Home - Walt Whitman/Emily Dickinson Project - LibGuides at Mesa Public Schools

Resources

Glossary of Poetic Devices

Here you will find a glossary of poetic devices that are used to help analyze poetry.
Walt Whitman Archive

Here you will find CREDIBLE information about Walt Whitman. You can also download many pictures of Walt from this site.
Emily Dickinson Biography

Here you will find a biography of Emily Dickinson as well as some of her poetry.
Digital Backgrounds

These digital backgrounds are very unique. There are free public domain backgrounds to use in your PowerPoint presentation if you would like to.
American Romanticism

This is a comprehensive description of American Romanticism. LOOK AT BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR COMMON ROMANTIC THEMES!

Project Description

Photo sources: Walt Whitman Archive, Poets.org

Welcome to the LibGuide for the Whitman/Dickinson project! Here you will find all of the sources you will need to complete the project. If you have any questions, use the "send e-mail" link on the right side of this page to contact me.

Instructions:

1. With your group, browse the Whitman Poetry and Dickinson Poetry tabs to preview several of the poems by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. As a group, decide on a poem that you wish to analyze and teach to the class.

2. Once you have decided on the poem that you are going to analyze, complete a Poetry Analysis Worksheet as a group. Be sure to agree on a theme for the poem. Remember that a theme should be a statement of a lesson to be learned about life. To identify a theme, pay attention to the other poetic devices and think about what they might suggest to the reader. You will each need to have your own Poetry Analysis Worksheet, so keep your own copies.

3. After analyzing the poem and completing the Poetry Analysis Worksheet, it is time to think about creating the Multi-media PowerPoint presentation. Click on the Multi-Media PowerPoint tab for example PPT presentations and further directions.

4. Finally, you will present your Multi-media PowerPoint to the class. Your job will be to effectively teach the other students in the class about your author, poem, and discuss how you arrived at a possible theme that the poem suggests.