Ginsberg Beat Poetry Analysis

Spoken word poetry, no matter the length, short or long, the words are brought together to tell a story. A story of someone's personal experience or something in society that needs to be heard. Spoken word poetry is an effective way to communicate because you can see the emotion and the body language of the performer. The Spoken Word piece “Knock Knock” by Daniel Beaty is an example of this emotion and story telling style. Beaty tells about his story and how his dad was put in jail and the racism and stereotypes that he faced. In “Knock Knock” Beaty is trying to emphasize the effects on families that they face through racism, stereotypes that others create, and that us as children do not have to grow up to be our parents; that we can create our own path.

Blues music was created by African Americans in the deep South during the 19th century. One of the main characteristics of blues music that separates the blues from other musical genres is that blues themes are more than often based on personal adversity. One popular blues theme is traveling. When the theme of traveling comes to mind, adversity may not be the first thing one thinks of; however, traveling was historically used as a tool to oppress African Americans in the United States. During the years of slavery, it was common practice to deny African Americans the right to travel or to force African Americans to travel between unfamiliar plantations. Gertrude “Ma” Rainey’s well-known songs, “Traveling Blues” and “Lost Wandering Blues” both

Who is Margaret Walker? Margaret Walker was a poet who wrote five bibliography poems (Poetry Foundation). Margaret Walker wrote more poems but these are just the ones she wrote about her life. She leaned toward writing about nature and black lives, she addresses these things in the poems “Sorrow Home”, “ Memory”, and “Southern Song”, most people can relate to these types of poems because they can relate to being outdoors and doing hard work and putting forth the effort to get a job done. Margaret Walker was an interesting poet because her poems can transport the reader back to a time and place of hardships and struggles of the black community in the days of slavery and their strength to overcome these sometimes unbearable conditions.

In the poem “A Story” by Li- Young Lee, the audience is introduced to the intricate relationship between the father and the son. There is an obvious internal conflict ongoing within the father’s thoughts; the father desperately wants to tell his son a story but cannot come up with one. The author highlights the altering views held by the father and the son through the use of shifting points of view and the intended structure. These two devices adeptly establish the poem’s profundity and intensity of emotions; moreover, it brings light to a common battle that evolving filial relations face against time; as innocence eventuates into maturity, parents inevitably feel helpless and nostalgic.

Conformity and rebellion are two separate entities. This was not the case during the 18th and early 19th century. This time period witness a sudden change in the stance of a slave. The slave was now free in America which caused a great upheaval on the role that the “new free man” should take in America’s economy. Two sides were drawn between whether the “new free man” should continue to work for the white man or should pursue education. Two great men named, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois, took leadership and stated their stance on the current issues concerning the “new free man”. In the poem, “Booker T. and W.E.B” by Dudley Randall, this new era of segregation is clearly being discussed, were blacks and whites had to figure out a way to live as “equals”. Many African Americans who were previous slaves continued working for the white man while others sought education and political refugee. This new age of intertwining and viewing the previous slaves as men left the nation in a rumble drawing a clear line between what a “free man” should and should not do. Consequently, the idea of conformity and rebellion arises as these strong historical speakers portray their thoughts on either side of the spectrum. Booker T asserts his ideas of conformity while W.E.B

“The Untitled Superhero Poem” by Tonya Maria Matthews is a great example of stream of consciousness, displays great use of enjambment, and is an ideal representation of witness poetry.

“Look at what’s happening in the world. Everyday there’s something exciting or disturbing to write about. With all that’s going on, how could I stop?” (Brooks). During 1917-2000, Gwendolyn Brooks, an African American poet, wrote the poem “The Bean Eaters” because she wanted others to know about the unspoken problem of poverty. Brooks wants to elaborate on poverty by trying to teach it through her words inside of the poem, the techniques, and writing style she used. Brooks used certain techniques and words in her poem to create a deeper feeling and understanding when people read her poem. She also showed her strength within the poem and used “human talk” to make it easier for people to read and understand her message. In Gwendolyn Brooks’s

The authors incorporated poems within poetry to create a more unique style to express their feelings regarding poetry. At first, the unrealistic expressions they used, such as “ I am a new man. I snarl at her and bark ” (line 16-17) and “And the poem demanded the food, it drank up all the water” (line 23-24), to describe their feelings towards poetry, made it difficult to take the poems seriously. After further analysis, the meanings behind the author’s unique expressions, portrayed the purpose of their writing. They used poetry within poetry to express their strong feelings and emotions towards

