{"id":{"repo_id":"utc","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1501"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utc/oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1501","repository":{"repo_id":"utc","name":"University of Tennessee - Chattanooga","base_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Walt Whitman's changing perceptions of the effects of the American Civil War and its impact on his poetry","abstract":"This paper seeks to examine the way that Walt Whitman’s perceptions about the American Civil War changed in Drum-Taps, his book of poems written about the war. The book attempts to capture the emotions of the Northern public throughout the war, without discussing any easily recognizable event of the war, thus creating an emotional record of it. The opening poems are jingoistic, declaring the justness of the war and the hope that it will be over soon with minimal casualties, but about midway through the tone of his poetry shifts into one of cautious optimism. After the shift Whitman’s loyalties to the Union are still very apparent, but he has begun to emphasize the toll that the war has taken both on citizens and soldiers as a way to remind the public of what they have been fighting for.","abstract_html":"This paper seeks to examine the way that Walt Whitman’s perceptions about the American Civil War changed in Drum-Taps, his book of poems written about the war. The book attempts to capture the emotions of the Northern public throughout the war, without discussing any easily recognizable event of the war, thus creating an emotional record of it. The opening poems are jingoistic, declaring the justness of the war and the hope that it will be over soon with minimal casualties, but about midway through the tone of his poetry shifts into one of cautious optimism. After the shift Whitman’s loyalties to the Union are still very apparent, but he has begun to emphasize the toll that the war has taken both on citizens and soldiers as a way to remind the public of what they have been fighting for.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pearcy, Andrew"],"institution":"University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Guy, Matthew W.","Stuart, Christopher J.; Jones, Rebecca","College of Arts and Sciences"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:46:28Z","subjects":["Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Criticism and interpretation"],"languages":["English","eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/361","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Guy, Matthew W.","Stuart, Christopher J.; Jones, Rebecca","College of Arts and Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pearcy, Andrew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2013-08-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters theses","Text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Criticism and interpretation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/361"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Dept. of English","M. A.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper seeks to examine the way that Walt Whitman’s perceptions about the American Civil War changed in Drum-Taps, his book of poems written about the war. The book attempts to capture the emotions of the Northern public throughout the war, without discussing any easily recognizable event of the war, thus creating an emotional record of it. The opening poems are jingoistic, declaring the justness of the war and the hope that it will be over soon with minimal casualties, but about midway through the tone of his poetry shifts into one of cautious optimism. After the shift Whitman’s loyalties to the Union are still very apparent, but he has begun to emphasize the toll that the war has taken both on citizens and soldiers as a way to remind the public of what they have been fighting for."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Walt Whitman's changing perceptions of the effects of the American Civil War and its impact on his poetry"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Guy, Matthew W.","Stuart, Christopher J.; Jones, Rebecca","College of Arts and Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Pearcy, Andrew"],"dc:date":["2013-08-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Dept. of English","M. A.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts."],"dc:description.abstract":["This paper seeks to examine the way that Walt Whitman’s perceptions about the American Civil War changed in Drum-Taps, his book of poems written about the war. The book attempts to capture the emotions of the Northern public throughout the war, without discussing any easily recognizable event of the war, thus creating an emotional record of it. The opening poems are jingoistic, declaring the justness of the war and the hope that it will be over soon with minimal casualties, but about midway through the tone of his poetry shifts into one of cautious optimism. After the shift Whitman’s loyalties to the Union are still very apparent, but he has begun to emphasize the toll that the war has taken both on citizens and soldiers as a way to remind the public of what they have been fighting for."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/361"],"dc:language":["English","eng"],"dc:publisher":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"],"dc:relation":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"],"dc:rights":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"],"dc:subject":["Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Criticism and interpretation"],"dc:title":["Walt Whitman's changing perceptions of the effects of the American Civil War and its impact on his poetry"],"dc:type":["Masters theses","Text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:46:28Z"}