What do these movies What do these movies have in common?have in common?

• Midnight Run• Convoy• Thelma and Louise• Motorcycle Diaries• Smokey and the

Bandit• Mad Max• Planes, Trains,

and Automobiles

• Cannonball Run• Easy Rider• Little Miss

Sunshine• The Muppet Movie• National

Lampoon’s Vacation

• Bonnie and Clyde• Into the Wild• Road Trip

What do these books What do these books have in common?have in common?

• Road Fever• The Lost

Continent• Blue Highways• Fear and

Loathing in Las Vegas

• Travels with Charley

• Into the Wild

• The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Getting on the road—Getting on the road—an an archetypearchetype

• Have you ever taken a road trip?

• Why do people often decide to “hit the road”?

• Find yourself• Rebellion• Dissatisfied with the times• Need something new• Looking for something• Need to break away…

• Why might someone have the need to do leave his or her milieu and look for something else “on the road”?

zeitgeistzeitgeist• German . the spirit of the time;

general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.

• the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.

zeitgeistzeitgeist• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP29Baxs0K0

Zeitgeist of the 60s?Zeitgeist of the 60s?

What is the Zeitgeist What is the Zeitgeist of your generation?of your generation?

• Write down three characteristics of your generation. Remember—GENERAL TRENDS—moral, intellectual; GENERAL thoughts and feelings--not specific Wexford trends.

• Share your characteristics with your group members. Work with what you have.

Post WWII Post WWII AttitudeAttitude

• Family, sobriety, hard work, material possessions

• Confidence in American Supremacy

• Pre-Civil Rights movement

• Antiestablishment

• Alternative lifestyle

• Experimentation• Flexible

sexuality• Inventive arts

Beat Attitude

Beat BeliefsBeat Beliefs• Freedom• Individuality• Experimentation• Style of writing• Inspired by bop jazz• “We love everything - Billy Graham,

the Top Ten, Rock and Roll, Zen, apple pie, Eisenhower - we dig it all.”

Jack KerouacJack Kerouacand the Beat Generation

• What’s BEAT?

• Times Square hustler Herbert Huncke introduced Kerouac to the term meaning “down and out, poor and exhausted”

BEATNIKBEATNIK• Herb Coen coined the term to reference West

Coast youth

• Fashioned after the Russian term Sputnik

Beat RootsBeat Roots• “exhausted, at the bottom of the

world, looking up or out, sleepless, wide-eyed, perceptive, rejected by society, on your own, streetwise”

• The Beatitudes• Beat Generation: “describing a

new sort of stance toward reality, behind which a new sort of consciousness lay.”

Kerouac’s other intended Kerouac’s other intended

meanings meanings • Beatific—bestowing blessings, bliss, happiness

• A beatific vision—a direct knowledge of God enjoyed by the blessed in heaven

BeatitudesBeatitudes• Eight sayings of Jesus at the

beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The word is from the Latin beatus, meaning “blessed,” and each of the Beatitudes begins with the word blessed. They include “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth” and “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”

Kerouac’s DefinitionKerouac’s Definition• It’s a kind of furtiveness… Like

we were a generation of furtives. You know, with an inner knowledge… a kind of beatness… and a weariness with all the forms, all the conventions of the world… So I guess you might say we’re a ‘Beat Generation.’

Kerouac on Steve Kerouac on Steve Allen ShowAllen Show

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzCF6hgEfto

Kerouac on the BeatsKerouac on the Beats• But yet, but yet, woe, woe unto those who

think that the Beat Generation means crime, delinquency, immorality, amorality ... woe unto those who attack it on the grounds that they simply don’t understand history and the yearning of human souls ... woe in fact unto those who make evil movies about the Beat Generation where innocent housewives are raped by beatniks! ... woe unto those who spit on the Beat Generation, the wind’ll blow it back.

Jack KerouacJack Kerouac• Born in Massachusetts in 1922• French-Canadian Family• Profoundly effected by the death

of his eldest brother, Gerard• “Joual” was first language• Inspired by “The Shadow” and

Thomas Wolfe• First published in 1950

Kerouac continuedKerouac continued• Received football scholarship to

Columbia University• Had a short-lived college career• Joined Merchant Marine• Married a total of three times• Lived with his mother nearly his

entire life• Died in 1969 from complications

from alcoholism

• After two World Wars many Americans felt hopeless and bitter.

• Others hid under a façade of complacency and conformity—trying to become part of the American Dream

• The Beats rejected society’s institutionalized religions and sought new spirituality through heightened individual experiences.

Drugs and the BeatsDrugs and the Beats• Benzedrine (benny)• Tea• Amphetamines• Alcohol

• Kerouac had little patience with “hipsters” wearing goatees and berets—he referred to them as POSEURS and conformists

• Kerouac disassociated himself with the beatniks as they evolved into HIPPIES in the sixties

The Merry PrankstersThe Merry Pranksters1960s (1964)Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty)Lead by Ken Kesey—One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Thomas Wolfe--The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

FurtherFurther……• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDSes1bQjKM

FurtherFurther

Ken Kesey Ken Kesey

Ken Kesey with Ken Kesey with restored restored FurtherFurther

Major WorksMajor Works• On the Road by Kerouac• Howl by Allen Ginsberg• Naked Lunch by William

Burroughs

On the RoadOn the Road• Written in three weeks• Interesting medium• Semi-autobiographical• Roman a clef• Episodic novel

120 feet long120 feet long

Currently owned by Currently owned by Jim Irsay, owner of the Jim Irsay, owner of the

Colt’sColt’s• Purchased in 2002 for 2.2 million

Kerouac’s manuscript Kerouac’s manuscript • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmyS1EEVFbs

StyleStyle• Spontaneous prose• Stream of consciousness

• Disregard of grammar

•Roman a Clef - characters and their counterparts

Kerouac reading haikuKerouac reading haiku• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=WMwAtOom7CA• Steve Allen • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9SZ0IVcwjw

• ...because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!” (Kerouac).

Madness in The Madness in The Catcher in the RyeCatcher in the Rye

Pg. 1 I’ll just tell you about his madman stuff…11He (Spencer) was mad about history.35…snow…was still coming down like a madman.41He (Stradlater) was mad about himself.42I went right on smoking like a madman.48 It just drove me stark staring mad when I thought about her and Stradlater…

More madnessMore madness49A couple of minutes later, he was

snoring like mad.73I apologized like a madman…95She (Sunny) looked at me like I

was a madman.134I swear to God I’m a madman

(for asking Sally to move away with me).

159…this big old madman desk…165 She’s (Phoebe) a true madman

sometimes.

• Close read pages 1 and 2 in packet today.

• Complete in your notebook the free write task at the bottom of page 2 today.

• Close read pages 5, 6, 7, 8 and complete page 9 for homework—Due 2-6.