Analyzing Fiction

I've wondered throughout the semester what role an author's life play in analyzing fiction or nonfiction. We've seen how authors can almost be seen as "ghosts" through time in that they are able to step out and see things nobody else can see. However, for example, John Winthrop, author of the sermon City Upon a Hill, was a lawyer before delivering his sermon. He uses legal language throughout the sermon. Walt Whitman, an assumed homosexual, reveals hints of his homosexuality in his poetry specifically in Leaves of Grass. How much does an author's life or even life experiences shape the literature they write? How much of it is something we subconciously seek? Are author's truly "ghosts" through time or are they humans like the rest of us?

Go Forth!

Just thought I would post this since we didn't get to discuss the commercial at length in class today. What Whitman-esque themes do you see in the commercial? Why might Levis decide this is a good marketing tool over the less conservative (?) work of the beat generation? If Whitman's work is seemingly outdated as we discussed in class why might they use this poem? The commercial got a lot of attention when it came out and most likely resulted in a boom in sales. The mixture of nature, (homo)sexuality, youth and romanticism seem to be the themes pulled from Whitman in the commercial, I guess my overarching question to you is why?