Reflection Allen Ginsberg This is America Poem Much of our time in this class will be spent examining how we use language to define the culture of the coun

Reflection Allen Ginsberg This is America Poem Much of our time in this class will be spent examining how we use language to define the culture of the country we live in, and how it defines us.

To get started, I want you to consider a poem that captures one American’s sentiments in a time when the U.S. was on the verge of significant social upheaval: the 1950’s. The poet is a famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) member of the Beat writers movement; you may be familiar with this movement, but you can read a little more about here: https://www.britannica.com/art/Beat-movement (Links to an external site.)

For this reflection, take inspiration from Allen Ginsberg’s “America”, and then write a poem of your own, also called “America”.

Before you begin, be aware that Ginsberg, like most of his peers, invokes language and concepts that might make some readers uncomfortable. This is an introduction to the kind of content this class will require you to be open-minded about in order to partake in the work of cultural studies. It’s also an introduction to a genre — poetry — that some readers might not find particularly valuable in our modern society, but which has been a powerful arm of cultural production throughout human existence, and as such is worth our attention here.

On that note, you are not required to consider yourself “a poet” to be successful with this exercise. The only requirement is for you to try expressing your sense of how you fit into the society that surrounds you. Whether you feel like Ginsberg does, or completely the opposite, or somewhere in the middle, just play with the words and images that occur to you.

First, read the poem here:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49305/america-56d22b41f119f (Links to an external site.)

If you’d like to hear Ginsberg read it with an audience, you can do that here: Allen Ginsberg reads America (Links to an external site.)

Then compose your own original “America” poem, and submit it here.

For a bonus point, instead of submitting your written poem, you can submit an audio or video file of you reading it.