So, back to the regular schedule. By Sunday at Midnight
Please post your one page summary of your final project here. Try to make your description of your project as specific as possible. (Most of the ones that I've seen so far have been too big for a ten page paper).
And post on your own blog--anything that shows me that you've done the week's readings--as your project gets going you would be wise to work to bend that response towards something that helps you with yoru final project.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
37 comments:
For those of you who are still struggling with topics, here's an official write up from Professor Wilson.
Everyone's work that I've seen so far fits in with this.
If you're getting stuck about the topic it'll be good to check in with the questions he's provided below.
****
Whatever topic you decide upon, make sure that you have some kind of compelling “thesis” and that you back up this interpretation with details/quotations from the relevant texts and have a title for your work.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The following are possible essay topics, although you can define a topic or focus upon one that is of particular interest to you (see topic “g” below☺
a) Focusing upon two or more works or authors, define some recurring “theme,” image, subject matter or problem that, in your own terms, ties these works together and has been an important part of the “San Francisco literature” materials you have read in this course.
b) Present an interpretive reading of one or more movies set in San Francisco: What are some of the key themes and conflicts as portrayed in the movies, and how are these resolved? What kind of racial conflicts, gender dynamics, and social hierarchies are shown? How are the city spaces of San Francisco uses in the movies? How do the history, values, and social energies of San Francisco get reflected and expressed in the movies? (If you want to write a convincing reading, it would help to do some research into the production history, interpretations, and reviews of the movie.)
c) How do one or more of the writers read for the course express a counter-cultural or “Beat” vision of what Gray Brechin calls “the San Francisco contado”? Or, another way to approach this topic: what are other angles of vision or works that might be used to critique or supplement the imperial-capitalist contado vision of Brechin’s Imperial San Francisco?
d) How does an author we have not read or may have just alluded to in this course (for example, Kenneth Rexroth, Jack Spicer, Diane Diprima, Michael McClure, Robert Gluck, Gary Snyder, Michelle Tea, Lew Welch, Lenore Kandel et al) distinctively express the literature and geo-material history of San Francisco? (You will need to connect this author to some works read or critical frameworks discussed in the class.)
e) Pick a social movement, neighborhood, or institution in San Francisco—Haight Ashbury hippie movement, rock music scene, Castro, City Lights Books Store, San Francisco Poetry Center at SF State, performance works of Margaret Cho or Frank Chin—and describe some of the values, goals, and expressive forms of this phenomenon.
f) Pick any one essay from Relocating San Francisco or San Francisco Stories, and use this as a critical starting point to discuss or reflect a movement, work, art form, neighborhood, or some SF social, art, or literary movement you are interested in. For example, create your own “meta-tourist” narrative for a tour of San Francisco.
g) Define your own distinctive “SF” topic and, as you do so, make sure to consider and come to terms with the “prompt” questions below. (Please discuss the suitability of this topic with your TA.)
*Whatever topic you pick, here are 5 “prompt” questions each student should consider as you begin to define your topic and approach to writing on a SF subject:
a) What is the topic you are interested in pursuing and why?
b) How does this topic relate to San Francisco materials or frameworks read for the course? Which of the readings are particularly relevant to this topic?
c) What are some of the other materials you will need or want to read and/or inter-connect to cover this topic?
d) What is your provisional “thesis” (hypothesis) at this point concerning this topic and these materials?
e) What problems or limitations do you anticipate in pursuing, framing, researching, and writing on this topic?
I would like to write about the imagery and symbolism surrounding the Golden Gate Bridge. I would expand upon the blog I wrote for Week Four expanding on a classmate’s metaphor and track the bridge and its significance to California and the United States. This would be an exploration of the complicated metaphor that has developed as a result of the United States' imperialist history, and what that reputation says for the US as a country.
I would turn to Brechin for much of my argument that the bridge is an imperialist symbol. Looking at the language he uses to portray the city as a ruthless imperial force would help me to establish that image.
I would also need to look for additional information about the specifics of the bridge, such as the reason for its construction, who designed it, and what circumstances surrounded its inception.
After establishing the bridge as an imperialist image, I would look at the Ann Garrison article, and perhaps some additional sources, to see how the bridge has become a symbol of death and suicide in the city. My essay would lead to a statement about the coexistence and simultaneous employment of these two images and what they say about each other.
After meeting with Eireene, I realize that I need to do a lot of research. McHenry: me, you, Monday.
Pre-research, I can say that my final paper will focus on the “Native American Renaissance” discussed in the film Alcatraz is Not an Island. I will be using my developing vision of San Francisco as a lens through which to critically analyze the successes and yet-to-be-won victories of this movement. This vision consists of notions that San Francisco is an illusion to many and a reality to a privileged few; just as it did during the Gold Rush, San Francisco attracts immigrants who hope to realize the American Dream and make a living. However SF is notoriously expensive, and therefore not available as a lifestyle for most. The thing with Native Americans is, they’re not even immigrants! White men with guns began colonizing America and forced Native Americans into smaller and smaller portions of land until eventually, their children were stolen and ‘civilized’ and tribes were isolated into mostly uninhabitable reservations.*
Yet, the Native Americans refused to submit to white oppression. Radical Bay Area tribal youth in 1969 decided to take back the federally abandoned island of Alcatraz and demand an Indian University and Cultural Center. Not surprisingly, the government reneged on its promises again.
I plan to research casinos as well, to try and discover what the government has to do with deeds to land and casino operations in Nevada and California. I wonder if Indian Casinos could be viewed as an attempt to earn enough capital to secure political representation for Native Americans in the government and legislature. Obviously it would be impossible to generalize across the board as to what goals Native American investors and employees have in Indian Casinos in the Pacific West, but I will see if there is a way to determine or discover some published goals.* My parents live in Truckee, so over Thanksgiving I’ll try and go to a casino in Reno and get a feel for the place; I don’t suppose I could win the trust of the head honchos and gain right into their inner circle of company secrets, but I could make some literary interpretations of the surroundings, and try to somehow relate it back to San Francisco. Perhaps through the American Dream, or whom it is available to and who will likely never realize it.
