Analysis of Walt Whitmans Poetry - 1289 Words

1. What was your favorite line of poetry from the Whitman reading and why? Post the line with your comments. (200 words) The best line of poetry from the Whitman reading is the first line of the poem, Something startles me where I thought I was safest ¦ It is this line that sets up the tone for the remainder of the poem. At first one wonders what the poem will be about. Will it be about a lost love? Will it be a poem about the loss of innocence? The poem could also relate to the loss of a memory. This line catches the readers attention because it makes them wonder exactly what the remainder of the poem will entail. It automatically causes the reader to continue on reading the entire poem to find out in which exact context this particular line was in reference to. Right away, the readers know that something that was once held dear by the poet is now gone. The use of words also gives a certain emphasis on the importance of beginning in this particular way. The word startles is a powerful word. He could have used another word such as scares or frightens which both have the same definition as startles, b ut it would not have the same emphasis. Using a word that begins with the letter s just as the words something and safest make the line much easier to read and understand. The flow of this sentence is not interrupted by other letter sounds, and the importance can be determined immediately. It provides a great transition into the rest of the poem. This line ofShow MoreRelatedAllen Ginsberg, A Supermarket in California Literary Analysis1669 Words   |  7 PagesJasamyn Wimmer English 1B Professor Kleinman 5 March 2013 Brief Literary Analysis Lost America: An analysis of â€Å"A Supermarket in California† Allen Ginsberg; philosopher, activist, poet, a man highly revered as a groundbreaking figure between the 1950’s Beat Poetry Generation and the counter-cultural revolution of the 1960’s (poetryarchive.org). 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