Problem
To Read:
• Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997. Howl, and other poems. San Francisco: City Lights Pocket Bookshop, 1956.
• "Allen Ginsberg." In Pekar, Harvey, and Ed Piskor. The beats: A graphic history. Macmillan, 2010.
Task
A. What mystical and religious (Western and Eastern) imagery does Ginsberg use in the poems in this collection?
B. What drugs does Ginsberg reference? What significance do they hold?
C. How does Ginsberg describe modern life in the 1950s?
D. How do Ginsberg's poems compare to those of the Romantics covered earlier this term?
E. Ginsberg and the Beats were about raw, unfiltered creativity. How do his references to sexuality contribute to this style and aesthetic?
a. How do such references relate to countercultural resistance of mainstream mores?
F. What references to groups on the margins are made in the poems?
a. Homosexuals?
b. Communists?
c. Racial and ethnic minorities?
d. Mentally ill?
e. Drug users?
f. The poor?
G. What is the portrait of America does Ginsberg paint in his poetry?
H. How does it compare to that represented in Easy Rider?