Surely the American Dream means something different to everyone. In San Francisco, I guess it would be something like making enough money to live there and have a minimal commute, as well as enjoy the sights and all the activities available within the city. Again, this is possible for a very small population, possibly only Knob Hill and above.* Is a movement for true equality possibly concretely successful in the city, or is civil rights success at least more feasible than in SF than in other, more conservative and wealthier cities in the United States? To what extent was the movement for Native American Renaissance successful in San Francisco? What would radical nationalist Native Americans think of Gary Snyder’s essay about Turtle Island?
I also plan to journey to San Francisco, hopefully next Saturday, to investigate remnants and/or active manifestations of a movement for Native American civil rights.* I don’t know where I’ll begin to search for these sources, but I have a date with McHenry and the Internet is a wondrous tool. I’m nervous about all the work I have to do, and I hope I can formulate a cohesive thesis and ten pages within a month. Somebody help me.
*These asterisks indicate all the things I need to research. So yeah, it’s positively library and field trip time.
For my essay I would like to do an analysis of how San Francisco is portrayed in film, using Vertigo and the Maltese Falcon as examples. I want to compare the ways in which San Francisco is portrayed in the films and compare and contrast them to what we have been learning in class. I will do a close analysis of the film’s imagery and use of San Francisco landmarks and how it incorporates those to create their vision of San Francisco.
I will read many of the essays concerned with the image of San Francisco, most of which will be in the collection of Reclaiming San Francisco, perhaps specifically the essays concerning “metatourism” and San Francisco as one giant landmark. Also I will re-read the poems that formulate artistic views of the City from a literary standpoint.
I expect to have difficulty interpreting the symbols of the movies so I suspect I will have to do some further reading into the analysis of the films. I took an Intro to Film Analysis class last year (in which Vertigo was featured) so I still have a film-focused reading material in my possession, which I will also reference for this report.
As it has been some time since I last saw Vertigo and I have never seen Maltese Falcon the whole way through, I do not have a definitive thesis at this point, but I will approach the films and the essay with these questions in mind.
After reading the essay “You Are Here (You Think): A San Francisco Bus Tour” I was very interested in the idea of tourism within a city and how the important landmarks which many are told to visit mean nothing in regards to that regions historicity. Constructions and simulacra engulf the tourism market, and really prevent the visitor from becoming an in-depth participant in the swing of the city. For my project, I would like to trace the important places which natives and migrants to San Francisco find of value in the present day, using such tools as personal references who live in the city and search engines which contain public commentary like YELP.com. After determining those locations which are of merit to people of today’s generation, I plan on simulating a tour experience for myself with a manuscript and map of the areas traveled.
In this experience, I am essentially reproducing the experiment in “You Are Here (You Think)” without incorporating any popular tourist locations whatsoever. Being a self-led tour, I will not have any influence whatsoever from an outsider persuading my opinions of the location, besides the reference and commentary I have viewed prior to visiting the site. Essentially, I will decide for myself which of the locations that I visit hold meaning for me in relation to the city, rather than visiting sites which are socially accepted as tourist locations. Anyone not familiar with San Francisco can be considered a tourist, although they need not play into the popular socionormative practice of “tourist traps” and theme park locals when visiting the city.
In my analysis of each location, I will utilize the techniques we have used in our masked monuments assignment, and decide whether the historical meaning of the location fits with or contradicts the current meaning and purpose of the location today. By including interviews I have taken with locals, I will add an element to the original experiment conducted in "You Are Here" which I feel would have helped the effectiveness of their argument tremendously.
For my final project I want to explore street art in San Francisco and how that ties into San Francisco’s rich artistic history and culture of dissent. The thesis or main objective of this project will speak to how the art that is specific to those neighborhoods defines the culture of those neighborhoods. To tie this into the reading, I will mention Nancy J Peter’s essay, The Beat Generation and San Francisco’s Culture of Dissent as well as Timothy Drescher’s essay, Street Subversion, both found in Reclaiming San Francisco.
-Possible neighborhoods to explore:
The Haight- Ashbury and Lower Haight
The Mission
Through my years spent in the city I have noticed how the art in neighborhoods defines those neighborhoods. In the Haight for example, there are a few murals that speak to free-love and hippie culture. In the Mission there are many murals having to do with Latino culture. There is also always some artistic and thoughtful graffiti, which I can find on sidewalks and sides of buildings. I have always found it interesting that each neighborhood in San Francisco is its own little town in a way. Each neighborhood is very distinct from another, and I think this is made evident in the different kinds of street art that are found in those neighborhoods. The city is united however, in its love of dissent and in provoking thoughtful discussion of societal norms and what needs change.
As for what will be turned in, I would like to take photographs of the most defining street artistry of the different neighborhoods I choose. I will then write half a page to a page on how the art defines the neighborhood-as well as a brief history of the neighborhood- with the photos attached or printed on the page. My opening page will discuss San Francisco’s culture of dissent and street subversion, as mentioned in the essays in Reclaiming San Francisco, and I will tie this in throughout, as relevant, to the project.
Topic: An examination of the cultural influence and impact of modern museums.
Many more recent museum’s renovations such as the Wax Museum or Ripley’s Believe it or Not have lead to higher levels of tourism as well as important cultural and social significance.
a. The wax museum in particular represents a cultural “hub” that tourists can examine. It’s important in that tourists (many from out of the state or even country) can come to this museum to experience the city as well as the cultural icons within the museum.
b. Ripley’s Believe It or Not is a unique modern museum that examines the “far out” aspects of our culture. It is important that a museum that explores the strange is in such a liberal, “left” city as well.
