Frank Ginsberg Essay

It was argued that the song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ', was code for the hippy drug LSD. Though the band claimed it was based on a painting that Lennon 's son Julian had drawn. The fact that the group had admitted they 'd done the drug previously didn 't help their case, but they

The Beatles were a very well-known and popular band in the sixties. The use of LSD and other drugs heavily influenced two of their albums, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Their first experience with the drug within the band was when John Lennon and George Harrison accidentally took acid in 1965. After their eye opening incident, Lennon and Harrison decided that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr needed to try it as well because they found that “[they] couldn't relate to them any more. Not just on the one

Drugs were often promoted in songs during the 1960’s. Many artists experimented with drugs in order to become more creative and influential. The most popular example is the Beatles. At the beginning of their career, the Beatles were more of a rock band then any other genre; however, after Bob Dylan introduced them to the drug Cannabis in 1964, their music began to become more mellow and contemplative. John Lennon admitted in an interview that the Song “Strawberry Fields Forever” (Document F), was affected by drug use even though there were not any specific references to the use of drugs in them. The Beatles released more songs were drug use was more evident. Lyrics used in Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds (Document H) were prime examples of this. A woman having “kaleidoscope eyes” and a place “where rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies” are clear examples of the effects of drugs on individuals. Drug use was also evident in the music videos the Beatles created. A Day

Allen Ginsberg’s revolutionary poem, Howl, is a powerful portrayal of life degraded. It represents the harsh life of the beat generation and chronicles the struggles of the repressed. Howl is a poem of destruction. Destruction of mind, body, and soul through the oppression of the individual. Using powerful diction, Allen Ginsberg describes this abolition of life and its implications through our human understanding of abstractions like Time, Eternity, and self. The poem’s jumbled phrasing and drastic emotion seems to correspond with the minds of the people it describes. Ginsberg uses surprisingly precise and purposeful writing to weave the complex

Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis

The 1950s was a decade of extremes and abrupt change where the inhabitants of one of the most robust nations were led to their most vulnerable states, shuddering in fear of Communist tactics as a result of the immense Cold War tensions, lingering in the atmosphere from mainstream media and technological advances. Eliot Katz, author of Poetry and Politics of Allen Ginsberg, highlights Ginsberg’s political impact “[i]n an era filled with too much military conflict, regressive economic policies, and the backsliding of civil liberties, the legacy of Allen Ginsberg [will remain] as important as ever,” (12). Rebellious revolutionary, avid activist, and insightful poet, Allen Ginsberg, wrote and published radical works of poetry during his lifetime,

Howl for the Subjection of our Individuality: Allen Ginsberg Reveals Corruption of Institutions Within America Allen Ginsberg: a poetic genius or lunatic? When reading Howl for the first hundred pages, Ginsberg’s sanity does not seem very apparent. Though, after time and deep interpretation, it shows raw truth, Ginsberg bares his soul within his poem, Howl. We are born, a soul into a body, genuinely each one-of-a-kind. Though, it seems America and its powerful institutions, tend to rip away layer by layer of individuality until there is nothing left.

In Allen Ginsberg’s poem, Howl, we are exposed American culture and society in the 1940s-50s through the narrator’s eyes. According to the narrator, the society looks down upon those who don’t conform to its rules and culture. This materialistic and militaristic culture had destroyed and drove them with “madness” and starved with “hysterical naked” looking for “an angry fix”. Just like the title suggest, this poem is a loud cry for the generation oppressed by the conformed American society that didn’t value artistic creativity. He openly describes and discusses his experiences in drug uses and involvement in various of unusual incidents and how they could be associated with the search of spiritual/ religious madness. Right away, we get a religious sense from this poem through the words like “angel headed hipsters”, “heavenly connection” and “Mohammedan angels”. Ginsberg uses different religious/spiritual imagery and implication to portray the oppression his generation face. He calls for change in the current political and social system of his time.

Through a careful interpretation of A Defense of Poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Democratic Vistas by Walt Whitman, one can gain a holistic sense of poetry, what it is and what it does, that can be applied to literary texts of all times. One can better understand Allen Ginsberg's "America" through an examination of the aforementioned texts as well. The literary merit of the poem is best recognized through Walt Whitman's Democratic Vistas, although Percy Bysshe Shelley's A Defense of Poetry also contributes some very critical parallels to the poem and its characteristics.

The form of Ginsberg’s poem challenges the American culture by resistance from “best minds”. Howl is separated to three sections that include long lines, which look like paragraphs. Resisting

Century apart, Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman share similar cultural, political and moral values, which they express in their literary work. Whitman’s writing is considered controversial for the eighteen hundreds. He sets the stage for generations to come breaking way from the strict Victorian poetic tradition by writing in free verse. Ginsberg follows his footsteps when composing his poem “Howl” by writing in long lines almost resembling prose and subdividing the poem into several parts. Likewise, he uses numerous repetitions to achieve rhythmicity of his verse. Ginsberg’s poem is heavily influenced by Whitman’s philosophy. The works “Song of myself” and “Howl” are similar in ideas, structure and underling themes. The two authors protest against old traditions imposed on the individual by corrupt society, stand against conformity and put emphasis on the need for change. They identify with their generation and dwell on themes such as sexuality, religion and the state of American society.

Allen Ginsberg’s poem, Howl, deals with a group of people he considers geniuses that became insane, how they ended up insane, and a message to his close friend, Carl Solomon. The poem presents these ideas in three separate sections starting with the group of geniuses. In this section. Ginsberg tells us who these geniuses are and we discover that they are not doctors or lawyers, but drug users, prayers, the poor, and even artists. Section two tells us what drove these people insane and that is Moloch, a sacrificial god. Finally, the last section tells us about Ginsberg’s close friend, Carl Solomon, and their time together in a psychiatric hospital. Allen Ginsberg blames Moloch for driving these geniuses insane, but never clearly states what

Hope you are well today. I just wanted to inform you that I dropped off the check in Dr. Posamentier mailbox today. Could you please verify that you or Dr. Posamentier received it, and let me know if there's anything else I need to submit.

In Allen Ginsberg’s “America,” the speaker angrily blasts America in a one-sided argument. In this poem America is personified and is addressed by the speaker as if it were human. After calling himself America the speaker asks several rhetorical questions that make the reader think about America’s ethical and moral values while questioning its goals and ambitions. In essence, the speaker presents to the reader those unanswerable questions that neither himself nor him as America are able to answer.

What Allen Ginsberg did in 1955 was unthinkable. In the midst of McCarthyism and severe anticommunist sentiment, he wrote a poem in which he admitted having belonged to the Communist party. Yet, even more surprising was that he didn't stop there. In his poem "America," Allen Ginsberg challenges the beliefs and values that the United States has always cherished, leaving no stone unturned, and no feather unruffled. Always the cynic and revolutionary, Ginsberg slaughters the sacred cows.