To convey the brutality and animosity of “The Troubles”, Seamus Heaney expressed his thought-provoking opinions in the form of poetry. His collection of poems called “North” specifically portray the violent and hatred of The Troubles during 1968 to 1998. The Troubles refer to the sectarian warfare and division between the United Kingdom and Ireland. During this time period, political infighting occurred and caused conflicts that eventually lead to a bloody and brutal war. The North collection utilises various historical context while also stylistically allude to the bygone era of the Vikings and the discovery of the bog bodies of the Northern Europe in order to emphasise the endless occurrence of brutality and violent events. “The Grauballe Man” is an allegorical poem that conveys the political crisis and regional warfare happened in Northern Ireland. During this time period known as “The Troubles”, violent and animosity erupted and spilled over like an active volcano. Noticing the brutality and adversary, Seamus Heaney figuratively utilises the context of The Troubles and elicits his message towards the act of brutality. The context of the atrocious event inspired the poet to voice his opinions and utilise poetry skills to convey his message. The poet employs multiple literary devices as well as alludes to certain historical events in order to emphasise his understanding and his vision towards the society.

Li-Young Lee’s poem “Eating Alone” expresses a son’s loneliness and love for his father that has passed away. He continuously connects the father to all that the speaker does whether it is lifeful or not. Lee does so in a way through imagery, tone, and irony.

Poetry is a piece of literature where the author shares his ideas of a subject or person. He is attempting to allow the reader an understanding of his feelings regarding this subject. Most of the time poetry can be very pleasing to the ear; however, at times it can be written in a manner that is odd. Some poetry is written in a way that the reader can “hear”, “feel”, “see” or “taste” elements in the poem. Some poems may rhyme while others may not need to in order to convey the message. Some poems may have a strict structural form while others may not. The writer can incorporate one of many poetic devices into his work to relay his message to the reader. Examples analyzed today include poetic sound, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, meter, and verse.

In the poem “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes many Literary elements are being used and there is a meaning behind the poem. within the poem. One of the elements is allusion. Hughes uses many allusions throughout the poem such as, Durham, Harlem, New York, Eighth Avenue, Bessie, and Bach. These allusions reference the schools Hughes went to and where he lives. They also represent what kind of contemporary entertainment he enjoys. He also uses quite a few enjambments to drive the poem forward. The enjambments bring the lines together, even though there is a line break the idea of the line continues on. A example of one of Hughes’s enjambments is “ I guess you learn from me--/ although you’re older”(Hughes 38-39).

The Poem “Casey At The Bat” is a poem with hidden deep meaning. At first look it might seem like a baseball story but when you look deeply you will realize it is a life lesson. The narrator is unclear. Written in third person and describing what is going on. This creates a huge amount of imagery throughout the poem. For example, “There was Casey’s Manner as he stopped into his place.” This gives a clear picture in the reader's head. The poem also uses literary devices to give the poem its feeling. For example, “There was a muffled roar like the beating of the storm waves.” This is showing how people were upset but not fully yelling kind of like waves during a storm and how they hit a certain times. This metaphor, like most metaphors, was also

America up to the 1950’s endured many challenges such as World War II. During the 1950’s American society needed to reconstruct itself in order to overcome these traumas. Unfortunately because these changes were so difficult, Americans dearly wanted to turn a blind eye to reality. As a response to this disillusionment, writers such as Allen Ginsberg started the Beat movement to bring change in American Society. Catcher in the Rye provides space for Salinger to expose hypocracises while Holden explores to find his place in this pretentious society by representing the little buddha achieving zen.

Love and romance are a common genre found in poetry, where one is able to express their true emotions toward a particular person or thing. Love itself has come to represent both the emotional and personal connection between two lovers. Pablo Neruda, a renowned Chilean poet, explores the concept of love and separation in the form of the poem, “I can write the saddest verses.” In this poem, Neruda communicated his longing for his past love, whom he still loved at the time. While the words of the poem create an effect and feeling in the reader, which is related to the sad aspects of losing relationships, more can be uncovered about Neruda. This, in turn, this would contribute to a central idea and the overlying themes that encompass this poem.