Question 8:

Is Walt Whitman still relevant today? Why? Trace his influences.

Presented by: Nor Aziati Bt Anuar (0628636) Siti Amirah Ahmad Tarmizi (0628070) Raja Noraidlin Sueraya (0624762) Nuruljannah Hj Usop (0628396) Mira Hazreen Mohamedon (0629276) Siti Zubaidah bt Ismail (0625356)

Celebrates Nature

Equality Whitmans Ideology

Democracy
Unconventional

Unity

Individualism

Literary Figures
1.WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS (1883-1948) According to Trachtenberg (n.d.), William Carlos Williams- when he entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1902 he brought Leaves of Grass with him, absorbed it with enthusiasm, and kept a Whitmanian notebook in which he jotted down quick spontaneous poems. (p.197)

 Williams considered this notebook as a secret notebook, What the secret notebooks represented, Williams desire to write a poetry that was simple, direct and passional, eventually prevailed and guided Williams to the discovery or invention of his own voice. (p.197)
Among his poems As the cat (12 lines) Play (3 lines)

E.g.

Play
Subtle, clever brain, wiser than I am, by what devious means do you contrive to remain idle? Teach me, O master

2. Ezra Pound
He gives credit to Whitman for opening up new possibilities for the use of poetic language. Ezra Pound was impressed by the way Whitman proposed the language of poetry. He abandoned the traditional forms of poetry and wrote in free verse. His lines don't rhyme, they have no consistent meter, and they're not even close to the same length.

 Very much influenced by Whitman; What I Feel About Walt Whitman (1909) A Pact (1915)
One of Pounds work that is believed to be influenced by Whitman is an epic poem The Cantos. This poem is a document of the rise, reign, and fall of a literary style, a generation of artists, and a way of life.

The Cantos by Ezra Pound

AND then went down to the ship, Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and We set up mast and sail on that swart ship, Bore sheep aboard her, and our bodies also Heavy with weeping, and winds from sternward Bore us out onward with bellying canvas, Circe's this craft, the trim-coifed goddess. Then sat we amidships, wind jamming the tiller, Thus with stretched sail, we went over sea till day's end. Sun to his slumber, shadows o'er all the ocean, Came we then to the bounds of deepest water, To the Kimmerian lands, and peopled cities Covered with close-webbed mist, unpierced ever With glitter of sun-rays Nor with stars stretched, nor looking back from heaven Swartest night stretched over wretched men there.

3. Martin Espada
He is a 2005 award-winning poet. One of todays poets that belong to Whitmanic tradition. He views Whitman as the founder of American poetry. He claims that Whitman is different from other poets. Whitman is saying what hes saying, that he means what he means.

"Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100" by Martn Espada Alabanza. Praise the cook with a shaven head and a tattoo on his shoulder that said Oye, a blue eyed Puerto Rican with people from Fajardo, the harbor of pirates centuries ago. Praise the lighthouse in Fajardo, candle glimmering white to worship the dark saint of the sea. Alabanza. Praise the cooks yellow Pirates cap worn in the name of Roberto Clemente, his plane that flamed into the ocean loaded with cans for Nicaragua, for all the mouths chewing the ash of earthquakes. Alabanza. Praise the kitchen radio, dial clicked even before the dial on the oven, so that music and Spanish rose before bread. Praise the bread. Alabanza.

Political Leaders
1. Barack Obama
Democracy Democracy is a political government either carried out directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (Representative democracy). There are two principles of democracy: equality and freedom.

An excerpt of Obamas speech There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to

join in the work of remaking this nation

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our

nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our
wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: Democracy, Iiberty, opportunity and unyielding hope

Freedom
Freedom for people to choose their life partner and ways of life: Homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual.
I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage, but I do believe in civil unions. I do believe when gay partners want to visit each other in the hospital, the state should say you know what, thats all right, I dont think in any way inhibits my core beliefs about what marriage is. My faith is strong enough and my marriage is strong enough that I can afford to give those civil rights to others, even if I have a different perspective or a different view. (Readers digest, February 2009)

From the White House Web site: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.

2. Dato' Seri Najib bin Tun Razak

Unity The concept of 1Malaysia proposed by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak. It has the similar concept with Whitmans poem which is the sense of unity. In Whitmans poem, he praised the individual as he imagined a democratic nation as a unified whole composed of unique but equal individuals.

 1Malaysia is a concept to foster unity and underlines the value of "Acceptance" amongst its multi-racial people, where one race embraces the uniqueness of other races so that we may live with mutual respect for each other as a nation. Voices from other races are not left out and they still receive the same justice and welfare. Malaysians will be looked after, leaving no one behind despite from the different ethnicity.

Entertainment
American Movies e.g. Wall-E and I Now Pronounce You, Chuck and Larry Allahyarham Yasmine Ahmad

Wall-E

I Now Pronounce You, Chuck and Larry

Allahyarham Yasmine Ahmad

Anak muda sekarang dituduh tidak menghargai perjuangan1957, saya fikir ini bagus. Cukuplah generasi tua saja yang merasakan kesengsaraan masa itu. Mengapa generasi muda dipaksa merasakanya juga? (Teroris Bahasa, Saharil Hasrin Sanin, )

Students
Democracy
SRC - Voting rights

Freedom and Individuality Choices in determining your own study plan

-Which lecturer -Which subject -What time

Unity All foreign and local students live in peace

References
Cargill, O. (1941). Intellectual America: Ideas on the March. London: Macmillan & Co. Miller, P. (1957). The American transcendentalists, their prose and poetry. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books. Saharil Hasrin Sanin (2008). Teroris bahasa. Kuala Lumpur: Matahari Books. Trachtenberg,A.(n.d.). Walt Whitman: Precipitant of the Modern. In Greenspan,E(Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Whitman (p.197). Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. Warren, R. (2009, February). President Obama on good and evil and a better world. Reports on Readers Digest Magazine, pp 38-44.

Ezra Pound. (1998). Retrieved March 2, 2010, from http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/PoundE.htm Retrieved, March 1, 2010, from http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/whitman/themes.html Retrieved, March 1, 2010, from http://www.1malaysia.com.my/index.php?view=article&id=3731

&option=com_content&format=pdf&lang=en
Retrieved March 3, 2010, from www.poemhunter.com/poem/play Retrieved, March 1, 2010, from

http://thewatchword.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/obama-theminoritythe-new-majority

Retrieved, March 2, 2010, from http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/the_real_american_ido l/1897559/Barack-Obama-praises-democracy.html

Retrieved, March 4,2010, from

http://www.minorityrights.org/7927/peoples-under-threat/peoplesunder-threat-2009.html Retrieved, March 3,2010, from http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianactivism/p/BarackObama.htm

Retrieved, March 1, 2010, from

http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/03/08/obama-stimulus-criticizedfor-leaving-out-minority-owned-firms