CChapterhapter 8 Whitman and Dickinson— American · PDF filein his poem “I Hear...

Whitman and Dickinson— American Masters

Private Collection/ David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, NYC, USA/Bridgeman Art Library

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I Hear America Singing 147

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Preparing to Read

I Hear America Singingby Walt Whitman

LITERARY SKILLS FOCUS: CATALOGA catalog is a long list of related things, people, or events. Whitman frequently

uses catalogs in his poetry. By selecting and naming workers and their “songs”

in his poem “I Hear America Singing,” he celebrates the energetic spirit of the

nation. A catalog also creates a kind of rhythm built on the repetition of certain

sentence patterns.

As you read the poem, Whitman’s use of cataloging should be easily

identifiable. Here are some of the workers to look for as you read:

• the mechanics

• the carpenter

• the mason

READING SKILLS FOCUS: ANALYZING TEXT STRUCTURES

To create certain effects and to get across the meaning of his poems, Whitman

uses text structures such as parallelism and elliptical constructions. Parallelism

is the repetition of words, phrases, clauses, or sentences that have the same

grammatical structure. For example, the phrase, “I sang, cooked, and washed

up,” uses parallel structure. It contains a series of three verbs in the past tense.

Elliptical constructions are phrases, clauses, or sentences with words left out.

Their meaning can be inferred, or guessed, from nearby sentences with similar

structure. The phrase “Lucy read her book and Ricky read his” is an example,

because “Ricky read his book” is implied.

Analyze Whitman’s structure as you read “I Hear America Singing.” Pause

occasionally to decide if what you are reading is an example of parallelism or

elliptical construction.

Reading Standard 2.2Analyze the way in which clarity of meaning is affected by the patterns of organization, hierarchial structures, repetition of the main ideas, syntax, and word choice in the text.3.3 Analyze the ways in which irony, tone, mood, the author’s style, and the “sound” of language achieve specific rhetorical or aesthetic purposes or both.3.4 Analyze ways in which poets use imagery, personification, figures of speech, and sounds to evoke readers’ emotions.

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Vocabulary Development

148 I Hear America Singing

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I Hear America SingingSELECTION VOCABULARYblithe (BLYTH) adj.: happy and cheerful.

Whitman admires Americans’ blithe nature.

beam (BEEM) n.: large, long piece of wood for use in construction.

The speaker describes carpenters measuring a beam.

mason (MAY SUHN) n.: worker who lays stone or brick.

The mason sings as he is about to begin his work.

robust (ROH BUHST) adj.: vigorous and healthy.

The robust young men enjoy singing as they socialize after work.

melodious (MUH LOH DEE UHS) adj.: sweet-sounding; musical.

Whitman uses melodious language and natural rhythms.

WORD STUDY

DIRECTIONS: Write “Yes” after each sentence if the italicized vocabulary word

is being used correctly. Write “No” if it is being used incorrectly, and rewrite

the sentence so that the word is used correctly.

1. There was a blithe feeling during the funeral procession; nearly everyone

was crying.

2. He practiced hammering nails into a wooden beam.

3. I hired the finest mason to construct my grandfather’s new fireplace.

4. The robust toddlers seemed to have an endless supply of energy.

5. The substitute teacher scraped his fingernails on the chalkboard; the

melodious sound got everyone’s attention.


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I Hear America Singingby Walt Whitman

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe

and strong,The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off

work,The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deck-

hand singing on the steamboat deck,The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing

as he stands, A

The wood-cutter’s song, the plowboy’s on his way in the morn-ing, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work,

or of the girl sewing or washing, B

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young

fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs. C

5

10

In lines 3–6, is Whitman using parallelism, elliptical construction, or both? Explain.

READING FOCUSA

List all of the workers in this catalog.

LITERARY FOCUSB

Melodious comes from the Greek word melo idia, which means “song.” How does the origin help you to understand the meaning of melodious?

LANGUAGE COACHC

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Applying Your Skills

I Hear America SingingVOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

DIRECTIONS: Unscramble each set of letters below to form a vocabulary word from the Word

Box. Then, write the definition for the vocabulary word in your own words. One word will not

be used.

blithe

beam

mason

robust

melodious

1. SOAMN

2. BELTIH

3. BURSTO

4. SIDEMOLOU

LITERARY SKILLS FOCUS: CATALOG

DIRECTIONS: On the lines below, explain what effect the use of a catalog has

on the meaning of “I Hear America Singing.”

READING SKILLS FOCUS: ANALYZING TEXT STRUCTURES

DIRECTIONS: On the lines below, write two examples of parallelism from the

poem and explain what makes the structure parallel.

Reading Standard 2.2,

3.3, 3.4See page 147 for complete

text.

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CChapterhapter 8 Whitman and Dickinson— American · PDF filein his poem “I Hear...

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