Portfolio Assignment 7.2: Beat Poem It is arguable as to who was the better Beat: Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg. Some say it had to be Jack Kerouac, because without him there would be no Beat Generation. Others say Allen Ginsberg was the better Beat because he had more writing talent and was more true to the actual Beat form. Either argument might be true. In the end, however, we can conclude that both writers were integral to the Beat movement. We can learn a lot by studying styles and reading works from various poets and authors. However, we can learn even more when we actually write ourselves. Jack Kerouac was known for observing the world around him, writing everything, and (according to him) editing nothing, though he did edit the spacing so that poems looked like poems. The point of Beat poetry is to allow your mind to open up and let the thoughts flow out of your pen without restraint. Keep in mind Kerouacs advice mentioned earlier: Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for your own joy Submissive to everything, open, listening Be in love with your life Something that you feel will find its own form Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind The unspeakable visions of the individual Entranced fixation dreaming upon object before you Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye Write in recollection and amazement for yourself Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea Accept loss forever Believe in the holy contour of life Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in your morning No fear or shame in the dignity of your experience, language & knowledge Write for the world to read and see your exact pictures of it Youre a Genius all the time Your first step is to find an inspiration. It can be anything. Think of Kerouacs tenth essential, The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye. This is very Beat and transcendental at the same time. It means that your inspiration can come from inside of you; youll know it when you find itor when it finds you. The second step is to just write. This can sometimes be hard for students who want rules and guidelines. For example, if you feel like capitalizing a word, then capitalize it. For your assignment, find your jewel center of interest and write a Beat poem. The assignment might seem vague, but it is purposely so. The only requirement is that your beat poem needs to be at least ten lines long. You are not required to go through an editing process with your poemas Kerouac would advocatebut you might be more comfortable doing so. I will leave that up to you. You will be turning in your Beat poem with portfolio 2. Please format and submit your assignment according to the instructions in the syllabus and format them in the following manner: In the top left-hand side of the page please include: the portfolio submission number the name of the assignment and lesson number it came from your name date Be sure to save your assignment as a .PDF file. Please keep copies of all assignments. Independent Study is not responsible for lost assignments.

Portfolio Assignment 7.2: Beat Poem It is arguable as to who was the better Beat: Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg. Some say it had to be Jack Kerouac, because without him there would be no Beat Generation. Others say Allen Ginsberg was the better Beat because he had more writing talent and was more true to the actual Beat form. Either argument might be true. In the end, however, we can conclude that both writers were integral to the Beat movement. We can learn a lot by studying styles and reading works from various poets and authors. However, we can learn even more when we actually write ourselves. Jack Kerouac was known for observing the world around him, writing everything, and (according to him) editing nothing, though he did edit the spacing so that poems looked like poems. The point of Beat poetry is to allow your mind to open up and let the thoughts flow out of your pen without restraint. Keep in mind Kerouacs advice mentioned earlier: Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for your own joy Submissive to everything, open, listening Be in love with your life Something that you feel will find its own form Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind The unspeakable visions of the individual Entranced fixation dreaming upon object before you Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye Write in recollection and amazement for yourself Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea Accept loss forever Believe in the holy contour of life Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in your morning No fear or shame in the dignity of your experience, language & knowledge Write for the world to read and see your exact pictures of it Youre a Genius all the time Your first step is to find an inspiration. It can be anything. Think of Kerouacs tenth essential, The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye. This is very Beat and transcendental at the same time. It means that your inspiration can come from inside of you; youll know it when you find itor when it finds you. The second step is to just write. This can sometimes be hard for students who want rules and guidelines. For example, if you feel like capitalizing a word, then capitalize it. For your assignment, find your jewel center of interest and write a Beat poem. The assignment might seem vague, but it is purposely so. The only requirement is that your beat poem needs to be at least ten lines long. You are not required to go through an editing process with your poemas Kerouac would advocatebut you might be more comfortable doing so. I will leave that up to you. You will be turning in your Beat poem with portfolio 2. Please format and submit your assignment according to the instructions in the syllabus and format them in the following manner: In the top left-hand side of the page please include: the portfolio submission number the name of the assignment and lesson number it came from your name date Be sure to save your assignment as a .PDF file. Please keep copies of all assignments. Independent Study is not responsible for lost assignments.