Journal 47: Real or Romantic

I would completely agree with the idea that Whitman was romanticizing the worker's "songs". This hard labor and no one would be happy to do it day in and day out with minimum wage. They may have a good day or two in a year but usually they go home late and exhausted. I think he was trying to encourage the society to look at the world more positively. However if I was a worker of the time I wouldn't be so happy to see Whitman, a man of a higher class, write such a poem. It may be glorifying the job that I am doing but I wouldn't appreciate Whitman's idealization of the hard work and making it sound all joyous. The workers would be more sad than cheerful. I don't the would celebrate as much as Whitman does for them in his poem. The poem makes the whole situation sound too good. People go to work everyday in hard labor and only sing work songs to make it go by faster or make the the job seem easier. All in all I think that Whitman wasn't trying to make things over idealized but he was just trying to honor the american workers as heroes. He wanted all of America to see what the workers were doing for the country without complaint.

Journal 46: Work Songs

I think that Whitman choose to focus on songs and work songs to be specific because it was actually what the workers were singing. Yet he was not actually talking about work songs he was implying the spirit of the workers that make up a song of America. Work songs have usually have a good rhythm and rhyme to it just like a poem. Work songs are like poems but only sung and not read. Back then the songs would have been about hard labor and poems would be written about the hard laborer in  America. Working to serve their country and contribute to the common good. In present times the songs would be written about other jobs, office job and how hard they make life. They wouldn't be about how it makes america a better place. It would sound more like a complaint from those who are tired of working and yet still have to so that they can keep heir family fed. IT would be the same in Taiwan as it would be in America since the range of jobs don't hardly differ from one to another and both countries have a large population of people who like to complain.

Journal 44: Barbaric Yawp

Whitman's style is greatly different from that of previous writers and poets we read. He's so free and it seems to me that he wrote his poems almost nonchalantly. He seems to write without a care in the world and without caring wither people would like it or not. The previous writers followed rules and regulations especially the poets. The poets had rhyme schemes they follow one that will never appear in one of Whitman's free verse poems. That him self a barbaric when compared with the Romantic poets. He follows no rule or regulations just like how a barbarian lives in the wild and only follows what is natural when the rules and regulation turn the barbarian into civilized human beings. Whitman's poems are barbaric yawps because they have no set why of writing and like a barbaric he writes freely and unconcerned of the opinions of others. He write free when the "civilized" poets write with strict rules and doesn't try free verse or the so called barbaric yawp.

Journal 45: Acrostics

Prepared to take the test
Art history is a killer
Too much information to remember over night
Ready, yet with doubt
It can't be stalled
Can't be avoided
Knowing that fact he begins the test


Singing all his life
This legend seems to never tired of screaming
Every song he sings becomes a smash hit
Varying from slow to fast
Every songs he sings
Never gets old, they only become classics

Journal 43: What I Hear Singing

Whitman's view of America is very jolly and it seems to be a near perfect society. In my point of view of America today, it has greatly changed and is no longer that near perfect society Whitman praised. America is no longer the jolly working society but instead it has became lazy and gloomy. The economy is down and the harsh laboring job are become harder and harder to do while "singing". People complain instead of "singing" the song Whitman described. In Taiwan some areas are similar to the America Whitman describes. In more rural areas people still work day in and day out making a living via labor and yet they sing their "song". In more urban areas its is very much the same as America in my point of view.
I think that when Whitman was righting I Hear American Singing he was exaggerating and a bit overly optimistic. Even back then the working condition wasn't that great and I doubt that everyone enjoyed they laboring job. Sure they sang working songs, but only to make the work seem easier and more joyful. They only do their job so that they can put food on the table. This may sound pessimistic but it is only the truth from my point of view. No body enjoy their job that much, no matter how much they try to make others believe that they are happy. That is why people retire.

Journal 42: Elements of Poetry

Its is not only in stories were we find theme, plot, characters, conflicts, and resolution; we can find them in poetry too. However poetry contains more than just that, many times there is a rule to it but after Whitman and Dickinson's poems things changed and everything was more free. Yet every poem still has rhythm and many have rhyme. Rhyme and rhythm is something the stories don't have and these are the things that make poetry special. It produces a lyrical effect and many times songs are considered as poetry. You can find the poetry has many forms. Short to long, complex to simple, ruled to free, there are many many different variations. In stories there is always a protagonist and antagonist, which causes the conflict and resolution. In poems these thing are more free there could just be a conflict without characters to cause it nor a resolution, just a profound questioned to be answered. Poems are simple yet complicated it isn't the same as a story but shares many similar qualities and terms.

Journal 41: American Poetry Today

Poetry has transformed in many different ways over the past decades. There are no longer a true need of rules and regulations for poetry. Free versing changed poetry forever. People start to break away from tradition and many times combing more than just one type of rule into one poem, producing something new and interesting. Rhyme is still here but even then it isn't what it use to be.
In America today poetry has transformed into songs, rap, and even commercials. There seems to be no limit as to what can be categorized as poetry. Many people don't see rap as being a type of poetry because of the simple words and slang used. However from listening to many different rappers I found it to be very much a type of poetry and one that should be respected. Well at least the ones that aren't about how a rapper can brag. Many raps tell stories and contains deep meaning just like lyrical and narrative poems. They have a rhyme  and rhythm and many times rap is called rhyme. A rap is a poem to me and its seem to be a easier way for many to express themselves without fear. This is important to me because it is a way of freely speaking and a artistic way too.

Journal 40: Whitman and Dickinson

I think both Whitman and Dickinson are implying different things with their quote. Just from reading them you can tell there is some kind of difference in the tone and language they are using. They are also very different people in terms of personality and life style. Whitman goes around the place, city to city, and enjoys himself in a urban life. Yet Dickinson pulled herself away from the urban cities and went out into isolation. Therefore their messages are different. Whitman is every expressive and speaks his mind he is free to do what he wants. Dickinson is more reserved and mannered. I myself would categorize myself with Whitman, because I like speaking my mind and I like having the freedom to do so. I don't like staying far away from others and living in solitude. Whitman expresses things in life with a more casual manner and that is what I like. Dickinson speaks of more deep topics which many times I find unnecessary because it waste time and never comes to a conclusion. However Whitman also ponders on profound questions. His questions are more daily life and common questions and those I am more welling to spend time on and solutions for such problems are easier to find.