These ideals reflect many authors studied in class as well (as they explore the cultural significance of many aspects of the San Francisco culture:
a. Ferlinghetti’s examination of the city’s cultural impact and obligation to act as a cultural landmark. These museums mirror Ferlinghetti’s discussion of the city as a “far out” entity.
b. Many other poets we have studied mirror this same ideology as well in their discussion of the city as a cultural icon and even as a national representation of some of the ideals of the country as a whole. For example Ginsberg’s mention of the “angel headed hipsters” or Brautigan’s discussion of the ideals of the city.
For my final project, I'll be focusing on Brautigan's depiction of women in his works. I'll grapple with the idea of misogynistic imagery residing alongside images of love and admiration. I personally like Brautigan's poetry about women. I find it quite beautiful. I don't have a solid thesis yet, but I'm going to do something with how Brautigan respected women while portraying them in typical female roles which many people are against as they do not allow women anything else.
Obviously, Brautigan relates to SF because he talks about the city and its contado in his writings. I'm going to read and research Trout Fishing in America, The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, In Watermelon Sugar, Revenge of the Lawn, The Abortion, So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away, and An Unfortunate Woman by Brautigan and Webster Collection of Undiscovered Writings, Downstream from Trout Fishing in America, Richard Brautigan, and Richard Brautigan: Essays on the Writings and Life by various authors to support my thesis. I'm also going to bring in some feminist theory books to discuss the many stifling roles women get defined as such as the muse, the virgin, the whore, the domestic housewife, etc.
I think it will be hard for me to justify the misogynistic nuances in Brautigan's writing while at the same time suggesting that he had a deep love for women. Personally, as a woman, I often get really annoyed by all the patriarchy and misogyny in our society, but for some reason find Brautigan's writing about women beautiful. How can I justify this within myself? This is something I'll definitely have to work on.
For my final paper, I plan to create a story that strongly parallels Richard Brautigan's work, "The Shipping of Trout Fishing in America Shorty to Nelson Algren". In the construction of my story I will delve into the history of the Vietnam War as well as perceptions of the beats (e.g. distaste for brainwashing: "He had probably fallen asleep while he was having his brains washed in one of the machines" - pg. 46, Brautigan). Race also plays a large role in this piece, especially in lines such as, "I saw Trout Fishing in America Shorty passed out in the front window of a Filipino laundromat." Why is the fact that this is a Filipino laundromat so significant? Additionally, what is meaningful about Brautigan's work being published in 1968 (around the time of the Tet Offensive)? These are just a couple questions I plan on tackling in both my version of "Trout Fishing in America Shorty" and my final analysis.
Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac will also be quite useful in interrogating the end of this story, which concludes with a biblical tone explaining the manner in which Trout Fishing in America Shorty should be buried beside the Ben Franklin statue in Washington Square Park: 20 cents Wash/10 cents Dry/Forever. Brautigan is clearly writing satirically about Ben Franklin's "a penny saved is a penny earned" mentality; in fact, Ben Franklin's entire Almanac lists methods of frugally sparing every cent possible, to an obsessive extent. I still need to do some more research on Franklin, but for now this is where my paper is headed.
For my essay, I will be analyzing the significance of the major San Francisco/Bay Area landmarks and destinations featured or alluded to in Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo. Using these places, I will analyze their importance in conjunction with the film itself, through character discussion, careful scene-by-scene analysis (objects and object placement, interior and exteriors of the SF locations). In relation to this analysis, I will spend time working with Brechin and Snyder where applicable to further explain the significance of these locations for San Francisco as a whole in a historical and social sense.
For the bulk of my analysis, I would also like to tie in present conceptions and constructions of Vertigo in relation to how it was originally perceived when first released in 1958. I think that this will allow me to show how the San Francisco landmarks and destinations in the film have changed, whether they exist anymore, or if they have closed, moved locations, or continue to exist, and what this tells us about San Francisco. Now that it is 2008 and the film has experienced it's 50th anniversary, I feel that an historical analysis of what has changed and what has remained the same about the places in the film will be especially interesting.
In my research thus far, I have stumbled upon information regarding the York Hotel in San Francisco (called the Empire Hotel in Vertigo), which will be reopening in San Francisco as Hotel Vertigo this year, with "Tag line: 'Equilibrium is overrated.'" I think the fact that the hotel has changed its name 50 years later in dedication to the film still says something about San Francisco, as well as the statement "equilibrium is overrated" shows something timeless about San Francisco's history.
Some other San Francisco landmarks in the film that I may use for analysis and definitely intend to research extensively include Nob Hill, Mission Dolores, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, the hotels visited, Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, streets traveled on, etc.
Each generation has subcultures which go against or transform the ideology of the mainstream values and practices of the generation before them creating a tension between the two on a personal level as well as broader, social level. The subculture of the beats of the 1950s is a strong portrayal of this generational divide. The artistic and literary creations of the beats were intended to transform mainstream society’s views on sex, consumerism, ecological awareness, and spiritual life. However, many from the generation before misread or feared and undervalued the transformational goals of the beats. Economic changes and disillusionment were large factors in opening the space for societal transformation, and yet, this cycle of generational divide seems to persist time and time again—is there ever a time when parent’s read their children correctly?
This generational misread forced the beats to use various methods and terms to represent their movement and values. A constellation of images created by the bums” and “Zen lunatics”, illustrate the extensive explication of who they were as a transformational, artistic movement. Often read as lazy bums, ne’er-do-wells, “mom- (and cop-) haters”, the beats holistic aims and spiritually expansive goals, were undervalued in their time, and yet, currently, more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon of their various ideals and admiring the work which they so ardently produced a half a century ago.
Both Ginsberg and Kerouac had interesting relations with their relatives and the traditionalist literary artists before them. In analyzing their relations and feelings towards both these aspects of generational divide, I plan to explore this divide and the effects produced on the beats themselves and the transformational work that they created. Also, in order to analyze the divide between the subculture of the beats and mainstream culture of the older society, I plan to utilize the Life Magazine article which Nancy J. Peters references in her essay on the Beat Generation and similarly pop-culture representations of those times.
