Weber,+Brittanie+L.

I think the two unfamiliar genre's that interest me the most from the list are expressionism and advertisement. I don't really know a lot about expressionism. We covered it a little bit in one of my other english classes, and as I recall it is sort of an exaggeration of reality in order to elicit an emotional response. I just think it sounds really interesting and it's a type of poetry I've never tried before. Advertising is something I have always found interesting, and I think it's a chance to be creative in order to help sell a product. One genre which I am really interested in which I don' think was on the list is Beat Poetry (like Alan Ginsberg). He's my favorite poet and I think this kind of poetry would be really challenging, but I really like it. ||
 * || [|Bweber87]

Annotated Bibliography    Watson, Steven. // The Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters 1944-1960 //. New York: Pantheon Books, 1995. Print. Watson traces the lives of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and company from their initial meetings in New York to their rise to literary fame. It gives an introduction to the start of the beat generation, and then an in-depth look at its most influential writers.

George-Warren, Holly. // The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats: The Beat Generation and American Culture //. New York: Hyperion Books, 1999. Print. This book is a celebration of The Beat Generation and its impact on American culture. It contains many essays, memoirs, interviews, and pictures recounting the beat generation. The book is organized into six parts: an opening section documents the birth of the Beat Generation; separate sections are devoted to Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs; one section covers minor beat writers; and a concluding section examines the Beat Generation's legacy.

Parkins, Keith. // Beat Generation //. N.p., Mar. 2005. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. This website gives some background information on the culture of the beat movement. It has information on the main authors involved along with quotes from those authors, along with links to other websites on the beat generation.

Waldman, Anne. "A Brief Guide to Beat Poets." // Poets.org //. Academy of American Poets, 1997. Web. Oct. 2010 . This website gives a brief overview to some of the poets involved in the beat movement.It also gives some history on the important landmarks of this era, and the importantelements involved in the culture of the movement.

So you want to be a Beatnik? If you want to write a Beat poem, you cannot simply scribble words on a page in a specific order or pattern. You must embody a certain spirit, a certain resentment and brutal honesty. According to John Clellon Holmes in his November 1952 article in the New York Times called “This is the Beat Generation” “It involves a sort of nakedness of mind, and ultimately of soul, a feeling of being reduced to the bedrock of consciousness” (Watson 3). What the Beats learned through their experiences was how to be clear in their writing. Kerouac himself said of one of his novels, “I write this book because we’re all gonna die.” They did not seek to hide their sexuality or beliefs or experimentation, some of the things that made them who they are. They looked for truth in their writing and spoke against social evil, such as injustice and racism, war and corruption. The openness to vision made them aware of the world around them, and brought social issues to the forefront of their writing (Waldman). So in order to begin writing your beat poem you must first understand where the Beat Generation began.


 * History **

The word Beat had many meanings. It was originally derived from circus slang reflecting the circumstances of nomadic carnies. In the drug world “beat” meant “robbed” or “cheated”. The word was picked out to represent the generation by Herbert Huncke and introduced to Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Huncke said that to him it meant “beaten, the world against me” (Watson 3). In the post-war era following World War II the dominant culture was desperate for reassuring planned order. The anxiety caused by the war was decreased only slightly due to the looming threat of communism and nuclear war. There was also an intellectual undercurrent calling for spontaneity and a more chaotic existence. The Beat generation was a manifestation of this undercurrent (Waldman). The group came to the mainstream in the early 1950’s. The first "Beat" work to gain nationwide attention was Ginsberg's // [|Howl] ////. Howl’s// graphic sexual language led to an obscenity-trial which helped fuel its fame. One of the most enduringly famous "Beat" works; Kerouac's // [|On the Road] // (written in 1951) was not published until 1957. It capitalized on the fame brought by the Howl obscenity-trial. Burroughs' // [|Naked Lunch] //, which was much more graphic than Howl, also went to trial for obscenity after its [|1962] American publication. These trials helped to establish that if anything was deemed to have literary value it was no longer considered obscene. During the 1960s, the rapidly expanding Beat culture underwent a transformation: the Beat Generation spread and turned into the [|Counterculture of the 1960s], with a change in popular terminology from " [|beatnik] " to " [|hippie] " (Parkins).


