How Long to Read Whitman's Poetry of the Body

How Long Does it Take to Read Whitman's Poetry of the Body?

It takes the average reader 3 hours and 44 minutes to read Whitman's Poetry of the Body by M. Jimmie Killingsworth

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

This book combines literary and historical analysis in a study of sexuality in Walt Whitman's work. Informed by his "new historicist" understanding of the construction of literary texts, Jimmie Killingsworth examines the progression of Whitman's poetry and prose by considering the textual history of Leaves of Grass and other works. Killingsworth demonstrates that Whitman's "poetry of the body" derives its radical power from the transformation of conventional attitudes toward sexuality, traditional poetics, and conservative politics. The sexual relation, with its promise of unity, love, equality, interpenetration, and productivity for partners, becomes a metaphor for all political and social relationships, including that of poet and reader. The effect of the poems is protopolitical, an altering of consciousness about the body's relation to other bodies, a shifting of the categories of knowledge that foretells political action. Killingsworth traces the interplay in Whitman's poetry between sexual and textual themes that derive from Whitman's political response to the historical turbulence of mid-century America. He describes a subtle shift in Whitman's prose writings on poetics, which turn from a view of poetry in the early 1850s as morally and politically efficacious to a chastened romanticism in the postwar years that frees the poet from responsibility for the world outside his poems. Later editions of Leaves of Grass are marked by the poet's deliberate repression of erotic themes in favor of a depoliticized aestheticism that views art not as a motivator of political and moral action but as an artifact embodying the soul of the genius.

How long is Whitman's Poetry of the Body?

Whitman's Poetry of the Body by M. Jimmie Killingsworth is 218 pages long, and a total of 56,244 words.

This makes it 74% the length of the average book. It also has 69% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Whitman's Poetry of the Body Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 5 hours and 7 minutes to read Whitman's Poetry of the Body aloud.

What Reading Level is Whitman's Poetry of the Body?

Whitman's Poetry of the Body is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Whitman's Poetry of the Body?

Whitman's Poetry of the Body by M. Jimmie Killingsworth is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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