Allen

“A Supermarket in California” is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg. Taking into account of the speaker’s past magnificent works, it made me think the author is trying to analyze his self-identity. Conceivably, this is Allen Ginsberg himself looking for a deeper connection with feelings of emptiness in his sub-consciousness. Is the author creating more space in his own sovereign reality? In other words, is this creating less dense by clearing out the disconnected emotions and readjusting with…

Howl by Allen Ginsberg During the 1950’s America was a different culture then what we live in today. In the epic three part poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg, he gives us a radical depiction of post World War II America and the mayhem that surrounds him. Using colorful and descriptive language he lays out what is happening during his time. He takes us through a journey back in time where readers can get a glimpse of what it was like to be in the middle of chaos as an outsider. Allen Ginsberg is…

Allen Ginsberg, along with William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac are poets known as the "beats" and important writers of the beat movement. Ginsberg was born in New Jersey and raised in Paterson, NJ. His father was an english teacher. His mother suffered from mental illness and had a series of mental breakdowns. It affected him growing up. Ginsberg, Burroughs and Kerouac met at Columbia University in 1943. At the time, they were considered "subversive" for their views and behavior. They…

In the excerpt from Howl by Allen Ginsberg, he wrote a free verse poem about his experiences with different type of people that he sees from the city. He goes into detail about his experiences, stating “dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angel headed hipster burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night” (lines 1-2). Which shows the place and time that the poem has taken place which could be assumed during…

“I don’t think there is any truth. There are only points of view.” Allen Ginsberg’s famous quote is one that inspires the continued analysis and explication of poetry. Poetry is so important because much like jazz, it has a form all of its own. Poetry has no boundaries and can be created on the fly. And without the continued analysis and emphasis on great poetic works, like “Howl,” young writers would be dissuaded to take up the art form. To this day, scholars and students alike have…

Allen Ginsberg began writing “Howl” circa 1954, a time when homosexuality (and sexuality in general), profanity, vulgarity, and illicit drug use were so tabu that even writing about such subjects was considered illegal and warranted arrest. Ginsberg’s poem should be read with the understanding of how progressive, revealing, and dangerous it was within the contexts of society. It shattered walls, gave a voice to the vagabonds, free-spirits, artists, and erotic people of not only America but the…

Allen Ginsberg's Howl was exactly as the title suggested; a howl. His protest against capitalism and conformity called into question what it truly meant to be normal. His explicit images of sex, drugs, and violence appalled societies' average readers. Through the chaos, however, something about Howl spoke to me. Today, we live in a world where we scrutinize mental health and, in this state, I found myself empathizing with young Ginsberg and the horror of his experiences. Ginsberg broke Howl up…

Allen Ginsberg’s electric “Footnote” to Howl situates itself comfortably within his bigger poem, or just plain Howl, a well-known and admired epic by Allen Ginsberg for his generation of lost and disaffected youths. Ginsberg’s epic entirety closely resembles Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass published in 1855, which marked an era of upheaval in politics, society, and social conventions. Now getting to Ginsberg’s infamous “Footnote,” which stirred up and presented a new literary style approaching…

Society tells us who to be, when we should be, how we should be, and if we defy society, we are wrong. Today’s society is not much different from society in the 50’s. Both the 50’s and modern societies create imaginary guidelines for people to live by. Allen Ginsberg steps out of mainstream society by creating the poem “Howl.” He speaks what others are afraid to speak. In the 1950’s, it was against the law in every state to be openly gay. However, this did not stop Ginsberg from expressing his…

poem about your life? Well, a famous poet named Allen Ginsberg did just that when he wrote, "Howl and Other Poems" which became famous of his time and continue on till today. Allen Ginsberg’s famous poem, "Howl and Other Poems" conveys and portrays a message to an audience in which modern poetry and the Beat Movement on American literature was raw and revealing about the political and social views such as war, sexuality, and drugs. Allen Ginsberg was born in Newark, NJ, in 1926, he…