Abstract This paper is an in-depth examination of the emergence of Buddhism on the American cultural scene in the 1950s. It discusses Beat literature, the origins and aspects of the Beat Generation, and their effect on American culture. The author illustrates the works of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" and Allen Ginsberg's "Howl". It analyzes the friendship between the close-knit group of friends and their rise to literary fame, both individually and as a group. It demonstrates how personality and drug addiction is seen in their writing style. This paper also describes the permanent place of Buddhism in American society as a result of the culture of the Beat artists
From the Paper "Historical events are usually much more complex than the annals of the past can easily demonstrate. The average person has only a cursory knowledge of most historical episodes, leaving intellectual movements like scientific advancements, philosophical developments, and social reforms largely incomplete and misunderstood from a "public relations" standpoint. For example, a common definition for Buddhism might read something like this: A philosophy dedicated to the realization of the essence of life, leading to true selfless enlightenment and the reconciliation of suffering. Now of course that definition leaves an enormous amount of leeway for the real body of experiences and thoughts that are Buddhism. Likewise, the average person might reflect upon the Beat Generation as a social and literary movement motivated by personal escape from the monotony of 1950's American society. But as much as I know about these two subjects (which admittedly I am no expert at but am a learned student of), I cannot develop a brief definition that can come close to adequately representing these topics."
Abstract Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac
This paper is an analysis of On the Road, the most famous literary product of the Beat generation. The author looks at the life of the book's creator, Jack Kerouac, and his philosophies on life, and restless spirit as he wandered and searched for meaning in all Kerouac encountered.
From the paper:
"Though it is not the only work of his art, On the Road, for better or worse, has become Kerouac's most famous novel. This book has performed as a means to meet the desires for a number of other people who feel to be having a restless and curious soul. The book itself initiated a cultural revolution, hence diverting about millions of people on new ideological channels. At the same time it arched Kerouac to a fame that he was never expecting and for which his calm, sacred soul was not prepared to deal with."
Tags: road, on, beat, generation, paradise, sal, moriarty, dean
This paper discusses Jack Kerouac's "On the Road", Allen Ginsberg's "Howl", and William Burroughs's "Naked Lunch" as examples of the literary, 1950s Beat Generation.
Abstract This paper explains that Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs were the galvanizing forces behind the Beat Generation; their writings and revolutionary narrative techniques created a national sensation that is still debated in modern literary circles. The author points out that Kerouac's ?On the Road ?, the most respected work of the group, at first glance seems incoherent; but, as the novel progresses, we discover the story moves from a superficial sense of order to a deeper, more penetrating sense of openness. The paper relates that "Howl" is not the work of an angry young man; Ginsberg emerges from this rather long poem as a rancorous and somewhat gloomy mystic seer as opposed to a deferential and conventional kind of person that had symbolized the youth of the post-WWII period.
From the Paper "The sex that is virtually dominant in the world of "Naked Lunch" appears to reflect the sex that Freud revealed as the ultimate cause, means, and end. Anything goes in Interzone, and the sex is there in all varieties and expressions. However, it is "junk" which sufficiently separates the narrator from the group consciousness to let him have this vision of things as they are. Junk has its literal importance as a stimulus, but it is also important as a symbol. In general, it is a symbol of meaninglessness, or life as the be-all and end-all of an evolving world. Only be coming into ultimate contact with junk, by knowing it as a symbol, one can realize the separate life."
Abstract This paper explains how the Beat Generation came about, tells how this generation got its name, explains why and in what way it was a counterculture movement that challenged the mechanical existence of the majority and talks about how it effects American society even to this day.
From the Paper "According to modern mythology, it has been said that the birth of the Beat Generation can be traced back to the year 1944. World War II raged throughout Europe. This was the year of the D-Day landing, and this was the year that the United Nations first came to power, and this was the year that "Lady Chatterly's Lover" by D. H. Lawrence was found to be obscene in the United States, and this was the year in which New York City was flooded by European Surrealists gathering together with American artists and writers, influencing the thoughts and works and direction of the art movements nationwide. This was also the year that Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Herbert Hunckle met in New York City among the artists gathered there, and this meeting around Columbia University and Times Square would lead to the writing of one of the great Beat Generation novels."
Abstract In the late 1950s groups of young people decided to "drop out" of society and questioned the right of authority to determine what morality was. This paper examines the writers who represented this time in U.S. history, later know as the Beat Generation. The paper looks specifically at the works of Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, but also mentions Allen Ginsburg and Gregory Corso.
From the Paper "The Beat movement was especially valid on college campuses, which may seem strange (as it did at the time) to parents whose hard work had scraped up tuition money so their kids could get a better education. The fact that these kids were now reading "Naked Lunch" by William Burroughs, and reading whatever Ken Kesey wrote (including "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) and were flocking to "road" movies like "Easy Rider" was something the older generation simply could not understand. Why would these kids, brought up in nice homes, with doting parents, want to rebel against the system that got them to college in the first place?"
Tags: On, the, Road, The, Town, and, the, City, Sal, Paradise
Abstract This paper introduces the beginning of the Beat Generation and how it was influenced by the author Jack Kerouac as shown in his story: "The Good Blonde".
