
The Library will collaborate with the National Council of Teachers of English to host a Transcribe-a-Thon webinar on April 24 at 4 p.m.

Drafts and portions of his poems at various stages of composition reveal his active, creative mind, as well as his innovative ways of seeing the world and wordsmithing poetic expressions. This is also a special opportunity for teachers and students to engage with Whitman’s creative process. Documents selected for transcription will include samples of Whitman’s poetry, prose and correspondence, including versions of poems such as “Oh Captain! My Captain!” and fragments of poems Whitman published in more finished form in “Leaves of Grass.” The Library’s crowdsourcing initiative “By the People” will launch a campaign April 24 to enlist the public to help transcribe more than 121,000 pages of Whitman’s writings and papers to make them more searchable and accessible online. Compare this memorial poem with some of the fragments and longer works in the collection.
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“Oh Captain!” became one of Whitman’s most well-known poems and was included in many anthologies, but in many ways it is atypical of Whitman’s poetic style, which was typified by his use of free verse and long lines that spill into two lines on the printed or handwritten page. Walt Whitman wrote “Oh Captain! My Captain!” to honor Abraham Lincoln after the President was assassinated in 1865.

Ask them to compare the two items: In addition to the word choices, students might consider the format that one is handwritten and the other is printed and order of stanzas. Then, present students with the printed copy with corrections and again allow time for them to study and reflect on the revisions. In the first stanza, Whitman crosses out the word “we” and replaces it with “I.” Ask students: How might this change the way that you experience the poem? How much does it change the meaning? Direct students to consider other revisions to the draft, asking the same questions. O Captain! My Captain! printed copy with corrections, 1888
