The Beats

1. The Beats Period 3 Abukar Abdirahim Chris Galac Falmata Mohamed Reymarc Ramirez

2. The Movement • The Beats were a collection of poets that came about in post-WWII America • Created in New York and moved to San Francisco • Influenced the San Francisco Renaissance • Influenced by the Romantics, Surrealists, and the Modernists • Emphasized experimentation with drugs, alternative forms of sexuality, Eastern religion, rejection of materialism, and expression of one's being • They reveled in non-conformity and creativity • Inspired the "beatniks" and the "hippies," but did not agree with their wildness and political activity

3. Gregory Corso(1930-2001) • Had a tough childhood • Abandoned by his mother when was a baby • Lived in orphanages and foster homes • Started living on the streets on own by the age of 13 • Imprisoned for three years after stealing at age 17 • Used time in prison to augment his education

4. Gregory Corso cont… • Met Allen Ginsberg after his release in 1950 • Started experimenting with poetry • Traveled to San Francisco in 1956 where he met with other Beat writers such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti • Publishes his famous poem “Bomb” • Notable Works • “The Mad Yak” • “Marriage” • “Bomb”

5. The Mad Yak • Dramatic Monologue • Uses the Yak as a speaker • Different perspective allows the reader to get an insight into the Yak’s mind • Eclectic Format • Uses street jargon • “And that idiot student of his…” (line 6) • Shows classical influence • Dramatic monologue used in many Ancient Greek Dramas

6. Lawrence Ferlinghetti(1919 – Present) • Never met his parents • Father died six months before his birth • Mother committed to an asylum shortly after his birth • 1941, Lobster fishing and raking moss with college buddies • Sparked his love of the sea, a theme that runs through much of his poetry • Major works • “A Coney Island of the Mind” • “The Changing Light” • “Vast Confusion”

7. A Vast ConfusionLawrence Ferlinghetti • Places reader in scene with one line • “Long longI lay in the sands” • Describes sounds he hears while “lay[ing] in the sands” with his “ear to the ground” • Sounds start off soft and subtle and build to universal proportions • Relates the sound of the surf to the sound of trains in subways • “Enormous creature turning under sea and Earth.” • Simile • Vivid Imagery

8. Allen Ginsberg1926 – 1997 • Father was a school teacher and poet. Mother was a radical communist. • His work can be considered the culmination of the modernist movement • However, not modernist in fact. • The basis of being an important writer to the Beats movement required the writer to be non-conforming and spontaneously creative. • His poetry deals with the tensions between rural ideals of the American Romantic poets and the reality of poverty, industrialization, and urban blight that faced evil urban groups in the mid-twentieth century. • He was identified as a “hippie” though he never really explored topics of that category except the war and society. • He was kicked out of Columbia, discriminated against because of his sexuality, and his poetry was banned and censored because of its controversial content. • His poetry has strong depictions of drug use, violence, and lewd sexual acts. • Notable Works • “Howl”, “Kaddish”

9. A DesolationAllen Ginsberg • Meaning of Poem: • The wilderness is the world outside of what society or Ginsberg sees it is. • Home is depicted as the wilderness and is shown as a free place where life is simple. • Literal speaks of living in wilderness & thus leading an insular life. • Figurative meaning speaks of living separate from others to enjoy an isolated life. • Literary Devices: • Simile • Informal diction • Didactic • Imagery • Tone

10. Gary SnyderMay 8, 1930 – Present • Grew up in poverty due to the Great Depression and lived on a farm • Caused him to have a relationship with nature (eventually growing into environmental activism) • Creativity in literature stemmed from an accident during his childhood that left him bedridden with nothing to do but read • Later on in life, he began to immerse himself in Buddhism, especially Zen, and its connection with nature • Notable Works • “Hay for the Horses” • “For All”

11. John Muir on Mt. RitterGary Snyder • The poem is read in the voice of John Muir on his first climb up Mt. Ritter • Snyder turns the prose found in John Muir's journals into poetry • At the start, Muir is hesitant to climb • The moment he expects death, he experiences a brief moment of enlightenment • He becomes calm and is able to complete his ascent

12. AP Style Writing Prompts • Read the following poem carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the poet uses language to describe the scene and to convey mood and meaning. • "A Desolation" – Allen Ginsberg • Write an essay in which you describe the speaker's attitude towards nature. Using specific references from the text show how the use of language reveals the speaker's attitude. • “John Muir on Mt. Ritter” – Gary Snyder • Read the following poem carefully. Then write an essay in which you discuss how such elements as language, imagery, structure, and point of view convey meaning in the poem. • “A Vast Confusion” – Lawrence Ferlinghetti

13. Interactive Poetry LessonHay for the HorsesGary Snyder He had driven half the night From far down San Joaquin Through Mariposa, up the Dangerous Mountain roads, And pulled in at eight a.m. With his big truckload of hay behind the barn. With winch and ropes and hooks We stacked the bales up clean To splintery redwood rafters High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa Whirling through shingle-cracks of light, Itch of hay dust in the sweaty shirt and shoes. At lunchtime under Black oak Out in the hot corral, ---The old mare nosing lunchpails, Grasshoppers crackling in the weeds--- "I'm sixty-eight" he said, "I first bucked hay when I was seventeen. I thought, that day I started, I sure would hate to do this all my life. And dammit, that's just what I've gone and done."

14. Quiz • Who was imprisoned for three years and wrote notable works such as “The Mad Yak” and “Marriage”? • Gregory Corso • The Beats movement was started in New York and first moved to what city? • San Francisco • Which poem by Gregory Corso invites the reader into a yak’s mind? • “The Mad Yak” • Which poet worked near the sea and incorporated that theme into most of his poems? • Lawrence Ferlinghetti • Who stayed in a bed for most of his childhood and deeply practiced Buddhism? • Gary Snyder

15. Resources • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Generation • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ferlinghetti • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Snyder • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Corso