Popular Novelist and Novels  William Faulkner: A Fable and The Mansion.  Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea.  John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath.  Flannery O’ Connor: Wise Blood.

More Novelists and Novels  J.D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye.  Jack Kerouac: On the Road. Many of the popular novels of the day focused on realistic depictions and explored questions about society and human relationships. Science Fiction, as shown in The Year of the Bomb, became popular. Beat literature, like On the Road, began to challenge traditional 1950s beliefs.

Poetry: The Beat Poets Beat poetry rejects middle- class life and values, anti- establishment, and was not respected by literary or social establishments in the 1950s. Beat poetry mainly focused on expanding one’s mind (sometimes with drugs), pacifism, and love for nature. Beat poets used less traditional forms of poetry.  Allen Ginsberg  Lawrence Ferlinghetti  Gregory Corso  Amiri Baraka  Neal Cassidy

Allen Ginsberg Biography  Born June 3, 1926  Moved to San Francisco in 1954 where he published Howl and Other Poems.  “Howl” is his most famous poem and it challenges 1950s values, materialism, and intolerance.  Writing “Howl” led to him being put on trial for obscenity charges.  Explored topics like taking drugs and homosexuality  Admired poets like Walt Whitman and William Blake

A Supermarket in California Click on the link below to read and listen to Ginsberg read his poem “A Supermarket in California”:

Summary of the Poem Tired and lonely, Ginsberg goes to a supermarket where he sees his hero Walt Whitman. He watches families shopping late at night. He talks about all of the fruit at the store and walks down the aisles with Walt Whitman. He also sees the poet Lorca. He takes things off the shelves and eats them without paying. Ginsberg is thinking about how to save America and is looking to Walt Whitman for advice on what to do. He believes that America is lost because it won’t accept other beliefs, such as homosexuality, and its materialism.

Theme: American Dream Anti-materialism and an American dream about wealth Supermarkets represent materialism because you can get whatever you want and buy virtually anything with money. Ginsberg steals items and plays by his own rules. He is followed by the store detective and disobeys society’s rules.  “In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket”  “What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night!”  “We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier”

Lost America Whitman’s America is lost and in the past and forgotten. America is lost because people care only about their own beliefs and wealth. Cars are status symbols and seen as very important. Ginsberg asks for Whitman’s advice because Whitman’s America focused on people and not things.  “Where are we going, Walt Whitman?”  “Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage? Whitman

The Poem and the Story  Ginsberg’s poem challenges the 1950s values and society described in the book. It reveals that some people did not want the traditional values.  Paul’s dad has a top secret job where he has to design bombs. He hates the job but continues so he can have a house and a TV. He represents the people Ginsberg thinks need to change.  The dad refuses to quit and Paul’s mom divorces him since “ he loves his TV more” (p. 188).  Paul, however, tries to think for himself and not accuse others of being anti-American.

Works Cited  "The 1950s: The Arts: Overview." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 6: Detroit: Gale, Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Mar  “Allen Ginsberg” (Image). Osho on Allen Ginsberg. Osho, n.d. Web. 19 Mar  "Beat Movement." Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia (1996): Literary Reference Center. Web. 18 Mar  Coleman, Loren. “The Beat Generation” (Image). CryptoMundo. CryptoMundo, 7 Aug Web. 18 Mar  ”Ernest Hemingway (Image)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 19Mar  ”Flannery O’Connor (Image)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 19 Mar  ”Jack Kerouac (Image)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 19 Mar  ”J.D. Salinger (Image)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 19 Mar  ”John Steinbeck (Image)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 19 Mar  "A Supermarket in California." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Mar  “Walt Whitman” (Image). The Walt Whitman Archive. Folsom & Kenneth M. Price, n.d. Web. 19 Mar  "William Faulkner (Image)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 19 Mar