Leaves of Grass Lesson Plan

Does He Contradict Himself?

Kind of Activity:

Group Work

Objective:

Students will be able to understand the ways Whitman structures and does not structure his poems.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1

Structure:

"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself," Whitman writes in "Song of Myself." Inform students that they will encounter this line tomorrow, and that it is one of Whitman's most famous quotations. Discuss this line with the students: when is it acceptable to contradict oneself? Can one feel two things at the same time?

Divide students into small groups and have them read through the first half of "Song...