From the paper:
"Expression of this need for individualism despite a conformity in society, expressed itself in the Beats with free association and jazz inspired language and improvisational literary techniques, in experimentation in drugs, sex, anything that would break free of the good soldier mold."
Tags: Ginsburg, free-, style, norm, jazz, narcotics, hitchhiking, free, love
Abstract "The 1991 beating of California motorist Rodney King will have an impact on law enforcement for years to come. The videotape of the beating, broadcast nationwide, resulted in public outrage over police brutality. The City of Los Angeles appointed a special commission to investigate whether brutality was widespread within the police department.
From the Paper "The 1991 beating of California motorist Rodney King will have an impact on law enforcement for years to come. The videotape of the beating, broadcast nationwide, resulted in public outrage over police brutality. The City of Los Angeles appointed a special commission to investigate whether brutality was widespread within the police department. Police departments across the country likewise reviewed their own policies on excessive force. Despite these efforts, citizen complaints about police brutality have increased since the Rodney King beating.
Police are allowed to use force during the course of their daily activities. Force can be used to make arrests, maintain order, or keep the peace. The important thing is that the police officer is able to gain control of the situation. How the officer gains control is left up to his or her judgment: "In ..."
Abstract The paper provides a biography of Allen Ginsberg and discusses his major poems, including "Howl!" "Kaddish" and "Reality Sandwiches". The paper looks at his political and social views and his allegiance to the Beat movement. The paper concludes that Allen Ginsberg has given the world a fine example of principled existence and art.
Outline:
Biography
Major Works
The Significance of the Author and his Work in Society and History
The Beat Movement
From the Paper "The poet Allen Ginsberg was born during 1926 in Newark, New Jersey to second-generation Russian-Jewish immigrants. His father, Louis, was a teacher and poet, and his mother, Naomi, had a tendency towards mental instability. Both his parents were interested in modern concepts such as Marxism, nudism, and feminism. During Allen Ginsberg's childhood, his mother began to suffer from paranoia, and was committed to an institution where she was lobotomized and eventually died in 1956."
Abstract This is a look at the various literary criticisms of "Howl", the famous poem by Allen Ginsburg. The author argues that the criticism is as schizophrenic as the poem itself. Opinions are presented from the following critics and writers: Robert Henson, Diane Middlebrook, Alicia Ostriker and Norman Podhoretz.
From the Paper "Allen Ginsberg, born in 1926, and often hailed as the poet laureate of "the beat generation" creates in "Howl", a frenzied controversy, among writers, which is the source and subject of much criticism and contradiction. ?Howl,? Published in 1955, perhaps Ginsberg's most famous poem and the center of a highly scandalized censorship case, has been both praised and criticized as a monolith for ?the beat generation.? Acclaimed by members of what could be considered low culture, the pop cultural masses, as well as by what could be considered high culture, the academic and renown scholar, as a representation of social hypocrisy, "Howl" cannot be categorized by either. The academic and knowledgeable language, references and devices used in a radical and informal style make it impossible to force "Howl" into either high or low culture brackets. "Howl" eludes the past 50 years of criticism as a comprehensive outburst of everything frustrated and repressed in the postwar baby boom era and thus is a deceptively easy yet slippery target for this discussion"
Abstract This paper studies the book "On the Road". It describes the main characters and their personalities. It summarizes the tale and its plot of friendship and travel. The author finds that 'On the Road' is a testament to the wandering pioneer spirit of America by detailing travels across America. He feels that it presents the "beat generation" as a "holy" generation, one free from the hazards of aspiration, greediness and beliefs that was in a constant search for some greater truth.
From the Paper "On the road is one of the best Beat novels written by Jack Kerouac. It is a captivating, moral and touching tale that has given a detailed account of a friendship and the four trips across America. The writer has used his full creativity and talents in producing this piece of work. The presentation is so effective that the readers starts to have a feeling that if he/she is in that place. The narrator of this tale is a character named as Sal Paradise who is a young college boy living with his aunt in Paterson, New Jersey. The real story starts from the point when a college friend of Sal invites him to spend some time with him in San Francisco besides he also wanted to see his most beloved friend Dean Moriarty in Denver. Dean Moriarty is the second most prominent character of the story that is presented as a talkative, womanizer type of a guy, who was living in New York in a hope to become a writer. He is very much idealized by Sal as he is too joyous and is very confident and smart while being with women. "
Abstract This paper discusses the concept of conformity and non-conformity through one of Jack Kerouac's greatest books "On The Road." It analyzes Kerouac's writings and relates it to the idea of conformity/non-conformity. It also discusses these ideas through the lifestyles of the beat generation which is embodied in the characters of the book.
