will look at the development between the informal and more formal writing to see if students have made further connections and have expanded on their thoughts in the informal writing. I will evaluate how sophisticated their analysis is and how they have expanded their ideas.

III. **Design** A. Students will need to know how to construct grammatically correct sentences. Outside knowledge about the period might be a good addition, but is not necessary.

B. Reading, making connections, and the ability to navigate the archive will all be necessary.

C. Reading Whitman's poem and reading around in Murray come first. Choosing a subject of interest will come next. The most important step is the last step: constructing an argument, which is also the most formal step.