For my final project I would like to craft a creative essay on the 1960's and how that decade transformed San Francisco, created the city as we know it today, and provided a launching point for a countercultural generation. The piece would be written in the vein of either Jack Kerouac (Dharma Bums) or Richard Brautigan (Trout Fishing). I am particularly interested in the chapters of Trout Fishing in America titled "In the California Bush" and "A Walden Pond for Winos." Of all the authors we have studied thus far, Brautigan is the one that inspires me the most. I would like to craft an original narrative inspired by his unique style, while incorporating genuine events and facts about SF in the 60's as well as the authors that defined that decade. I would use these authors as characters in the story, such as Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Snyder. Much in the way that Kerouac uses these people as characters in Dharma Bums but less subtle. I would probably keep their real names. I find that a recurring theme in most San Francisco literature is a rather forlorn, nostalgic longing for wilderness and nature. They seem to write a lot about how unfortunate it is that pristine nature has been lost due to the rise of industry and commodity. This apparent commodification of nature is unmistakable in Brautigan's "Cleveland Wrecking Yard." I would like to incorporate evidence of external research within my creative essay and I would acheive this by re-reading some of the stories from "Reclaiming S.F." and "Imperial S.F." I would use the characters to tell the story of SF in the 1960's as well as the stories of their own lives and their impacts on the transformation of the city.
Now here is the problem: I am not sure how to craft a 'thesis' for a creative piece...
These are two options I am considering for my final research paper. I really don’t have any idea what I plan on writing about but I know I want to focus on something more literary based instead of something historical. I thought doing a comparison of two works would be interesting, but also thought writing solely about Jack Kerouac would be good as well.
The first option I am considering is a compare and contrast essay about Jack Kerouac’s Dharma Bums and Maxine Hong Kingston’s Tripmaster Monkey. Both novels focus on free-spirited characters who are writers during the beat era. Although I have not read either of the novels yet, from the information I do know about them it seems as if they are about the issue of identification and the need to find yourself. The main characters want to find their position in life and explore themselves throughout the novels. They are both on a quest to clarify something about themselves and both go on different types of journeys to do that. They are physical journeys but also journeys of the self.
The second is just working with Jack Kerouac. He holds so much history in the literary world and is a crucial figure. The Beat Generation is extremely important to San Francisco and doing a research paper about Kerouac’s position with the beats would follow well with the themes of the course. Since I do not know much about him, I thought it would be interesting to look at how his real-life events are included throughout The Dharma Bums. The beat movement had much influence on his writing and I am sure that many references of this movement, such as issues and beliefs, are included throughout the work. After doing some research, I found lots of books that include letters and conversations with Kerouac that discuss the beat generation. Instead of looking at what other authors have to say about the movement, it would be interested to investigate what Kerouac thought of it. I also found lots of information about what other beat authors had to say about Kerouac. This information would be useful to gain perspectives about him from the people who knew him the best. Doing a thorough analysis of the novel while also touching on Kerouac’s life would be an interesting topic.
Any comments/ideas would be greatly appreciated :)
I plan to interpret the film, The Princess Diaries (2001). While the children's film's simple premise and plotline may appear very elementary, there are many references to San Francisco's imperial elements. Gender issues, social hierarchies and racial conflicts are explored throughout. For one, the existence of a fictional female ruled kingdom with relations to SF says much about the linkage between SF and the imperial imagination which director choses to explore. Actual San Francisco geography and landmarks are used in the movie as well as verdent, majestic, and pastoral settings creating a sort of San Francisco of the subconscious. Not only are some of the history and traditions of SF prominently featured, but the social energy is captured and, I argue summed up in a less than accurate and exagerrated fashion.
For this paper I feel like I have too many options. There’s too many to mention! I need someone to help me pick a direction. Here are some options that I’m considering:
a) writing about the idea of coming upon revelations within San Francisco and the idea of hiding versus seeking.
- using Allen Ginsberg’s “America,” “When will you take off your clothes?”
- Ferlinghetti’s “Dog”
- Lawence Ferlinghetti’s SF Inaugural Address “Poetscome out of your closets/Open your windows/open your doors/ You have been holed---up too long/ in your closed worlds…”
b) writing about San Francisco as a place of sexuality, love and relationships in Richard Brautigan.
- “The Beautiful Poem”
- “Love Poem”
- “I’ve never had it done so gently before”
- “Flowers For Those You Love”
- “It’s Raining In Love”
- “Lovers”
• If I wanted to expand this idea to other authors, it would include:
-Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”
-“Song”
-Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s
-North Beach Scene
A little late I know...
For my final paper, I'm going to do a study of the queer movement in San Francisco and how the ideologies behind the emergence of such an outspoken and visible part of the queer community compare with those we've studied in class.
My discussion with Eireene really helped me to focus what I'm trying to do. First I want to historically contextualize the movement within San Francisco so that the ideas will be reflective of the time period in which the movement took place. I think I've decided to focus on the 60's and 70's rather than delve into the AIDs epidemic as that could be an entire paper topic on its own.
Specifically I'm going to look at the movement around Harvey Milk and what kinds of notions and ideas he had behind obtaining gay rights and how those were influenced by or reject the ideologies we've been studying in class. For that part of the paper I'm going to mainly use Ginsberg since he used queer imagery within the selections we read and he approached with the subject more blatantly and with less restraint.
The point of my paper will be to look at the gay rights movement and the queer community with SF and discuss whether or not the ideologies behind the movement fit in with the ideas behind the literary movements we've studied in class, such as Ginsberg and the beats.
I am also really interested in doing an in-depth study on Snyder's "Smoky the Bear Sutra," and connecting it to the practice of Arcotolatry (ancient Bear worship). However, I have no idea how I would connect that to the study of San Francisco.
