Procedure

Time: Approximately 30 minutes.

Materials: Student Directions and computers with Internet access OR print-outs of Page 200 and Page 201 from Walt Whitman's notebook and the poem "Quicksand Years".

Implementation: This RWLO could be used either in the classroom to demonstrate how even famous authors revised their own work or as an activity / homework assignment. Students can work individually or in small groups but it is recommended that each student answer the questions as some relate directly to their own writing process.

Steps:

Provide access to the Student Directions and/or print and distribute the Student Worksheet (whitman_revisions.doc - 163 KB) located in the Content Material section of this RWLO. NOTE: for back-up plans and/or if you plan to conduct this RWLO offline, see Recommendations.   Distribute and/or display a the poem "Quicksand Years" as it appears in Whitman's Leaves of Grass so that every student can read it.   Open Page 200 from Walt Whitman's notebook and demonstrate one example of how Whitman edited as he wrote. Students should make a list of the words and/or passages Whitman crossed out and the corresponding changes (Question 1 of Part A: Walt Whitman's Revisions).   Open Page 201 from Whitman's notebook and ask students to make another list of the words and/or passages Whitman crossed out and his changes (Question 2 of Part A: Walt Whitman's Revisions).   Ask the students to re-read the published version of Whitman's "Quicksand Years". Students should compare this version with the two previous versions and respond to the four questions in Part B: "Quicksand Years": the Final Version of their handouts.   Students will now reflect upon how they edit and revise. Students should complete the last two questions under Part C: Your Writing Process.

 

(NOTE: the notebooks have been digitally archived by the Library of Congress
 and can be located in the Thomas Biggs Harned Walt Whitman Collection)