 |
|
Walt Whitmans Evolution
|
Below is one of our free research papers on Walt Whitmans Evolution. If the term paper below is not exactly what you're looking for, you can search our essay database for other topics.
Walt Whitman's Evolution
The nursery was a sea of red, newborn faces! I expected to pinpoint you because you are my flesh and blood. I also named you after an exotic flower, so I assumed… And my father's voice would trail sheepishly. To his disappointment, it was a pink name-tag, not a psychic link that enabled him to know which red, newborn face was mine. Like all babies, I was stamped with a name, the first streak of chalk on my spotless slate of identity. Initially, a name is a set of syllables with the sole purpose of marking one face from an another. But later, this practicality (which distinguished me amongst a sea of infants) loses significance because the name begins to hold deeper meanings as one matures. It may even mark individual identities to the point where a mere mention can lead to surmises, fair and unfair. As a result, one can say Benedict Arnold and Traitor easily in the same breath. A name is not a mere utterance by the tongue; because it is categorized (most often by gender and culture), it can forcefully project its own characteristics onto its owner's identity. Often, my fifth grade teacher crabbily speculated that her mother was probably drunk when her mother was pregnant. My teacher's name was Billy, and her brother's name was Sue, not vice versa. Recognizable connotations in names are important tools for authors to convey literary meanings. For instance, Joe Christmas in William Faulkner's Light in August is conspicuous because of his mixed herit...
|