In my final paper I intent to investigate the Golden Gate Bridge in connection with the city of San Francisco and it over arching relationship as the Queen City on the West Coast. More specifically I hope to connect the Girls Scouts of America’s annual “Golden Gate Bridge” ceremony and the bridge as the most popular site of suicides in the country.
The Girl Scouts of America is the world’s preeminent organization solely dedicated to girls. Founded in 1912 the organization currently has over 3.7 million members in over 90 countries throughout the world. The organizations motivation is to provide an environment where girls can develop skills and qualities such as leadership, values, and social consciousness. Currently, The Girl Scouts of America are planning their 28th annual Golden Gate Bridge crossing for Saturday May 9, 2009. This event celebrates the presentation of the Silver Award and is held for Juniors bridging to Cadets. This is the highest achievable award for Girl Scouts ages 11-14 and is the culmination of an intensive community service project that each girl must complete.
I find it interesting that this establishment that supports the advancement and education of young women is holding such an esteemed event on the most popular suicide location in the country. I plan to further investigate Ann Garrison’s essay “Suicide in the City” in Reclaiming San Francisco. I wish to unravel the romantic notions many hold about the gateway to the Pacific. I also hope to further develop an analysis of the issues of suicide in the city and how San Francisco became the suicide capitol of the country.
Ultimately, I hope to produce a cumulative and comparative essay similar to Gray Brechin’s chapter on Water Mains and Bloodlines in Imperial San Francisco. In this chapter Brechin uses historical and literary references to draw metaphorical and literal ties between the dynasties of San Francisco’s history and the abuse of the environment and grab for water in San Francisco and California. I hope through my investigation to draw a similar metaphorical tie between issues of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Girl Scouts regarding social responsibility and iconic imagery of American values. I intend to focus specifically on the required community service projects, the imagery of the award, and the Girl Scouts as a valued American institution. I hope to tie this to issues of social and community responsibility for the homeless and to the iconography of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I intend to do additional research on suicide in San Francisco and the Girl Scouts, using Ann Garrison’s essay and the Girl Scouts of Americas website as my initial reference points.
After reading Electric Kool-aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe this summer, I had an increased interest in Ken Kesey, one of the key founders of the psychedelic movement and an author in his own right. Even though Kesey lived and wrote in the bay area, namely Palo Alto and La Honda, I thought it was interesting that we only touched on Brautigan as a writer from the psychedelic movement.
Upon doing some research, I found out that Kesey participated as a research subject in Menlo Park in one of the first scientific experiments on acid, psychocilin, and other hallucinogenics. He began working as a night guard in the mental institution where the experiments were done and had easy access to these drugs, which he would take at work and trip out on the insanity of the mental institution and patients. It is said that Kesey literally wrote parts of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on acid, thus giving its schizophrenic nature.
In my essay I want to focus on the psychedelic counterculture movement, particularly Ken Kesey’s influence and the reason for drug usage at this time in history. I also want to discuss the portrayal and effects of drugs in literature, specifically One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but also touch upon Electric Kool-aid Acid Test which chronicles that time in Kesey’s life in an eccentric, “drugged out” speech.
I need to do more research before I can clarify my thesis however.
For my final project (essay) I would like to discuss the image of women as beat writers/poets in San Francisco.
No plan goes as follows: (major topics)
Who are they? Where were they from? What did they write?
What is the significance of the amount of women mentioned in typical beat history? Were there just not many beat woman writers or was it because they weren't considered "true beats" because they weren't men?
Lastly, what became of these women? Do they continue to live in San Fran Bay area? Did they succumb to the drug/alcohol culture like the men and die young? How did the beat generation affect them as women?
I want to approach this topic with a socio-historical background as well as with they perspective as a woman. I want to find out how life was for these woman during this time and how they dealt with writing in a mainly male dominated world. How did they poetry compare to the mans?
I found a few books in order to help my research. I also found a number of woman I am interested in.
Hetti Jones,Joyce Johnson, Carolyn Cassady, Joanna Kyger.
All these woman are in the books I have gotten along with their writings in order for me to do a close reading.
For my final project I would like to discuss the image of women as beat writers/poets in San Francisco.
My plan goes as follows: (major topics)
Who are they? Where were they from? What did they write?
What is the significance of the amount of women mentioned in typical beat history? Were there just not many beat writers or was it because they weren't considered "true beats" becasue they werent' men?
Lastly, what became of these women? Do they continue to live in the San Fran bay area? Did they succumb to the drug/alocohol culture as the men did and die young? How did the beat generation affect them as women, and how was their writing influenced by this? How did it compare to the men?
I want to approach this topic with a socio-historical background as well as with the perspective as a woman. I want to find out how life was for these women during this time and how they dealt with writing in a mainly male dominated world.
There are a few books I want to get in order to research my topic.
I plan to do a close reading of one of the womens poems.
The woman I am interested in:
Hetti Jones
JOyce Johnson
Carolyn Cassady
Joanna Kyger
For my final project, I plan to link the Beat Generation to the SF punk scene during the mid-late ‘70s. The project will be partly historically based but will focus on comparisons of thematic, stylistic, and optimistic elements present in texts from both movements. I’m going to focus on Ginsberg’s “Howl” and (hopefully) something from Ferlinghetti not read in class, and present these next to the lyrics of early-SF bands like CRIME, the Nuns, and the Dead Kennedys. The literature of V. Vale, founder of the punkzine “Search and Destroy” and the publication “RE/Search”, will serve as subjects to test a thesis against.
I got the idea for the project when I was doing my own research into the roots of San Francisco punk music. I had heard of “Search and Destroy” and knowing that this kind of publication would be a good resource because much of the content was based on interviews, I looked into getting copies of the decades-defunct zine. I found pieces of interviews and articles online, but the most astonishing historical nugget I tripped over was the fact that V. Vale’s “Search and Destroy” was started with $100 from Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Not believing what I was seeing, I google.mapped the one geographic location I associated with ‘70s SF punk: the Mabuhay Gardens. This was a run-down, shot-out Filipino supper club that would become the main venue for live shows throughout the punk era. And it was two blocks down Broadway from City Lights Bookstore and Jack Kerouac Alley. To explain the conversion of a dining hall into a place to feed ones head and the reconstruction of a former Beat space into a punk space, I plan to use texts from “Reclaiming San Francisco.”
