Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Sing" is a reflection upon the American culture. Whitman believed in democracy and in producing his own style. The individualism in this poem is displayed in the diverse examples of jobs, the different places each job is performed, the dissimilar tasks of men and women each doing their own part, and the way each chore is performed. Line eight states, "The delicious singing of the mother, of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing," The fact that Whitman portrayed women as hard workers in line eight struck me the most because women weren't really appreciated or even recognized during his time.

Line nine states "Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else," This indicates that even though his work was criticized and ignored, his work was his and only his. The Civil War was...