Why do you think Ferlinghetti chose to present the poem as an appeal to an ancient Greek figure? How does the poem connect with the Beat movement of which Ferlinghetti was a part?
Answers
Answer:
1. Ferlinghetti chose to present the peom as an appeal to the ancient Greek figure because he believed that it holds the power to confer on an individual the gift of prophecy about an incident or event that is going to happen in the future.
2. Beat movement, also called Beat Generation, American social and literary movement originating in the 1950s and centred in the bohemian artist communities of San Francisco’s North Beach, Los Angeles’ Venice West, and New York City’s Greenwich Village.
Explanation:
Beat poetry evolved during the 1940s in both New York City and on the west coast, although San Francisco became the heart of the movement in the early 1950s. The end of World War II left poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso questioning mainstream politics and culture. These poets would become known as the Beat generation, a group of writers interested in changing consciousness and defying conventional writing. The Beats were also closely intertwined with poets of the San Francisco Renaissance movement, such as Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan.
The battle against social conformity and literary tradition was central to the work of the Beats. Among this group of poets, hallucinogenic drugs were used to achieve higher consciousness, as was meditation and Eastern religion. Buddhism especially was important to many of the Beat poets; Snyder and Ginsberg both intensely studied this religion and it figured into much of their work.
Answer:
Answers may vary, but your response should include the following points: In To the Oracle at Delphi, Ferlinghetti points to ancient Greece as the beginning of civilization on which America as a country and a society was built. In the Oracle, he turns to a figure thought to provide wise counsel, which he thinks America needs. He speaks to the Oracle as a witness to what has happened to the true America or the one that sprang from Europe (Europa). It is the America of the underprivileged, whose voices often go unheard. It is a "vaster" or bigger society, but it is not greater or better. We have technology and money, but we have no art, which is meant to encourage us to feel, particularly for one another. He seeks guidance on how we can eliminate inequality and maintain our democracy instead of moving steadily toward plutocracy, which means that the wealthy will rule over everyone else. With "new dreams to dream" and "new myths to live by," American society can be restored or saved.
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