In class today we briefly touched upon the idea of the great American poet and what allows both Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to fall into this category. Each of their respective journeys to becoming well known in the eye of the public for their literary works is quite different. Whitman was eager to publish and spent a great deal of time putting his name into the world. While, on the other hand, Dickinson’s work rarely ventured outside of her close circle of confidants until it was published posthumously. It reminded me of Emerson’s The American Scholar and the comparisons that we drew between Emerson’s description of the ideal scholar and Whitman himself. The character that Emerson presented was one that Whitman appeared to have strongly identified with. This line of thought begs the question, is there any aspects of the “American Scholar” persona that would relate to the identity of Dickinson? Due to her socioeconomic status Emily was never obliged to work in exchange for her livelihood. So she spent a great deal of time writing and pursuing the humanities, this makes her life vastly different than that of Whitman’s. Although this can be partially attributed to gender roles within the late 1800’s. The main comparison I can draw between essay and Emily is her involvement in nature, this passage from Emerson highlights the importance of nature in regard to scholarly pursuits: “The first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature. Every day, the sun; and, after sunset, Night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows. Every day, men and women, conversing, beholding and beholden. The scholar must needs stand wistful and admiring before this great spectacle. He must settle its value in his mind. What is nature to him?”. It is widely known that Dickinson had extensive knowledge in botany and this clearly influences her work. Her liking to nature allows her identity as a poet to assimilate to the persona that Emerson presented in his essay.  

That being said, do you agree with the similarities between Dickinson and the picture of “The American Scholar”? Are there any other comparisons to be drawn? 

Katriel Lee’s CS for March 30th

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