Week 2 Background

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Week 2 Background

Nationalism

Woody Guthrie

Confederate Flag

Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass

On your desk

Pen + Notebook

1.    What is nationalism? Is it good, bad or both? Explain.

• Ideology 
• Identification of nation
• Support interests
• Exclusion  of others.
• 19th century
• Countries

2.    Who was Woody Guthrie? When and where did he live?

• Singer / Songwriter
• 1912 - 1967
• Okie - Dust Bowl Troubadour
• Communist? Socialist?

en.wikipedia.org

3.    What is the song ‘This land is your land’ about?

• Inclusion and equality
• 'God Bless America'
• Years of roaming the country.
• Adopted by everyone
• Unofficial Anthem

Flags

Flags from American Civil War (1861-1865)

Confederacy

13 states that left the United States of America

6.    What is the problem with the Confederate flag? Why is it still in the news?

• Symbol of Racism
• Reaction to:
• BLM
• LGBTQ+
• 
  
• Heritage, not hate.

7.    What happened in West Plains High School in December 2019?

8.    What is the connection between Woody Guthrie and the book Paper Towns?

• Page 108 End of Chapter 12.
• 
  
• Power of art - create change - inspire/empower
• 
  
• Margo's feelings of suffocation

1. Who was Walt Whitman? When and where did he live?

• Poet
• 19th century (1819-1892)
• Lived during the Civil War (1861-1865)
• 
  
• Wandered New York City and Long Island

2.    When did he publish Leaves of Grass?
3.    What did people think of Leaves of Grass?
4.    Where did the idea for Leaves of Grass come from?

• 1855 (9 editions)
• From ecstatic to worthless
• Most nationalist time in US
• inclusiveness and democracy

“The United States themselves
are essentially the greatest poem”

• Mix of people
• Different background
• Rich and poor
• Past and Future

6.    How does Walt Whitman celebrate himself in this poem?

• First generation Americans
• New heroes - explore
• 
  
• I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
  And what I assume you shall assume,
  For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
• 
  
• Worthy , acceptance, all are equal, be yourself

7.    How does Walt Whitman celebrate the United States in this poem?

• Democratic spirit
• Nature

8.    What is the grass? Why does Walt Whitman put so much emphasis on
this?

• Death and immortality - symbol of the ongoing cycle of life
• Human society - equal

9.    What is the connection between Leaves of Grass and the book Paper Towns?

• Connectivity
• Common roots