... filling a blackboard in the living room to prove the point. Cliff may not get enough to eat, but his father requires him to read Charles Dickens's Great Expectations with Walt Whitman thrown in for a poetry diversion that his father promises is something like "rap."" Choosing reading material for his son from a decidedly Eurocentric canon, Cliff's father, Ray, seems very out of ... behind the seamless playing of all roles on and off the screen. While Vanishing Son and Martial Law recognize the value of the high art world of Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, violin virtuosi and modernist pa...

• Word Count: 9463
• Approx Pages: 38
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of 60 Years,"" The New York Times 11 April 1996. 19 An American poet born in West Hills, N.Y. Considered by many to be the greatest of all American poets. Walt Whitman celebrated the freedom and dignity of the individual and sang the praises of democracy and the brotherhood of man. His Leaves of Grass, unconventional in both content and technique, is ... probably the most influential volume of poems in the history of American literature, see "Whitman, Walt." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia © 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002 on Infoplease.com © 2002 Family Education Network. 24 Apr. 2003 . ...

• Word Count: 3694
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School