 * Cultural Context**

Now it is important to know what was important to these so-called beatniks if you want to write a beat poem. The central elements of beat poetry were: In their poems, Beat poets tend to openly discuss drug use, homosexuality, and criminal behavior. They also wanted to highlight spontaneity, open emotion, and gritty world experiences (Watson 4).
 * Experimentation with drugs
 * Alternative forms of sexuality
 * Interest in Eastern religion and meditation
 * Rejection of materialism
 * Criticizing society and it’s values


 * Who was the Beat Generation?**

By the strictest definition, the Beat Generation consisted only of William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Herbert Huncke, with the later additions of Gregory Corso, and Peter Orlovsky. A more broad definition might include most of the innovative poets associated with San Fransisco, Black Mountain College, and New York’s downtown scene. Using the more broad definition the Beat Generation is marked by a shared interest in candid personal content and opem forms, in verse and prose, thus leading to admiration for Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, and other avant-garde writers (Watson 5). In order to be a part of the Beat Generation such as the brilliant writers mentioned above you must be willing to change your image slightly. It is important to invest in a wardrobe of black jeans, a black beret, and possibly black hair dye. A trendy goatee is a must (if male), and you are going to need to learn to play the bongo drums. Change your daily scene to a coffee house, and if you don’t smoke refer you are going to have to start. Your vocabulary should include the words “dig”, “cool”, and “crazy” at regular intervals (Watson 4).


 * Rhythm and Style**

Now that you have some background knowledge about the Beat Generation, it is time to learn more specific knowledge about what the poems look like. Each Beat poet has a slightly different style, but some characteristics can describe almost all of them. Many beat poems are stream of consciousness. Although the lines are carefully thought out before hand, on the page they appear somewhat random. Each line or stanza can often be completely independent of the one before. In the case of Allen Ginsberg, he will often use one word or phrase to start many lines. For example in his poem //America//:

// “When will you take off your clothes? // // When will you look at yourself through the grave? // // When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?” // As you can see he uses the phrase “when will you?” to start each line, in reference to “America”. Jack Kerouac also uses this technique in his poem //Bowery Blues//: // “I //// am hurt // // I am scared // // I want to live // // I want to die // // I don't know” //

Beat generation poetry is mainly free verse. There is no specific rhyming scheme, but there is occasional rhyming. For example in the poem //Pull My Daisy// which was a collaborative effort of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Neil Cassady there is definitely a lot of rhyming, but no real rhyming scheme:

//“Pull my daisy// //tip my cup// //all my doors are open// //Cut my thoughts// //for coconuts// //all my eggs are broken// //Jack my Arden// //gate my shades// //woe my road is spoken// //Silk my garden// //rose my days// //now my prayers awaken//

//Bone my shadow// //dove my dream// //start my halo bleeding// //Milk my mind &// //make me cream// //drink me when you're ready// //Hop my heart on// //harp my height// //seraphs hold me steady// //Hip my angel// //hype my light// //lay it on the needy”//

In the first verse of the poem every third line rhymes, but after that the scheme breaks and becomes more random. Another technique is to put the same word or phrase at the end of two or more lines. For example in Gregory Corso’s poem //1959://

// “Penurious butchery these notoriously human years, // // these confident births these lucid deaths these years. // // Dream’s flesh blood reals down life’s mystery— // // there is no mystery. // // Cold history knows no dynastic Atlantis. // // The habitual myth has an eagerness to quit.” //

Corso uses the word years at the end of the first two lines, and the word mystery for the second two. You may also notice that he rhymes mystery and history in the fourth and fifth lines as well, which is another example of the free verse poetry style.

It is very difficult to give rules to a poetry style whose sole purpose is to defy all rules, be it those of society or those of poetry. The only true rule of writing beat poetry is to let yourself go. Write about something you are passionate about, and let the words flow onto the page. Don’t get too stuck on style, but there should be a focus on rhythm. Beat poetry is often read out loud along with the beat of a drum so keep this in mind as you write your poem. Allow yourself to be angry and express those emotions you may have never truly gotten in touch with before. Don’t hold anything back. Beat poetry is about honesty, even when that honesty is gritty, ugly, or hard to face.

