Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son,
Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding,
No sentimentalist, no stander above men and women or apart from them,
No more modest than immodest.
Unscrew the locks from the doors!
Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!
From Song of Myself XXIV (complete poem)
[ Allen Ginsberg's The Howl inspired by Walt Whitman ]
Test: 50s Rebellion and conflict...The role of the artist as rebel and agent of social change....before you even begin this project remember that the avant-garde artists, writers,beats, civil rights heroes and victims, film icons, musical and feminine rebels-- all of them were part of a long tradition historically of showing us the way to the future, as one writer put it "Art makes science clear". While it is easy to present the beatniks and the artists [including both jazz and rock and roll] as particular to the 1950s and setting up the 1960s, it is also important to put them in the context of those who came before. When Whitman released Leaves of Grass [final version in 1892] it laid the ground for modernist poetry, or "broke new wood" as one commentator remarked. He horrified the reading public and was hugely criticized. And it is also a theme of our course that we are studying here MORE than just 50s society: American culture shows similar change and activism throughout its history. So....here's the point of take-off: for those who criticized rock/roll as 'devil's music', or bee-bop as noise, or expressionism as 'monkey art' or.......
Construct a magazine interview on 50s 'rebellion' in which the interviewer and the interviewee discuss the main themes of rebellion and conformity in the 50s, the purpose of this interviewis to provide the reading audience with a sense of the "spirit of the times" -in German the "zietgeist"-the interview format is:
Interviewer: Asks questions which require extended answers that are at least 2-3 sentences in length and include information on the topic-every answer must contain at least 2 of the terms listed at the bottom of this page Required length-15 questions and answers--about --600-750 words minimum, typed.
Your interview should include, in question and answer format, discussion about rock music, be-bop, 50s artistic trends, beatnik and popular literature, and the "mood of the times", socially and politically; think of the major areas where these agents of social change challenged conformity and tradition. Do NOT focus on one area, artist or theme, but cover a broad specturm of society.
As an interviewer you are trying to get the historic interviewee to be a voice of that era --through the eyes of the interviewee you are taking a snapshot of the 50s. Be both analytical and descriptive in your questions and answers, avoid "Who was Jack Kerouac"? What did Ginsberg write? Who were the most famous rockers? Did you like James Dean? types of simplistic questions; instead ask questions which reveal an understanding of the era. "How was Kerouac typical of beat writers?". "How was Pollock's work different from previous American painting styles in his Lavender Mist?" "What was your first reaction when you saw Rebel Without a Cause? " Your grade will be based not only on your factual information, but also the level of your questions/answers and the creativity of our layout/design.
Read a real interview from magazine or newpaper to get a feel for how to ask questions.The setting of the interview is in a coffee shop in either New York City or in San Francisco, in 1958, right after Ike's re-election, the Little Rock, Arkansas civil rights crisis, and the publication of the beat classic, On the Road. Playing in the background is a j cool jazz quartet featuring Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The time of the interview: "Around Midnight"- the name of famous "be- bop" jazz classic. Your interview is to be part of a magazine in its layout format: it is to include pictures of those who you interview, graphics,of the celebrities and icons of the decade ..Suggested minimum: 8 pictures. Use columns, headers, titles, etc or any magazine format you like. Make it creative...after all that's what this is about isn't it?
Additionally: each interview project must include at least two substantial quotes from the interviewee: that is, you must fully citeand provide a quote by the person that links to your particular question.
You are doing this interview for one of these popular 1950s magazines: Down Beat [focus on jazz and 'race music' very 'hip' and cool at that time ], Jet [aimed at African-Americans seldom read by the Pleasantivlle middle class], Photoplay [aimed at female movie audiences and the newly emerging teenagers ], or Life Magazine or Time --general audience magazines with huge impact and distribution]. Both you and your interviewee are sipping on a flavorful espresso coffee--a type of coffee few mainstream middle class 1950s Americans had ever heard of at that time! After all, it was either "good to the last drop" -Maxwell House or Folgers for middle America in the 1950s. But you're cool, daddy-o! go cat, go, as the 'beatniks' urged. Just don't spill any latte supremo on your project!
