Leaves of Grass
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Reading and Writing Workshop

"Leaves of Grass": Democracy, Self, and the Poetic Voice
Session 1: Introduction to Whitman and the Poetic Self
​Focus: Understanding Whitman’s innovation in free verse and his philosophy of the self.
Primary Text:

• Leaves of Grass (1855 Preface)
  https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1322

Discussion Topics:

• What does Whitman suggest about the poet’s role in democracy?
• How does Whitman celebrate the individual self?

Writing Activity:
Write a short “Song of Myself”–inspired poem, focusing on your connection to nature, humanity, and the cosmos.

Session 2: Song of the Body and Sensual Experience
Focus: Whitman’s radical portrayal of the human body and physicality.
Primary Text:

• “I Sing the Body Electric” from Leaves of Grass
  https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1322/pg1322-images.html#link2H_4_0008

Discussion Topics:

• How does Whitman portray the human body as sacred?
• Why was this kind of writing controversial in the 19th century?

Writing Activity:
Write a descriptive passage celebrating a part of nature or the body using Whitman’s language style.

Session 3: The American Experience and the Democratic Idea
lFocus: Democracy, labor, and American identity in Whitman’s poetry.
Primary Text:

• “Song of the Open Road”
  https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1322/pg1322-images.html#link2H_4_0024

Discussion Topics:

• How does Whitman use travel as a metaphor for freedom and unity?
• What vision of America emerges in this poem?

Writing Activity:
Compose a free verse piece imagining your own journey “on the open road”—literal or metaphorical.

Session 4: Death, Transcendence, and the Natural World
Focus: Whitman’s treatment of mortality and nature.
Primary Text:

• “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
  https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1322/pg1322-images.html#link2H_4_0050

Discussion Topics:

• How does Whitman express grief through nature?
• What are the spiritual or transcendent elements in his writing?

Writing Activity:
Write an elegy that uses imagery from nature to explore loss or remembrance.

Session 5: Banned and Beloved – The Controversy of Leaves of Grass
Focus: Examining why Leaves of Grass was censored and banned.
Context Reading:

• Excerpts from Leaves of Grass (see sessions 2 and 4 for controversial passages)
• Whitman’s letter to Emerson on the second edition (1856)
  https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1322/pg1322-images.html#link2H_4_0027

Supplemental Public Domain Reading:

• The Law of Obscenity from The Law of Literature by John G. Marvin (1856), providing historical context for obscenity laws
  https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39863

Discussion Topics:

• What aspects of Whitman’s poetry led to accusations of obscenity?
• How do perceptions of literary morality shift over time?

Writing Activity:
Write a reflection or argument: “Should Leaves of Grass have been banned? Why or why not?”

Session 6: The Poetic Voice and Legacy of Whitman
​Focus: How Whitman’s voice influenced future poets and cultural identity.
Primary Text:

• “Poets to Come” from Leaves of Grass
  https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1322/pg1322-images.html#link2H_4_0027

Supplemental Reading:

• Preface to Drum-Taps (1865) by Walt Whitman
  https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45475

Discussion Topics:

• How does Whitman reach out to future generations of poets?
• What makes his style and message timeless?

Writing Activity:
Write your own “Poets to Come” poem or a letter to a future reader about what matters most to you now.