ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION OR INVESTIGATION

• Look at the geographical names in a particular section of "Song of Myself" (or the Preface). Which ones stand out or seem unusual, either because of their location or because they are no longer in regular use? Do you notice any patterns of sound in his list, or does it just seem a random selection from an atlas?
• Focusing on a particular section of the poem, consider the relation between human bodies and animals, birds, or plants. How does the poem understand its placement within a natural environment?
• Research the national politics of the late 1840s and 1850s. What were the major controversies (or "diseases") confronting the national body? You might also read Whitman's prose diatribe, "The Eighteenth Presidency!"
• Look at the Whitman's Body Electronic page for ideas about other, non-political ways Whitman uses the body metaphorically.