Your grade will be based on both your use of terms AND the insights and quality of the questions you ask/answer. Do some research beyond class notes-if you do more you get more! Do not focus on one area or artist---this is NOT an Elvis interview! If you really want to interview Elvis just call him and talk to him in person! [He was seen in the mall just yesterday eating a super-sized cheese burger ] You may assume the persona any of the major personalities of the era, that is, you can be Dick Clark, a friend of James Dean, or Jackson Pollock being interviewed by "Edward R. Murrow-the most famous TV reporter of the decade" or...Marilyn Monroe...just make it plausible dialogue.
Each article in your paper is required to be under-signed by its author if two students work together. Both must share an equal share in the project. And both must use the same format, fonts, style, etc. Be cautious here!
Keep your eye on the ball: THE question that must be asked in all interviews, as the last question, is : what change socially, culturally, or politically etc, did your interviewee create for America? This should be an extended, factual answer. So if you interviewed Kerouac be ready to respond in terms of his impacts.
You will need to use at least 30 of the following; number them as you use them and UNDERLINE them. [ If you fail to do this you lose 5 points!] Some of you may have to research some terms further. :
On the Road, The
Catcher in the Rye, "That's All Right Moma", Jackson
Pollock, bee-bop, "Elvis as the bridge", The Lonely
Crowd , Moondog Hour, Marlon Brando, Rebel Without
a Cause, Brown vs Board of Education, "centrifugal
forces",Charlie Parker, Lavender Mist, Roll Over
Beethoven, Godzilla, 'ladder of equality', anti-heroes,
transcendentalists, "hi-fi", Little Richard, Blackboard
Jungle, abstract expressionism, "conventional mores and
lifestyle", swing-jazz, James Dean, " Soviet socialist realism",
Lost Generation, 'separate but equal',Cleveland, Edward R.
Murrow. "feminine mystique" Joe McCarthy, Peyton
Place, New York City, avant-garde,
'inner-directed', Allan Ginsberg, Rock Around the Clock,
Greenwich village, segregation, Montgomery Boycott, Betty
Friedan, Marilyn Monroe, Rosa Parks, "The
Howl" , Thelonius Monk, "double standard", Buddy
Holly, WINS, 14th amendment, " rock and roll is more than music",
Invisible Man ,Willem de Kooning, The Wild
One, "chilling affects of McCarthyism" , Feminine
Mystique ,'cultural lag', Allan Freed, Sun Records,
Zen buddhism, angst ,"50s social pendulum",
Hemmingway,Arthur Miller, Madison Avenue, President Eisenhower,
Truman Capote, Chuck Berry, Elizabeth Brown,Allen Ginsberg, "race
music", Jackie Robinson, Hugh Hefner, "Rush Hour","The
Man in the Gray Flannel Suit"," Thurgood Marshall,
American Bandstand, Emmet Till, .the "artist as agent of
change","silent generation", "When art becomes predictable it is
time for a change", Orville Faubus, Brown vs Board of Education,
Rosa Parks, 'glass ceiling',Walt Whitman, "due process clause",
'hi-fi' records, Ralph Ellison, 'silent generation', Chess
Records, Alan Freed, 'race records',"Rush Hour',City Lights Book
Store, 'glass ceiling', Wlat Whitman, Lost Generation, Althea
Gibson, Columbia University,transcendentalists, Plessy vs
Ferguson, Willem de Kooning, "African American migration
north", Benny Goodman Big Band, consumerism and materialism.
Citation Page: Be sure to cite your references [ MLA format] at the bottom of your interview.
Date due: _______
HINT: Sources for use: Use amazon.com for good book/poetry reviews of some of the ltierature of the decade, also see www.imdb.com for reviews and info on films of the decade., www.beatmuseum.org.
beatniks/50_interviewquiz.htm [Fall -Winter-08]