The Beat Generation was a group of American writers in the late 1940s-1950s who rebelled against conformity and mainstream culture. Key figures included Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs. They experimented with sexuality, Eastern religion, and drugs. Ginsberg's poem "Howl" came to define the Beat movement, chronicling the destruction of a generation. The Beat writers sought to defy conventions and write openly about their experiences on the margins of society.

1. The Beat Generation 1940s – 1950s
“It involves a sort of nakedness of mind, and, ultimately, of soul; a feeling of being
reduced to the bedrock of consciousness. In short, it means being dramatically pushed
up against the wall of oneself. A man is beat whenever he goes for broke and wagers
the sum of his resources on a single number; and the young generation has done that
continually from early youth.” -- John Clellon Holmes
The Beat Generation

2.  The Beat Generation is a
term used to describe both:
 a group of American writers
who came to prominence in
the late 1950s and early 1960s.
 the cultural phenomena that
they wrote about and inspired
(later sometimes called
"beatniks").

3. “The Beat
Generation” and it’s
“beatniks”.
 Term coined by Jack Kerouac, famous
Beat poet and author.
 Describes the down and out status of
himself and his peers during the post WWII
years.
 Jazz musicians on the streets in New
York City, in response to how they
were doing, sometimes said they
were “beat,” meaning they were
down and out, looking for work, a
place to display their creativity, and
they were open to whatever
opportunities or inspirations offered
to them.
 Evolved in the mid-1940s in the work
of writers and poets Jack Kerouac,
Neal Cassady, William S. Burroughs,
John Clellon Holmes, and Anne
Waldman, among others.
 These friends collaborated with one another
and wrote pieces that rebelled against the
popular poetry of the time

4.  Amongst the best known
of the writers known as
the Beat Generation.
 Kerouac's work was
popular, but received
little critical acclaim
during his lifetime.
Today, he is considered
an important and
influential writer who
inspired others.
 Best known for On the
Road (1958).

5.  Based on the spontaneous road
trips of Kerouac and his friends
across mid-century America.
 It is often considered a
defining work of the postwar
Beat Generation that was
inspired by jazz, poetry, and
drug experiences.
 When the book was originally
released, the New York Times
hailed it as "the most
beautifully executed, the clearest
and most important utterance"
of Kerouac's generation.

6.  Another well known writer
in the Beat Generation.
 Best known for Howl (1956),
a long poem celebrating his
friends of the Beat
Generation and attacking
what he saw as the
destructive forces of
materialism and conformity
in the United States at the
time.

7.  Written in 1955; it consisted of 3
parts.
 Famous line from:
 I saw the best minds of my
generation destroyed by madness,
starving hysterical naked, dragging
themselves through the negro
streets at dawn looking for an
angry fix; Angel-headed hipsters
burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in
the machinery of night.

8. In 1955 the Beat movement
came to national prominence
in the United States when
Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
publisher of Ginsberg’s Howl
and Other Poems, was charged
with printing and selling an
obscene book. After the
charges were inevitably
dropped, the book became
immensely popular and the
Beat movement became
famous.

9.  Primary member of the
Beat Generation, he was
an avant-garde author
who affected popular
culture as well as
literature.
 Much of his work is
semi-autobiographical,
drawn from his
experiences as an opiate
addict.

10.  Time magazine included
the novel in its TIME 100
Best English-language
Novels from 1923 to 2005.
 Drawn from Burroughs
own experience in and his
addiction to drugs.
 The way that the novel is
written is interesting, with
many sub-stories all
feeding into the plot.

11. Non -
Conformity
The Goal of the Beat
Generation writers was to
defy conventional writing
styles.
They were against
conformity and tradition.
The generation that lived
before them questioned
WHY they lived, but the
Beat Generation tried to
figure out HOW to live.
Questioned mainstream
politics and culture.
Politically radical and
anti-authoritarian.

12. Experimentation
•Religion
• Eastern religions like
Buddhism
• Meditation
•Drugs
• Psychedelic drugs
such as marijuana,
LSD, and
mushrooms were
taken to expand the
mind and creative
experiences of the
poets who chose to
take them
•Sexual Freedom
• They did not seek to
hide their sexuality
or beliefs or
experimentation,
some of the things
that made them who
they are.
 I saw the best minds of my
generation destroyed
by madness, starving hysterical
naked,
dragging themselves through the
negro streets at
dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for
the ancient
heavenly connection to the
starry
dynamo in the machinery of
night . . .
 Howl by Allan Ginsburg

13. The Architects of
Change
• Writing was based on life
experience, and was always
raw and uncensored.
They looked for truth in their
writing and spoke against
social evil, such as injustice
and racism, war and
corruption.
•The openness and interest in
trying new things made them
aware of the world around
them, and brought social
issues to the forefront of their
writing.
•The Beat movement was just
one of the precursors to the
love, freedom, and activism of
the 1960s, including the fight
for Civil Rights.

14. Works Cited
 The Academy of American Poets. “A
Brief Guide to the Beat Poets.” 29
Feb. 2008.
<http://www.poets.org/viewmed
ia.php/prmMID5646>.
 Ginsberg, Allen. Foreword. The Beat
Book: Poems and Fiction of the
Beat Generation.
Ed. Anne Waldman. Boston:
Shambhala, 1996.
 Holmes, John Clellon. “This Is the
Beat Generation.” New York
Times Magazine. 16 Nov. 1952. 29
Feb.2008. <http://www.litkicks.co
m/Texts/ThisIsBeatGen.html>.
 Waldman, Anne. Editor’s
Introduction. The Beat Book:
Poems and Fiction of the
Beat Generation. Ed. Anne
Waldman. Boston: Shambhala,
1996.