I have been reconsidering my project and I don't think I really want to explore the theme of death in Whitman's poetry. Even though he does have a more zen approach I think spending that much time on that topic would be morbid and not too fun for me. The other blog that I had the most fun with besides the motifs one was "Whitman in pop culture." I would like to explore how Whitman is represented in the modern day. From all of the examples that the class shared the modern layperson would probably have a skewed view on what he was all about.
Specifically, I think it could be interesting to see if I can find anything more in pop culture relating to Whitman and his sexuality because two of the shows in the '90s that featured him heavily used Whitman as a springboard to highlight equality issues.
I think that comparing society's take/interest in Whitman's sexuality in our generation with that of his own generation and how it was examined and received would be interesting and would also allow an entry point into his poetry (i.e. where critics and public 1st saw homoerotic lines and passages.)
I am not sure how I want to present this project. Maybe in a multi media presentation including clips from Whitman in pop culture and writings from the past. Any ideas? :)
My other idea is quite different, but I think might be very inspiring. I loved finding favorite lines from Whitman and it was difficult to narrow them down to a favorite. I find this particularly interesting because (and with no offense) Whitman is definitely not my favorite poet, yet there are lines that are just so amazing they can take your breath away. I do think these can stand out on their own as well. I am curious about exploring a project based on writing a series of poems taking these as inspiration. For instance I could make a found poem using these favorite lines, and could write another poem using one line as a springboard, I could see if a majority of the favorite lines share a theme and write on that, or track if it's the certain images in the chosen favorite lines that seem to inspire me and write on that. This would be a particularly satisfying project for me because while immersing myself and learning more about Whitman's poetry, I would also be gaining valuable writing practice and perhaps, hopefully create a good poem or two. Since I'm working on my M.A/M.F.A in creative writing, and exercises based on response to other works/authors has always been an excellent method for me to generate ideas, I think this project may suit me well.
I think this is an awesome idea. When I was doing the pop culture project i kept thinking about how Walt Whitman had just became a name which people have tagged different ideas and what not to, Sometimes good sometimes bad. So it was almost like Walt became the myth, not the universal man. That being said, (i dont know if what I said really leads you anywhere) it is kind of interesting to think back on some of the advertisements of liquor and cigarettes he was used in and thinking about how he was used in them as a man's man, the heroic savior of American freedom's like drinking and smoking. They seem to totally miss all the crucial parts of Walt's ideologies including his sexuality.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am totally reiterating your idea back to you... but! if you want to get creative it might be fun to like assume the voice of Walt Whitman and write to a company who has been wrongly portraying you, maybe like a monologue of sorts. This idea might be difficult because it is hard to know what Walt would say but that might be the fun in it.
I like them both. Using/reusing W. as a springboard for your own creative work sounds very Whitmanian to me. And, the dialectic might produce some very interesting ideas/perceptions about Walt and yourself as well as poetry . . .
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