Question

Write an essay explaining how Whitman answered the question “What does it mean to be an American?” in “ Song of Myself.” Your response should be at least 200 words.

Answer 1

In his Preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman argues that "The United States is the greatest poem"; in 1844, Emerson had argued that a new kind of poet was needen in order to sing the United States and its new realities, different from those of Europe. In "Song of Myself", Whitman presents an expansive view of the Self, a Self capable of receiving all kinds of influences and turning them into something original and new. Just as the United States was receiving inmingrants from all over the world, the Self that Whitman celebrates and sings is one with the natural cosmos and the brotherhood of man. In Whitman's poem, being an American means being open, expansive and receptive, both to nature and culture. Whitman approaches a sort of pantheism, where every blade of grass is part of his Self. He posits a sort of holistic individualism, where the Self mingles with the Other in the New World.

Answer 2

To be an American is to embody the culture and dream of every ancestors who fought for where it is today. To abide and obey to the laws and principles of the country applicable to every citizen and all the other human living being under the scope of the country. To be an American is to be worth of America.