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Who Am I? What Has Made Me Who I Am?

The document is an excerpt from Walt Whitman's poem "There Was a Child Went Forth" in which he considers all the people, places, and experiences from a single day that shape who a child becomes. It provides writing prompts for students to make their own lists of influences and choose one to write about. These lists could be added to or used for inspiration throughout a genre study. Students are also encouraged to carry notebooks and journal details of a single day to notice what is important to them.

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Nitoya Lee
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341 views4 pages

Who Am I? What Has Made Me Who I Am?

The document is an excerpt from Walt Whitman's poem "There Was a Child Went Forth" in which he considers all the people, places, and experiences from a single day that shape who a child becomes. It provides writing prompts for students to make their own lists of influences and choose one to write about. These lists could be added to or used for inspiration throughout a genre study. Students are also encouraged to carry notebooks and journal details of a single day to notice what is important to them.

Uploaded by

Nitoya Lee
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Who am I? What has made me who I am?


There was a child went forth every day, And the first object he looked upon and received with wonder or pity or love or dread, that object he became, And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day . . . or for many years or stretching cycles of years. The early lilacs became part of this child, And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird, And the March-born lambs, and the sows pink-faint litter, and the mares foal, and the cows calf, and the noisy brood of the barnyard or by the mire of the pond-side . . . and the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there . . . and the beautiful curious liquid . . . and the water-plants with their graceful flat heads . . . all became part of him. from There Was A Child Went Forth, by Walt Whitman Everything we have seen and touched and heard and experienced has, in some way, made us who we are. Whitman considers all the many things in just one day that will touch on the life of a child. From here he goes on to think about the childs teachers and classmates, the people he passes on his way to school, his parents, the streets he walks, and finally the changing light of sunset, and a solitary bird flying across the sky.

Who am I? Activity
You may want to share the whole poem with your class or just the excerpt above. Either way it serves as an invitation to your students to think about all the many things that have (either obviously or subtly) affected them in their own lives. Using the activity worksheet sheet provided, have students begin to make their own lists of influences that they can write about later. Of course, there
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is room on the sheet for students to create their own categories, and they may want to share these with each other. After creating their lists, have the students choose just one of the items to write about in their notebooks. At various times throughout the genre study, students may want to return to these lists, either to add to them or to use them for inspiration in their writing.

Themes and Variations


A list could also be created simply by noting all the details of a single day, as does Whitman in his poem. Have students carry their notebooks with them, jotting down all that crosses their path from morning to night. What do they notice? Whats important to them?

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Who am I? What has made me who I am?


People
Relatives Friends Teachers Other

Places
Homes Special Places Vacations Travel Routes

Nature
Trees and Plants Weather Water Other

Stories
Books Television Movies Family Stories

Teaching Memoir Writing

Scholastic Professional Books

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Who am I? What has made me who I am?


Animals
Pets Wild Animals Insects Other

Sensations
Food Smells Music Other

Diversions
Games Sports Dreams Daydreams

Teaching Memoir Writing

Scholastic Professional Books

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