Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
English
Date of Award
5-2019
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
David Jones
Committee Members
Jesse Graves, Scott Honeycutt
Abstract
This survey follows the development of working-class poetry from Whitman to contemporary poets. It begins by considering how the need for working-class poetry emerged. Whitman’s “Song of Myself” sought to democratize poetry both my challenging previous poetic formal conventions and broadening the scope of included subjects. Williams also challenged formal expectations, but both were limited by their historical and socioeconomic position. To combat this, I include the twentieth-century poets Ignatow and Levine who began in the working class so they could speak truths that had not been published before. Ignatow includes the phrase “dream of completion” which encapsulates various feelings of the working class. This dream could include moments of temporary leisure, but also feeling completed by societal acceptance or understanding. Finally, I include the contemporary poets Laux, Addonizio, and Espada. They complicate the “dream of completion” narrative with issues surrounding gender and race, and do not seek to find resolution.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Snapp, Lacy, "'A Dream of Completion': The Journey of American Working-Class Poetry" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3593. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3593
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.