EN 353 American Romanticism
Dr. Randall A. Clack
Fall 2014

Below you will find your Emerson-Whitman project. Your project must be typed (double-spaced) and it must have an accompanying Works Cited Page. I do not expect any secondary sources (critical material) to be used in the project. I want your thoughts, your ideas, your insights. While I am not specifying any page-length, my expectation is that the average length will be three to four pages (not counting the Works Cited page). This essay will be graded on content, grammar, and mechanics. The project is worth 20% of your final grade. Write well.

Your project is due (to me) at the beginning of class, Thursday, October 16 2014; no extensions, no exceptions.

Your Topic:

Upon receiving a first-edition copy of Leaves of Grass, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote Walt Whitman, “I greet you at the beginning of a great career” (348) and Whitman responded in a 1856 letter by referring to Emerson as “Master” (1410). Create an essay that examines the influence of Emerson’s ideas in “The Poet” and at least one other essay discussed in class upon Whitman in his 1855 “Preface” and his epic “Song of Myself.”

This is a formal project – you are expected to use correct quotation, citation and “Works Cited” format. In addition, you are not to use the personal pronouns I, me, my, mine, us, our, you, or you all, slang words or phrases or colloquialisms. For further words and phrases to avoid, see the Stylistic Notes for All Writing.

At this time I would remind you of the Essay Format guidelines on our syllabus:

Essays and Essay Format:
All out-of-class essays must be printed on standard typing paper, double-spaced, and stapled with one staple in the upper left-hand corner. Use standard margins (1 inch left and right, top and bottom). Use a 12-point font; please use left