Walt Whitman Tone

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The poem “America” by Walt Whitman has a respectful tone. Whitman appeared to have great respect for American Society. There are some words throughout his poem that contribute to the respectful tone. The first word that contributes to the tone is equal. Whitman observed that there were “equal daughters, equal sons.” Equality appeared to be important to Whitman, so the fact that America provided the opportunity for everyone to be equal was something that Whitman showed his respect in the tone of the poem. The second word that contributes to the tone is alike. Whitman was appreciative of the fact that Americans were alike, rather they were “grown, ungrown, young or old,” despite being alike, people still had their qualities that differentiated …show more content…
During the early twentieth century, America went through many hardships. Whitman seemed to recognize that America was strong as a nation despite those hardships, most people could respect that, just as Whitman showed he did with the tone throughout his poem. The fourth word that contributed to the tone is freedom. Whitman conveyed that America is a country based on freedom, that embraced equality, fairness, being realistic and scientific. The way that Whitman spoke so highly of America in his poem shows his great respect, particularly in regards to America’s freedom. The fifth word that contributes to the tone is grand. Whitman viewed America as grand nation. Throughout his entire poem, it was clear that Whitman had great respect for America, and by using the word grand in his poem, he even further signified his tone. Whitman’s tone certainly indicated that he had a great respect for America, and American freedom. There are many word choices in Whitman’s poem “America” that signify his respectful tone towards American …show more content…
Whitman’s views focused on the greatness of America, while Ginsberg provoked controversy and rebelled against the traditional views of American society. It appeared that Whitman was trying to promote expansion of America through higher levels of education and thinking with his works of poetry. Whitman seemed to focus on the positives of American society, and the ways upon which it could become even greater than he already thought it

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