American poet Walt Whitman born

Related Lessons

• 
  Lesson Plan / Art & Culture

  Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy

  Walt Whitman sought to create a new and distinctly American form of poetry. His efforts had a profound influence on subsequent generations of American poets. In this lesson, students will explore the historical context of Whitman's concept of "democratic poetry" by reading his poetry and prose and by examining daguerreotypes taken circa 1850. Next, students will compare the poetic concepts and techniques behind Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" and Langston Hughes' "Let America Be America Again," and will have an opportunity to apply similar concepts and techniques in creating a poem from their own experience.

  • The Lesson
  • The Basics
  • Resources
• 
  Lesson Plan / History & Social Studies

  Walt Whitman's Notebooks and Poetry: the Sweep of the Universe

  Clues to Walt Whitman's effort to create a new and distinctly American form of verse may be found in his Notebooks, now available online from the American Memory Collection.  In an entry to be examined in this lesson, Whitman indicated that he wanted his poetry to explore important ideas of a universal scope (as in the European tradition), but in authentic American situations and settings using specific details with direct appeal to the senses.

  • The Lesson
  • The Basics
  • Resources

Memorial Day first observed

Related Lessons

• 
  Lesson Plan / Art & Culture

  The Massachusetts 54th Regiment: Honoring the Heroes

  The focus of this lesson is the Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Students will put themselves in the shoes of the men of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment as they read, write, pose, and then create a comic strip about these American heroes.

  • The Lesson
  • The Basics
  • Resources

Over 2,000 residents of Johnstown, PA, die in a massive flood