Jasamyn Wimmer English 1B Professor Kleinman 5 March 2013 Brief Literary Analysis Lost America: An analysis of “A Supermarket in California” Allen Ginsberg; philosopher‚ activist‚ poet‚ a man highly revered as a groundbreaking figure between the 1950’s Beat Poetry Generation and the counter-cultural revolution of the 1960’s (poetryarchive.org). Ginsberg’s first book “Howl and Other Poems‚” was published in 1955‚ his work was involved in an illustrious obscenity trial because of the use of
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Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California" Presented much like a spontaneous journal or diary entry‚ Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California" is a complex and multifaceted poem that stands as an indictment against American government and culture. The opening lines of the poem forward the aforementioned journal-like quality and also present the central focal point of tension in the poem as a whole. The opening line specifically expresses a tone of wistfulness or even sadness: "What
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Initially while reading “A Supermarket in California” by Allen Ginsberg I couldn’t fully comprehend what it was I was reading at first. My first impression of the poem was something along the lines of‚ “This man sure knows how to fill up paragraphs with tons of meaningless nonsense that may as well be replaced with a huge ‘NOTHING’ written in its place.” But then I re-read the poem and truly tried to understand what it was he was saying‚ who were the people he kept bringing up? Why is he talking
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June 2012 Allen Ginsberg to be honored on Postage Stamp Irwin Allen Ginsberg was born 3 June 1929‚ in Newark‚ New Jersey‚ the younger son of Louis Ginsberg‚ a high school English teacher and poet‚ and Naomi Levy Ginsberg. He was from a family of Jewish Russian immigrants (Morgan 4)‚ his family had ties to the radical labor movement‚ his mother was insane‚ and he was a homosexual: four prescriptions in the conventional1940’s and 1950’s for a sense of deep alienation. Allen Ginsberg was one of America’s
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How Allen Ginsberg Challenges America | Dr. Anshen English 2304 American Literature | Lisa M. Alvarado | How Allen Ginsberg challenges America Allen Ginsberg’s America is full of conversational monologues; he uses several literary and poetic devices to challenge several aspects of the American Society. His tone plays a main role in getting his perspective across to the audience. This poem is filled with cultural and political references as well as references to incidents and events in his
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"A Supermarket in California" is a poem published in 1956 by the American poet Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg is a prime example of a poet during what is now referred to as the ’Beat Generation’‚ a literary movement bucking the typical ideals of American society. This can easily be seen within "A Supermarket in California" as it is makes note of many issues within society as they align with the typical American view versus Ginsberg’s own. Contrasting views to be examined in the poem include homosexuality
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Essay 2 Poetry Poetry is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning to an audience. In “A supermarket in California” by Allen Ginsberg‚ he uses symbolism and literary allusions to convey a man going through a crisis between the modern American consumerism‚ an individual’s detachment with nature; following the ways of his idol Walt Whitman by living a spiritual natural lifestyle and also tell a story about his search for sexual acceptance among
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war in American history. Allen Ginsberg is one of the most prominent writers during the Beat Movement after World War II. The Beat movement was a very important literary period in history. Ginsberg and other poets used World War II references to display culture the 1950s. He writes about his views on American society and the toll World War II took on America as a whole. Allen Ginsberg uses culture and political references in “Howl”‚ “America”‚ and “A Supermarket in California” to show the political
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Allen Ginsberg “America” Allen Ginsberg wrote a poem called “America”. This poem is very long and typical of Ginsberg. He breaks the poem up into two stanzas with 40 lines in the first and 60 lines in the second. This poem is meant to be funny but at the same time talk about important events in American history. There is no rhyme scheme and is written in free verse‚ which is normal for Ginsberg’s poems. To truly understand this poem you need to know more about Allen Ginsberg himself. Allen
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Analysis of Supermarket in California Allen Ginsberg portrays alienation as a lonely walk to the supermarket. In the poem “A Supermarket in California” he displays this idea through the images of people in the supermarket‚ his use of the word “penumbras” and the use of the word “enumerations”. Allen Ginsberg is alienated thus causes him to use his imagination for company. In the poem Ginsberg states that there was whole families shopping “Wives in the avocados” (3). This shows Ginsberg is desperate
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