Whiteman Dickinson Case
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Sara Nolan
Mrs. Bulger
Honors American Lit/Comp
16 January 2014
Whitman and Dickinson: The Great Romantic Poets
Both Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were fantastic poets in the late 19th century. Although their chosen topics were similar, each had a very unique way of expressing their views and opinions. Whitmans poem “I Hear America Singing” and Dickinsons poem ” Much Madness is divinest Sense” discuss the authors shared view on society comparing to individuals.
Each of these authors had very different diction throughout their poetry. Whitman widened the spectrum by including regional dialects and slang. This made his poetry more relatable to the common man. As in his “I Hear America Singing” , he wrote ” The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam” . This shows he wrote about the common man in their own dialect so the poetry would be available to all to comprehend and meditate on. Dickinson wrote the opposite way. She tended to include many vivid metaphors in her complex writing. In her beloved “Much Madness is divinest Sense” , she wrote ” To a discerning Eye- Much Sense- the starkest Madness-“. This piece shows how she wrote her raw thought pattern in a complex manner geared towards no select audience. The authors diction varied widely amongst their work.
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The authors work also varies in syntax and structure. Whitman wrote in free verse and complete, inverted stanzas. His thoughts were usually expressed in long, complete sentences. In “I Hear America Singing”, he wrote “The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench”. This line is an example of his organized, structured layout written in the traditional sense. Dickinson wrote in complex slant. She used many pauses when writing her short thoughts in a complex layout. In ” Much Madness is divinest Sense”, she wrote ” Demur-