In section 24 of 'Song of Myself', Whitman describes himself as 'Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos.' What is the poetic effect of using the term 'a kosmos'?
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Correct answer: The poetic 'I' contains the whole universe, blending the microscopic self with the cosmos
By calling himself 'a kosmos,' Whitman signals that his poetic persona is not an isolated ego but an all-inclusive entity that absorbs the entire universe. He presents the individual self as a mirror of the collective world, containing multitudes of identities, contradictions, and experiences. This pantheistic vision allows the speaker to voice the pains and pleasures of all humanity.
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