... it spoke with a poet's words. "Afoot and lighthearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever I choose." Through his poetry, Whitman's "Song of Myself" makes the soul sensual and makes divine the flesh. In Whitman's time, the dichotomy between the soul and the body had been clearly defined by centuries ... foundation for the basic egalitarianism with which he treats all aspects of his being for the rest of the poem. This equality includes not only his sexuality, but in broader terms, his soul and body. In the opening to...

• Word Count: 1078
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... (the stern religious tradition of the early Puritans) and the emergence of Unitarianism and Deism. This marked a growing liberality in religious thought and practice, and this period was significant in terms of religious searching and the development of new forms of religious thought. Other institutional influences on American romanticism include the rise and professionalization of science, against which Romantic writers reacted ... American. Leaves of Grass was inspired largely by Emerson's writings, and in particular his essay "The Poet." The poem is innovative both in terms of style ...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... will see what we are really like on the inside. They will see our talents, imperfections, and preferences. Then they will have the opportunity to accept us on our own terms. As we work to show our true selves to society, we may discover things about ourselves we did not already know. We all have our own unique talents of which ... truly are, our talents will have the opportunity to come to the fore. An example of this is when I was in Fifth grade. As a class we all had to write poetry about the surroundings outside of our school. All of the kids in my class wrote the same kind of rhymin...

• Word Count: 1147
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School