I have not confirmed whether V. Vale got started publishing with funds from Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti, and this highlights one of the problems I anticipate with this project: my ability to validify facts in a sketchily-documented scene. But with help from V. Vale’s work, and photographs, flyers, and interviews from the time, along with my own on-site research, I hope to build a framework around which I can analyze texts (poems and lyrics and essays) to make connections between Beat and punk sensibilities.
I plan on writing about the influence of jazz music (mainly bebop) on Beat writing especially the work of Kerouac. I will explore the concept of bop prosody, a mixture of prose and melody--a sort of literary music. I will choose specific jazz recordings that exemplify improvisation (a source of inspiration for Kerouac) and describe in as much detail the musicality of the song in relation to (instances of) musicality found in specific literary works. I'd like to delve into why the Beats chose to replicate jazz music in their literature as to other forms of music; I hypothesize that the Beats flocked to jazz music because the only good (good as in the sense "in style" or "hip") jazz music was composed and performed by African Americans--a group who were looked down upon in (white) society. The Beats were able to connect with them because they too were marginalized and ostracized. Jazz music is the soul of Beat literature.
I plan on writing about the influence of jazz music (mainly bebop) on Beat writing especially the work of Kerouac. I will explore the concept of bop prosody, a mixture of prose and melody--a sort of literary music. I will choose specific jazz recordings that exemplify improvisation (a source of inspiration for Kerouac) and describe in as much detail the musicality of the song in relation to (instances of) musicality found in specific literary works. I'd like to delve into why the Beats chose to replicate jazz music in their literature as to other forms of music; I hypothesize that the Beats flocked to jazz music because the only good (good as in the sense "in style" or "hip") jazz music was composed and performed by African Americans--a group who were looked down upon in (white) society. The Beats were able to connect with them because they too were marginalized and ostracized. Jazz music is the soul of Beat literature.
OK. I have finally decided that I would like to write my final essay about the notorious traveling hippie brigade known as The Merry Pranksters. I am interested in this topic for a few reasons: first, because when I was growing up I had a nanny who hung out with some of the members of the Merry Pranksters in the 1960's. I loved her very much and she died of cancer when I was very young. But more so, as a native to the San Francisco Bay Area, I have always been captivated by the hippie counterculture and am always eager to learn more about it.
The Merry Pranksters were a group of hippies that set out to "stop the coming end of the world" and in the process played a huge part in the phenomenon of San Francisco's flourishing hippie counterculture. Some people claim that the Pranksters were the original hippies - the ones that lit the torch for the rest of them.
Famous American author Ken Kesey was the leader of the pack. After being a guinea pig for psychologists and pharmaceutical companies that created LSD, he introduced the drug to the hippie counterculture and thus launched a psychedelic trend that came to define an entire generation.
In order to follow through with this project I would use external resources such as Ken Kesey's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and Paul Perry's "On The Bus." I would also do a bit of research on LSD - its original intended purpose, its affect on the San Franciscan hippie and Beat generations, particularly their written works - I would use examples such as Ginsberg, Brautigan, Kerouac, Kesey, Burroughs and others to navigate the psychedelic literary canon and it's relevance to San Francisco as the ultimate free-spirited city. I would go to my local libraries and try to get my hands on some video documentaries, if any exist, and perhaps talk to some people that lived in the Bay Area during the 60's and knew people that were affiliated with The Merry Pranksters.
My thesis is essentially that Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters played a key role in establishing San Francisco's thriving hippie counterculture and consequently San Francisco's reputation as a free-spirited city, particularly through the introduction and widespread use of LSD.
Correction: "Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" was written by Tom Wolfe, not Ken Kesey...
I will be writing about the eastern influences on San Francisco. I plan to explore the Hindu and Buddhist teachings evoked in literary works of SF authors such as Ginsberg, Snyder, and Kerouac. I want to explore the impacts of eastern culture have on the city that is the flagship of western society. This influence spans not only literary circles but actual geography of San Francisco and areas surrounding it, such as Big Sur and the High Sierras. I'd like to look at how this eastern influence shaped the city into what it has become.
Drawing from what our professor talked about briefly last lecture, I am interested in writing about sexuality in the works of beat-generation authors. More specifically, I would like to discuss and analyze Ginsberg’s homosexuality, and how he was able to freely talk about this subject, and Kerouac’s openness with and honesty about his sexual affairs. I would like to specifically mention ways in which these authors try to turn the poem/story into a message about being proud of one’s sexuality and how one should not be ashamed or try to hide it. I plan on mentioning the Kinsey reports that were published in the late 40s and early 50s, which indicated how prevalent homosexuality and premarital sex actually were in those times (despite the somewhat frigid and prude image of the 50s). Additionally, I would like to talk about how Ginsberg and Kerouac’s candidness inspired other authors to write unabashedly about their own homosexual and heterosexual encounters, and perhaps how this in turn played a role in the sexual revolution of the 60s, and shaped San Francisco’s liberal and pro-gay stance. If possible, at the end of the paper, I would like to briefly discuss the current state of gay activism, and how protests for the prop 8 ban are continuing today.
I know this is a ton to cover in ten pages Eireene, so I promise once I actually start writing the paper, I will narrow it down (I might even only use Ginsberg) and try to be as specific as possible instead of vaguely covering all these topics. And of course, thanks for all your help in our meeting!
Blummammitomb [url=http://wiki.openqa.org/display/~buy-codeine-no-prescription-online]Buy Codeine no prescription online[/url] [url=http://wiki.openqa.org/display/~buy-motilium-without-no-prescription-online]Buy Motilium without no prescription online[/url]
English language is not my main language, however I can understand it using the google translator. Outstanding article, keep these things coming! Thanks a lot!
