Kristle Aranas, Roohil Hamid, Marijo Fabunan & Kevin Malibiran

The Beat Movement

Beat poetry was created during 1940s in both the east and west coast New York City and San Francisco became the heart of the movement in 1950s Poets were questioning mainstream politics and culture after world war II The battle against social conformity and literary tradition was the main works of

the movement Drugs were used by the poets to achieve higher consciousness Buddhism was a main religion many of the poets studied Themes Disillusionment - At the end of World War II, Americans enjoyed a period of

blissful relief and charged-up happiness unlike any realized before. Although an odd mixture of pride and sorrow over the dropping of atomic bombs left many people uneasy about the path to victory, it did not waylay the renewed spirit of optimism and drive for prosperity that swept the country at a feverish pace.

Spontaneity - While spontaneity is more an action than an idea, it has been called the primary virtue and a oneword summary of the Beat Movement. This theme more than any other speaks to the frenzied, intense emotional states that many Beats found both exhilarating and necessary.

Description of the Movement

Gregory Corso Born in 1930, New York Died in 2001 Youngest writer in “Beat Generation” Went to Catholic parochial schools “I’d spill jello and the foster home people would beat me,” he wasn’t treated well

in foster home After his father was drafted, Corso became a homeless child on streets of Little

Italy Slept in subways during winter Slept on rooftops during summer Employee of Los Angeles Times He made an appearance in Andy Warhol’s film Couch, who was an artist Pressed for social and political changes “awakener of youth” Allen Ginsberg called him Imprisoned for stealing (3 years)

- Was his inspiration, met classical writers

“ Marriage”“Destiny”“I am 25”

Notable Works

Born In May 8, 1930 Born in San Francisco, California His family impoverished by the Great Depression Attended Reed College (1951), University of California, Berkley and Lincoln

High School Served as a Faculty member in University of California and Davis and

California Arts Council American Poet Associated with Beats Movement and the San Francisco

Renaissance Environmental Activist who was often described as 'laureate of Deep Ecology' His work reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spiritually and nature Snyder has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern

Japanese Lawrence Ferlinghetti later referred to Snyder as 'the Thoreau of the Beat

Generation‘ Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Gary Snyder

“Turtle Island”“The Real Work”“A Place in Space”“Mountains and Rivers Without End”

Notable Works

Birth/Death: June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997 From New Wark New Jersey Published poet, high school teacher, and moderate Jewish socialist Mother was insane all his life because she though the whole world was

plotting against her Discovered Walt Whitman while in high school Went to Columbia University but later suspended because of young

delinquent philosophers that were obsessed with drugs, crime, sex, and literature

Involved with time square junkies and experimented with Benzedrine and marijuana

Craziness of his friends was a symbolic counterpoint because bizarreness was a style of life

Allen Ginsberg

“Howl”

Notable Work

Helped to spark the San Francisco literary renaissance of the 1950s and “Beat” movement

His City Lights bookstore provided a gathering place for the fertile talents of the San Francisco literary renaissance

Ferlinghetti was originally born as Lawrence Monsanto Ferling. He received his master’s degree from Columbia University in 1948, and

finished his doctoral degree at the University of Paris in 1951 He was a painter and enlisted in the Navy In 1951, Ferlinghetti moved from Paris to San Francisco He and Peter Martin started a magazine called ‘City Lights’ and decided to

open the City Lights bookstore In 1955 he launched the City Lights Pocket Poets publishing venture The first volume he issued was a book of his own poems, Pictures of the

Gone World His publication of Allen Ginsberg's Howl & Other Poems in 1956 led to his

arrest on obscenity charges and that trial drew national attention to the San Francisco Renaissance and beat movement writers

The trial ended when Judge Clayton W. Horn found Howl not obscene and acquitted him in October 1957

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

In 1958, his poem Coney Island Of The Mind sold well over a million copies making it his most popular poem

In 1962, Jack Kerouac wrote Ferlinghetti into the character “Lorenzo Monsanto” in his autobiographical novel Big Suri

In 1976, he published his other famous poem Just As I Used to Say Ferlinghetti is still working today as a poet and as a proprietor of City

Lights

Cont.

“Starting from San Francisco”“ The Secret Meaning of Things”“Landscapes of Living and Dying”“These Are My Rivers”

Notable Works

Art

Quiz Time

Which Poet was known as a Environmental Activist?

A. Lawrence Ferlinghetti

B. Gary Snyder

C. Allan Ginsberg

D. Gregory Corso

Where was Gregory Corso born?

Whose the youngest poet in the beat generation ?

A. Gregory Corso

B. Lawrence Ferlinghetti

C. Gary Snyder

D. Allen Ginsberg

True or False

The beat generation was interested in changing consciousness.

A. Ordinary

B. Awesome

C. Bizarre

D. Reckless

How did Allen Ginsberg view his lifestyle?

Which Poet ? & Name one of his Notable Work(s).

What bookstore did Ferlinghetti open up during this movement?

Which Poet?

What was Ferlinghetti first volume that he issued?

Read the following poem carefully. Then write an essay discussing how the poet uses literary techniques to reveal the speaker’s attitudes toward nature and the artist’s task.

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.

AP Prompts

A. Coney Island Of The Mind

B. Howl & Other Poems

C. Turtle Island

D. Destiny

Which famous poem sold well over a million copies?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Corsohttp://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/409http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Snyderhttp://

www.americanpoems.com/poets/Gary-Snyderhttp://www.beatmuseum.org/ginsberg/AllenGinsb

erg.htmlhttp://

www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Ca-Fi/Ferlinghetti-Lawrence.html

http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Ca-Fi/Ferlinghetti-Lawrence.html

Links