// “ //// The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That's what poetry does” –Allen Ginsberg. //

Beat Poem

Distractions

I try not to think too much Of the next twelve months Six months Three months I watch John Stewart like my father goes to church Focus my thoughts on liberal politics and the ignorance Of my father I watch You-tube videos and check my facebook And wonder why I bother with things so inconsequential I close my eyes and think of nothing Anything but the next twelve months Six months Falling, falling like waking up In place both strange and frightening Stalling, crawling but not fast enough Stuck. Always forward, faster, fast Drag my feet to make it last And I have what? Six months? Three months? Like quicksand pulling me underground Like time dragging me down down, and down. No time to make decisions, no time to breathe Unsure of where to go, where I’m supposed to be I woke to find myself here-somewhat conscious Not completely Feeling my way along unfamiliar walls in dark hallways Breathe deep, but not too deep If I wake fully reality might seep Through the cracks of my resolve Filling my brain with unfamiliar halls with unfamiliar faces and unfamiliar names Unwanted facts, figures, and theories They all blur together, they all seem so dreary Making me bleary eyed and exasperated Why can’t time just leave me in peace? Pieces of who I am, who I wanted to be Can’t you see? I woke here Unsure if I walked or was dragged Is there a difference really? If I walked here on my own aren’t I just being silly? Pure and simple it’s only fear-not of being here But of a future now so absolutely near So absolutely clear I’m not ready I can’t face facts, I can’t just hold steady I want to open my eyes, I want to take a dive I WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE Sometimes Sometimes, but not right now Somehow but I’m not sure how It’s not long now Twelve months Six months Three months

Reflection

As I began writing the “user’s guide” portion of the unfamiliar genre project I felt it to be a very daunting task. I had chosen the genre beat poetry for the project, and I found it to be far more complex than I had first anticipated. I found as I did research that beat poetry could not be pinned down with structural rules and word for word instructions. Beat poetry is more about the attitude and history. Therefore to begin my user’s guide I wrote a short overview of the history of the beat generation, those who were involved, and what was important to them. I felt that it necessary to understand these elements before being able to write a beat poem. Once I had finished with the user’s guide I was much more apprehensive of my ability to write a beat poem than when I began. I felt like there was so much history and emotion that went into these poems that I wasn’t sure I would be able to do it. In order to begin I looked at the themes of some of the beat poem’s I read for the user’s guide. Many of the themes included discontent, rebellion, and critique of society, drugs, and other bohemian themes. I began to try and think of things that made me feel discontent, things that made me afraid or angry. It was not easy to open myself up to these emotions and find a way to express them in an artistic way. I really had to open up my mind to what really matters. I thought about society and expectations, and tried to get in touch with a more rebellious side of me. All of these are important elements in a beat poem. I decided to focus on my fear of the future, having a career, and growing up. I felt like this fit with the beat generation theme of living up to the expectations of society. I also wanted the poem to have a sense of rebellion from the ways in which I was raised. Surprisingly, once I had the idea for my poem, and had decided on the first line the rest followed quite easily. The first draft I just scribbled every idea that came to my mind down on a piece of paper. The ideas were very disconnected, and none of them rhymed. As I began revising I found some of my favorite lines were the ones that rhymed so I began incorporating more and more of that throughout the poem. I tried to stick by my own rules in my user’s guide as much as possible. This was not difficult because there really aren’t any actual rules when it comes to writing a beat poem. One “rule” which I did break a little had to do with the rhyming scheme. Beat poems generally do not have a consistent rhyme scheme, but they often do contain rhyming. The rhyme scheme in my poem turned out to be fairly consistent, especially when it came to the second half of the poem. This wasn’t really un-purpose, but I do tend to use a lot of rhyming when I write poetry because I feel like it gives the poem structure rather than being just words on a page. Writing poetry without rhyming has always been a weakness of mine. However, the fact that it has a somewhat consistent rhyme scheme doesn’t make it not a beat poem. I found at least two other examples of beat poetry which had a rhyming scheme. Another difficult part was trying to make the poem feel like it had an actual beat. I tried to imagine this in my head and while I read the poem out loud. Beat poems are often read along with the beat of a drum so I felt like having a beat was important. I found that it is almost impossible for two different people to read the poem the same way, so I guess the beat only comes into play when the poem is being read out loud. I found sharing my work with our groups in class to be somewhat frustrating. I enjoyed reading other people’s work, but the feedback I received back on mine wasn’t very helpful. I think because of the genre of poetry we were all afraid to really say anything negative about anyone else’s work because it was obvious we had all poured our hearts into it. I was really impressed with everyone’s poems and I really couldn’t think of anything very constructive to say. I got the same reaction from everyone else about my poetry as well. Therefore my final copy did not change much from the draft I brought to class last week. I was not content with the ending from the beginning so eventually a more satisfactory ending came to me randomly. Other than that for the most part it remained the same. The very last thing that I did was come up with a title.