Assignment task: Begin by reading aloud/ listening to "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman.
Write your thought about the Whitman poem.
Next, begin reading aloud/ listening to "I Too Sing America" by Langston Hughes.
Write your thought about the Whitman poem.
Whitman:
Whitman writes: "I hear America singing." Review the many characters of his poem and the description of what the poet hears them singing.
Choose 2 or 3 of his characters from the poem.
Hughes:
Hughes writes: "I Too, Sing America." Review the images of his poem and the description of what the poet hears them singing.
Choose 2 or 3 of the images from the poem.
1. Consider and Explain aspects of life that echo or "sing" America in those characters (that is, what of their thoughts/ philosophies/ or actions are reflective of America).
2. Consider and explain why might Hughes have thought Whitman's poem needed to be answered? (That is, what of his thoughts/ philosophies/ or actions are reflective of his America (i.e., Black America of the 1920-30s).
3. What do the singers have in common?
4. What is different?
5. In what way is the poem a celebration of America?
6. What is a theme of the poem?