SnsVrxNeoHji [url=http://nike02.blog.fc2blog.net/]nike woven[/url] QziFanDfjPuz[url=http://nike-air98.webnode.jp/]nike[/url] IdqVbfXjhPhc [url=http://nike09.webnode.jp/]nike シューズ[/url] HjgZjmQrgKty [url=http://adidas833.webnode.jp/]アディダス スニーカー[/url]DbrMugCpjFkb [url=http://nike76.webnode.jp/]ナイキ air[/url]QdrCxcPdxPrq [url=http://nike141.webnode.jp/]スニーカー nike[/url] YvcXxpRktPhp [url=http://adidas75.webnode.jp/]アディダス[/url] FomUstPlfZxc [url=http://adidas12.webnode.jp/]adidas スニーカー[/url]
Uncommon guide provide you with the small print of adidas shoes which experts state just a few guysare conscious of.|Compact report shows you the most important intricacies of the adidas shoes and something you ought to do today.}[url=http://www.nikejapan.asia/]ナイキ air [/url] The best way to discover all kinds of things there is to find out regarding adidas shoes in Few easy ways. [url=http://www.adidasjapan.biz/]adidas シューズ[/url] Something you don't know about nike shoes might possibly be costing much more than one thinks. The Only Ways You Can Grasp gucci And The Way One Might Link up with The gucci Top dogs [url=http://www.guccijp.asia/]gucci バッグ[/url] Creative chloe Ebook Exposes Methods To Dominate The chloe World [url=http://www.chloejp.biz/]chloe 財布[/url] chanel purse Knockoffs ; Ideal chanel purse hack Of which Fools 96% of the shoppers [url=http://www.chaneljp.biz/]財布 chanel[/url] The way to learn almost everything there is to know relating to chanel bags in 3 straight-forward steps.The reason why so many people are dead wrong surrounding adidas shoes and the reasons why you really should check out this expose. [url=http://www.adidasjapan.asia/]スニーカー adidas[/url] Yo ,, remarkable solution. Users must have a look at adidas shoes right now while it is still in stock ! ! ! [url=http://www.nikejp.biz/]nike ランニング[/url] What the analysts are not actually saying on the subject of nike shoes and the way this have an effect on you.
[url=http://www.mcmoutletjpinoue.com]mcm 店舗[/url] The Key Reason Why All People Is Writing About mcm [url=http://www.mcmsalejapanoka.com]mcm[/url] Hilarious Actions All mcm Fan Need To Test [url=http://www.mcmzankijpshop.com]mcm リュック[/url] A Way To Stay Away From mcm Downfalls
New nike Book Reveals Methods To Rule The nike Marketplace [url=http://www.adidasjashoe.com/]adidas[/url] Something Every Individual Must Know On nike [url=http://www.adidasjpshoes.com/]adidas スニーカー[/url] The Controversy Over Ruthless nike-Tactics [url=http://www.nikeshoeja.com/]nike シューズ[/url] Tips On How To End Up Getting Fantastic At nike [url=http://www.nikejashoes.com/]ナイキ[/url] For Good|nike Details As Well As The Urban Myths|Venture News - nike Understood To Be A Necessity In These Days|The Single Recommended Methods Which You Can Use For The nike Reviewed|Advanced nike Ebook Unearths Very Best Way To Rule The nike Market} [url=http://www.nikeshoesja.com/]nike air[/url] Excessive nike Facts And How They Could Very Well Have An Impact On Clients [url=http://www.adidasjashoes.com/]アディダス スニーカー[/url] Way Too Occupied To Control nike?
[url=http://www.mcmstorejpkodo.com]mcm リュック[/url] Hidden How To Dominate With The Help Of mcm
Shorter story tells the unignorable details of adidas shoes and also how it may influence on your business.|Quite short guide teaches you some of the intricacies on nike shoes and something one should do right now.}[url=http://www.nikejapan.asia/]ナイキ air [/url] A fair double sprain on adidas shoes [url=http://www.adidasjapan.biz/]adidas シューズ[/url] Up-to-date information- nike shoes Will Have A Critical role In Almost Any Organization
Here is how gucci bags Made Me Famous And Rich [url=http://www.guccijp.asia/]グッチ 財布[/url] New chloe Guide Unveils Approach To Rule The chloe Arena [url=http://www.chloejp.biz/]chloe 財布[/url] The Spectacular chanel Hack May Well Fool Pretty much all [url=http://www.chaneljp.biz/]財布 chanel[/url] Strategies about how to comprehend all things there is to know regarding chanel in four easy ways.
End Up Being The First To Check Out What The Pros Say Regarding [url=http://www.mcmbagsjphadori.com]MCM 店舗[/url] Everything That Everybody Is Telling You Over mcm Is Truly Dead Wrong And The Reason Why
[url=http://www.mcmoutletjpinoue.com]mcm 店舗[/url] mcm Adds Brand-New Life Span To A Old Dilemma- Silver Traditional [url=http://www.mcmsalejapanoka.com]MCM 財布[/url] Funny Activities All mcm Admirer Are Advised To Check Out [url=http://www.mcmzankijpshop.com]mcm リュック[/url] Examples Of The Strategy That Is Actually Assisting mcm-Professionals Growing
The Only Methods To Understand gucci And Also The Way One Could Be part of The gucci purse Elite [url=http://www.guccijp.asia/]財布 gucci[/url] The most effective magic formula for the chloe bags you are able to check out this afternoon. [url=http://www.chloejp.biz/]クロエ 財布[/url] Genuine New Ways To Get educated about chanel And Also How You Can Link up with The chanel Top dogs [url=http://www.chaneljp.biz/]chanel 財布[/url] Tips to understand all sorts of things there is to understand related to chanel purse in nine basic steps.