From the Paper ?During the early post war era, the presumed conformity in middle-class white American literature where enormous, and it should come as no surprise that a reaction against that conformity-the beat generation-should arise and attain notoriety.? --Robert Holton(265-266) Jack Kerouac, a "self-proclaimed spokesman for the beat generation" (Miles 171), wrote a book that challenges the concept of conformity in a post war America. This book entitled "On The Road" takes its two main characters, Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, in numerous journeys across America and to Mexico as well. These journeys, that takes them back and forth from the east coast to the west coast, illustrate the rebellious notion that Kerouac has towards rigidity and responsibility: two concepts that has embodied the idea of conformity. Through this, Kerouac is conveying the idea that living life to its fullest means the destruction of barriers to personal freedom. As Sal and Dean aptly demonstrates, life can indeed be lived to its fullest. They disregarded conformity to lead their own lives with their own rules. In many ways, they are the representations of the beat generation: they are Kerouac's tools to profess his belief in non-conformity."
Tags:beat, conformity, dean, drugs, drunkenness, jack, jose, kerouac, life, maldia, moriairty, non, road, sal
Abstract The paper discusses the core theme and purpose of Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road" which was published in 1957. The novel is essentially about the author's trips to various parts of the country in search of wisdom and truth. This paper focuses on the actual purpose of the journey and finds out if the writer was finally able to reach his destination or not. The paper also discusses the Beat generation briefly and explains why it was difficult for people to understand the theme of the novel when it first appeared in 1950s.
From the Paper "On the Road is one of the most widely read books that emerged out of the Beat generation of the 1950s. To understand On the Road better, it is important to delve deeper in the society and culture of the time when Americans were increasingly looking for an alternative lifestyle and in their quest for something unique and different, they experimented with everything that appeared wild and adventurous. Jack Kerouac was one important beats icon and in his book, he has essentially talked about the journey that took him to different parts of the country. The author has not discussed this journey as simply a vacation trip; there is something intensely deep and meaningful in his travel chronicles. He was not precisely interested in visiting various parts of the country but his journey actually reflects a disturbed soul and mind looking for some stability in unpredictable and uncertain times."
Abstract This paper analyzes the book "Plan B" by Chester Himes, focusing on the stereotypes and labels imposed on black people by whites as a false measure of superiority. The paper illustrates the fact that Tomsson Black - the main character of the book - is aware of these social constructs and this allows him to beat the white man at his own game. The writer portrays Tomsson as someone who plays on the white man's stereotype of the black man, and without a hint of suspicion, succeeds in becoming the white man's worse enemy.
From the Paper "In Chester Himes? novel, Plan B, Tomsson Black is the personification of white man's fear and hatred towards blacks. Black is a tall, strong, dark- skinned, militant black man who starts a race riot in Himes? novel. Despite the fact that Tomsson has been a member of the Black Panthers, started his own Black organization, visited Communist countries to study Marxist ideologies, and raped a white woman, he is loved by whites. He is the last person white officials suspect of starting the race riot. The reason Tomsson is able to do all these things and get away with them is the fact that he plays the role the whites want him to play. By playing the role of the Negro, Tomsson giving whites what they want- control. By controlling the black man's image, the white man can force him to be anything he wants him to be."
Tags: label, race, racism, riot, stereotypes, tomsson, discrimination, negro, control
A critical analysis of the bias and shallowness of the media in its reporting of the riots following the acquittal of police charged with beating Rodney King.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 10 sources, 1999, $ 63.95
Abstract "This study will examine the media coverage of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of the police officers charged with beating Rodney King. The thesis of the study will be that the media was biased in its coverage of the riots, and that that bias was based on racial stereotyping.
From the Paper "This study will examine the media coverage of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of the police officers charged with beating Rodney King. The thesis of the study will be that the media was biased in its coverage of the riots, and that that bias was based on racial stereotyping.
The sources consulted for this study indicate clearly that there was substantial bias in the coverage of the rioting. That bias involved reporters' assignments, the power over who wrote the words of the stories filed, the description of the rioting and its participants, and, most importantly, an almost total absence of meaningful analysis of the deeper socioeconomic issues which gave rise to the rioting.
Ishmael Reed, in Airing Dirty Laundry, posits the theory that the media is rife with subtle and not-so-subtle racial bias ..."
Abstract Describes the make-up of the heart. Role that oxygen plays. How circulation works. What happens when the heart stops beating. Cell death. Diagnosing the moment of death; what criteria to use. Brain-dead condition. Tests used to determine when a person can be called dead. Somatic (reversible) death; molecular (irreversible) death. Organ donations. Issue of quality of organs donated for transplants.
From the Paper "Most people accept that when the heart stops beating, a person dies. In the general sense, this is true, although with today's resuscitation techniques, the heart can be restarted if treatment is given quickly. The reason people die when the heart stops beating and is not resuscitated within a few minutes is that to stay alive, all tissues in the body require oxygen. When we inspire (breathe in), the lungs fill with air, and the oxygen, which is at a greater concentration in the air than in the blood circulating in the capillaries in the lungs, crosses the thin membranes of the lung tissue and the fine capillaries and enters the bloodstream. Erythrocytes (red blood cells) in the bloodstream contain a pigment called hemoglobin, which binds oxygen, and this pigment allows the erythrocytes to transport it to the tissues. When the oxygen-rich blood reaches the tissues and ..."
