Paul Allen

Walter Whitman, more commonly known, as Walt Whitman, was one of America’s most important, significant, and influential poets of the nineteenth century. Walt Whitman wrote about the common American person throughout his writing, while being very controversial. Although, his writing did not appeal to everyone, it certainly made its mark on the history of poetic writing in the nation of America. He celebrated democracy, nature, and love. His monumental works praise the body parallel to the soul.…

Troops marching down the street, all eyes trail upon the guns in their arms, a symbol of inevitable violence. Rations slowly decrease and morale plunges. Whether it is an ambulance driver, a civilian, or combatant in service, war changes the lives of everyone involved for the worse. Due to situations like these, people develop bitterness towards fighting and instead work to express the harsh realities of war.War is presented as a hindrance to life in both Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms…

Walt Whitman’s idea of the American Dream cannot be summarized into one sentence. It in its entirety is more complicated than that. Although complicated, Whitman’s American Dream still exists in today’s society. Whitman views the American Dream as a call to arms, a mandatory action that Americans must take. He tells us, “For we cannot tarry here, We must march my darlings…all the rest on us depend.” (4-6). He is telling us in order to achieve progression as a nation, we must venture forward,…

things are not always as they seem. Certain authors, like Whitman, celebrate the United States of America for its diversity and for the vibrant culture where he believes that all can be interconnected and prosper. Meanwhile, other authors, such as Allen Ginsberg are skeptical of the boastings of true diversity and see America in a much more critical perspective in terms of its diversity, or lack thereof.…

"O Me! O Life" by Walt Whitman, and "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns, are both very well known and well-written poems. Both of these poems have similarities and differences, including structure, tone, and figurative language. Very often, poetry's themes revolve around humanity and love. Such include Whitman's and Burn's poems. To begin with, the structure of "O Me! O Life" is dramatically different from that of "A Red, Red Rose". Walt Whitman wrote in free verse and used a significant gap…

Honors American Literature – 29 Danielle Dresen Leslie Lee Illusions Have you ever heard the phrase, “be thankful for what you have?” Or perhaps, “never judge a book by its cover.” It is most likely that you have, seeing as these are both popular phrases with which we use to convey the importance of gratitude and understanding. Whether you agree with these phrases or not, Edgar Lee Masters and Edwin Arlington Robinson do; so much so that they have incorporated them into the themes of their…

Obscene America: An Analyzation of Howl In 1955, beat writer Allen Ginsberg produced a free-verse poem titled Howl. Ginsberg’s Howl is a poem that embodies the conditions of America, specifically how Ginsberg viewed them to be. Being a beat writer, Ginsberg was completely aware of the unjust and superficial ideals America was projecting. Not only, but Ginsberg’s poem was completely uncensored, real, and raw while addressing these issues. For instance, his poem was so uncensored, real, and raw…

The Formation of the Beat Generation Through “Howl” Poetry is usually seen as a “pretty” form of writing. For the Beat poets of the 1950s and Allen Ginsberg, that is not the case. Their works signify a period of anti-censorship in poetry––a time of criticism for mainstream society. Ginsberg’s “Howl” is one poem of particular significance from that time period. On a superficial level, Ginsberg’s three part poem “Howl” appears to be his own adaption of the Beat era in which certain people are…

The Help was written by Kathryn Stockett in 2009. Although this book has some very great historical features and accurate statements about life in the 60s, Stockett also does a very good job getting the readers to think. She shows such emotion in the way she writes the book, it emphasizes how the characters are feeling. Each character is going through such a controversial time in their lives, they must choose which side they are on. The way the book is written portrays the differences in actions…

In the years following the dramatic events of the Second World War, America went through several social upheavals. The first change came when GI’s returned from the battlefield, wanting to go back to the normal life they had previously upheld. This need for a return to traditional gender and societal roles led to an appraisal of mass conformism and to make matters worse, a new suburban class was on the rise. Around the same time, literary and cultural activists broke the mold of rampant…