Shorter piece of writing will show the undeniable details on adidas shoes and ways it can have an impact on your business.|Concise report aids you with the most important cogs and wheels for adidas shoes and consequently things you ought to do this afternoon.}[url=http://www.nikejapan.asia/]ナイキ エア[/url] A trustworthy double strain on adidas shoes [url=http://www.adidasjapan.biz/]adidas スニーカー[/url] The thing all others is doing when contemplating nike shoes and moreover those actions you will need to do completely different.
Be The Very First To See What Researchers Are Saying About [url=http://www.mcmbagsjphadori.com]mcm リュック[/url] The Things Most People Are Reporting Around mcm Is In Fact Dead False And Exactly Why
[url=http://www.mcmstorejpkodo.com]mcm リュック 激安[/url] mcm Counterfeits - - An Incredible mcm Trick That Fools 88% Of The Shoppers
Great New nike E-Book Illustrates The Way You Can Dominate The nike World [url=http://www.adidasjashoe.com/]アディダス スニーカー[/url] Everything That Every Single Person Ought To Know Around The nike Business [url=http://www.adidasjpshoes.com/]アディダス ランニング[/url] Amazing Suggestions Around nike Never Before Unveiled [url=http://www.nikeshoeja.com/]ナイキシューズ[/url] The Best Way To End Up Getting Great With nike [url=http://www.nikejashoes.com/]nike シューズ[/url] Once And For All|nike Information As Well As The Misconceptions|Scene Announcement : nike Believed Absolutely Essential In The Marketplace Today|The Single Leading Formula That You Can Use For nike Exposed|New nike Ebook Unveils The Right Way To Rule The nike Marketplace} [url=http://www.nikeshoesja.com/]nike ナイキ[/url] Ridiculous nike Things And Ways They Can Have An Affect On People [url=http://www.adidasjashoes.com/]アディダス[/url] Simply Too Busy To Take Care Of nike?
New mizuno golf Ebook Illustrates How One Can Dominate The mizuno golf World [url=http://www.golfjapan.biz/]ゴルフ スイング[/url] The Astonishing mizuno golf 'cheat' Might Fool All [url=http://www.mizunojapan.biz/]ミズノ グローブ[/url] Another double sprain on mizuno golf [url=http://www.mizunoja.biz/]ミズノ mizuno[/url] Up-to-date information- mizuno golf Will Have Major role In Any Administration [url=http://www.mizunogolfs.biz/]mizuno ゴルフ[/url] Gday. . . Conjointly we're able to try to make mizuno golf a great deal better !
LipOix [url=http://isabellemarantparis.tumblr.com]accueil[/url] HipFfw [url=http://sacslongchampfr5.webnode.fr/]sac longchamp le pliage[/url] WliVpj [url=http://longchampsacspliage.webnode.fr]longchamp le pliage[/url] FgqMrp [url=http://sacguessensolde9.webnode.fr]sac à main guess[/url] EggObg [url=http://longchamp-pliage-solde-france.webnode.fr/]longchamp solde[/url] RurWgo [url=http://sac-guess-pas-outle-cher.webnode.fr/]sac guess 2013[/url] UhiZov [url=http://isabel-marant-femmes2013.webnode.fr/]isabel marant en ligne[/url] VnyOlu [url=http://isabellemarantchaussures.webstarts.com]isabellemarantchaussures.WebStarts.com[/url] JanNte [url=http://michaelkorsparissac.webstarts.com]michael kors sac[/url] ZbgZar[url=http://sacsmichaelkors6.webnode.fr]sac michael kors[/url] LzpHfu
The Secret rule the longchamp-market Is Very Straight forward! [url=http://growth-management.alachua.fl.us/comprehensive_planning/gucci.html]バック グッチ[/url] Independent content material divulges Three new stuff for gucci that not a soul is covering. [url=http://growth-management.alachua.fl.us/comprehensive_planning/saclongchamp.php]Sac longchamps[/url]
The particular reason why everyone seems to be absolute wrong around gucci and the reasons why you really should check this analysis. [url=http://growth-management.alachua.fl.us/comprehensive_planning/gucci.html]gucci 財布[/url] Honest blog post displays Ten great new things around gucci that none is mentioning. [url=http://growth-management.alachua.fl.us/comprehensive_planning/saclongchamp.php]Sacs longchamp[/url]
LamAxrZcuCbo [url=http://running-nike0.seesaa.net/]ナイキランニング[/url]WlvNfuEahIsw [[url=http://free-nike-nikeo.seesaa.net/]free nike[/url]UmwDcaVrwLvl [url=http://xn--nike-ul4c5c5fyqb.seesaa.net/]nike スニーカー[/url]CyjPqsOidPfi [url=http://nikejapan0.seesaa.net/]ナイキスニーカー[/url]AieMwoQodGqz [url=http://nikesneakersjp.seesaa.net/]スニーカー nike[/url]GhkOmlYtsZwg [url=http://nikegolf00.seesaa.net/]ナイキゴルフ[/url]RcdUjuWeiDmp [url=http://nikeshoes00.seesaa.net/]ナイキシューズ[/url]AjhDjpVpbGkl [url=http://sneaker-adidas-jp.seesaa.net/]スニーカー アディダス[/url]EeaBmrWwrJmz
LdpIogVwnIms [url=http://chloe63.webnode.jp/]クロエ chloe[/url]RlrWfmOasAzs [url=http://chloe2.webnode.jp/]chloe バッグ[/url]JpgTtmCvfRtf [url=http://chloe3.webnode.jp/]シーバイクロエ[/url]DwjMkkObtHtz [url=http://chloe65.webnode.jp/]クロエ クロエ[/url]UuhNfmAjkFdi [url=http://chloe15.webnode.jp/]財布 chloe[/url]KleSmmSpfXqq [url=http://chloe-chloe3.webnode.jp/]chloe[/url]IaeLctSxqVpl [url=http://chloe-chloe6.webnode.jp/]chloe[/url]RnnAuqTqdIdv
Post a Comment