The role of the outside observer in Allen Ginsberg's 1956 poem "Howl" is a significant presence in the poem and crucially exemplifies why Ginsberg is thus forced to create this literary work in their honor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay “Howl” embodies the Beat generation and this poem in particular “helped jump-start the countercultural revolutions of the following decade and its author was acclaimed as the voice of the Beat generation.” “Howl” is written in verse free, perhaps poetically describing a freedom from the constraints of stylistic "norms", meant to be indicative of the oppression faced by many in this society The use of breath and prosodic when spoken aloud can create the sensation that poetry is a living thing and is a literal representation of the harmful society they live in and as a result is struggling to stay alive Even the act of speaking and bringing these terrible truths to life is actually what is killing poetry For this reason, the poem is also most effective when spoken to the masses, and is suffocating in its intimacy and relentless in its intensity. There is an element of accusation in his poetry as he lists countless examples of tragedies he has witnessed. both on a personal and community level of which he was an objective spectator - in particular when he uses short ungrammatical exclamations in the second part of the poem: “Moloch! Loneliness! Dirt! Ugliness! Ashcan and dollars nowhere to be found! Children screaming under the stairs!...". The offensive vocabulary that is often used to mock and belittle these so-called "outsiders" is now used to intimidate and shame the perpetrators, regardless of whether they took part in the act or not, since even staying silent and simply watching is a crime in itself. . It is also interesting to note that the postmodification in the second line—“hungry hysterical naked”—presents a list of three adverbs that almost metaphorically encapsulate some of the anonymous outcasts mentioned by Ginsberg: poverty, madness, and sexuality. These visceral images frame the entire narrative and present a very profound, instinctive yet disturbingly bleak depiction of the stark reality of 1950s America. Ginsberg is brutally honest about the society he witnesses and vehemently calls for change. Yet, by doing so, Ginsberg is taking a hypocritical stance on the issue as he too talks about his experiences but has offered no solution or no absolution of his own, exemplifying how deep the poisonous roots of this society run. the first-person narrative is at once a study in inclusivity and exclusivity, alienating and inviting the audience. Ginsberg creates this synthetic personalization between himself, the character's voice, and the many faces that make up the audience – a metaphorical reflection, perhaps, of society's many outcasts. The anaphoric repetition of "who" throughout the poem is purposefully ambiguous, as if forcing the audience to dig deeper and internalize subtextual rhetorical questions about the context of their identity, disguising the questions as declarative, such as: Who are You? Furthermore, the parallel between inclusiveness and exclusivity is indicative of the disadvantaged community suffering from mental illness as a whole, and yet also illustrates their differences among members of the social “norm”. Janet Hadda, a UCLA professor of Jewish and Yiddish literature, says Ginsberg's experiences of conversations with others during her seven-month stay at the institute. 2019.
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