- Throughout the whole reading of “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman, he uses short sentence lengths usually consisting of around ten to twenty words each sentence. Something I noticed is he doesn’t end the line/sentence with a period many times and just goes on to the next line and leaving the reader to assume he finished his thought.
- Throughout the reading, there is a lot of times where Whitman includes repetition. He mentions a lot of directional words such as “southward, south-east ward, and etc…” Many times, Whitman starts off his sentences with the same two or three words.
- The effect of these two devices makes the reading short yet keeps it descriptive for the audience. Whitman uses different words to describe simple or the same stuff to try to avoid being repetitive. For example, when he was describing the seagulls in the sky flapping their wings, he described their movement as “floating with motionless wings, oscillating their bodies”. Or in the next sentence Whitman describes the sun creating shadows on the seagulls as “glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies and left the rest in strong shadow”.
- There are definitely similarities between “Leaves of Grass” and our previous readings such as “Open City” by Teju Cole. They both describe something that they personally feel is interesting that another person would find ordinary or average. The writing doesn’t feel professional and that is one of the reasons why I don’t mind reading the texts. The two authors enjoy writing in a “flow” that makes it enjoyable for readings and takes them along for the journey.
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