English 24

Freshman Seminar: Reading Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass

Book List

Whitman, Walt: Leaves of Grass and Other Writings, 2nd Rev. Ed. (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2002)

Description

Walt Whitman self published the first edition of Leaves of Grass, a collection of poems, in 1855.  For the rest of his life, he reworked, revised, and added to this collection. He produced at least six distinguishable editions. We will read selectively from what has been called “the Deathbed Edition” (1891-1892), but we will examine the first (1855) and third (1860) editions as well. In addition, we will explore the online Walt Whitman Archive, “the most comprehensive Web-based collection of Whitman’s writings and biographical information.” The seminar will culminate in actor-educator John Slade’s visit to class and his one-person performance entitled Whitman Sings! in which, in Whitman’s persona, he sets Whitman’s words to “folk, gospel, and hip hop frames.”

Note that this section of English 24 will run from August 28 to October 16 only (two hours per class meeting).

This 1-unit course may not be counted as one of the twelve courses required to complete the English major.

Other Recent Sections of This Course