Period 3
Abukar Abdirahim
Chris Galac
Falmata Mohamed
Reymarc Ramirez
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The Beats were a collection of poets that came
about in post-WWII America
Created in New York and moved to San Francisco
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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
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Had a tough childhood
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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
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Met Allen Ginsberg after
his release in 1950
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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
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“The Mad Yak”
“Marriage”
“Bomb”
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Dramatic Monologue
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Uses the Yak as a speaker
Different perspective allows the reader to get an
insight into the Yak’s mind
Eclectic Format
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Uses street jargon
 “And that idiot student of his…” (line 6)
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Shows classical influence
 Dramatic monologue used in many Ancient Greek
Dramas
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Never met his parents
Father died six months
before his birth
 Mother committed to an
asylum shortly after his birth
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1941, Lobster fishing and
raking moss with college
buddies
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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”
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Places reader in scene with one
line
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“Long long I 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.”
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Simile
Vivid Imagery
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Father was a school teacher and poet. Mother was a
radical communist.
His work can be considered the culmination of the
modernist movement
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However, not modernist in fact.
The basis of being an important writer to the Beats
movement required the writer to be nonconforming 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 midtwentieth 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
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“Howl”, “Kaddish”
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Meaning of Poem:
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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:
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Simile
Informal diction
Didactic
Imagery
Tone
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Grew up in poverty due to the
Great Depression and lived on a
farm
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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
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“Hay for the Horses”
“For All”
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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
Read the following poem carefully. Then write a wellorganized essay in which you analyze how the poet
uses language to describe the scene and to convey
mood and meaning.
1.
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"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.
2.
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“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.
3.
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“A Vast Confusion” – Lawrence Ferlinghetti
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."
1.
Who was imprisoned for three years and wrote notable
works such as “The Mad Yak” and “Marriage”?
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2.
The Beats movement was started in New York and first
moved to what city?
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3.
“The Mad Yak”
Which poet worked near the sea and incorporated that
theme into most of his poems?
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San Francisco
Which poem by Gregory Corso invites the reader into a
yak’s mind?
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4.
Gregory Corso
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Who stayed in a bed for most of his childhood and deeply
practiced Buddhism?
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Gary Snyder
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Generatio
n
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ferli
nghetti
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Snyder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Corso