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Howl Allen Ginsberg Poem A Level English Literature COURSEWORK
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H071 H471 Howl Allen Ginsberg Poem A Level English Literature COURSEWORK
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Howl Coursework1. Read this piece of coursework and highlight and annotate the following:
Clear points answering the question
Linking paragraphs and ideas together
Referencing elsewhere in Ginsberg’s poetry
Close analysis of language
Close analysis of structure
Close analysis of form
Use of literary terminology
2. What mark do you think this essay would receive? Why?
How does Ginsberg express his concerns around the theme of freedom and constraint
in Howl and elsewhere in his poetry? (Lines 256-300)
Ginsberg throughout his work challenged social conventions and was the reason why Howl was
considered such a controversial piece during its publication in 1956. Freedom and constraint
are reoccurring themes in Howl since Ginsberg and the Beat Generation in general were
profoundly concerned with the New Vision, hope and liberation for all. He communicates his
fervent concern for these issues by demonstrating it through symbols of sexuality, mental and
physical decay and religious enlightenment- glorifying freedom but also highlighting society’s
intolerance of it. In poems such as America Ginsberg expresses similar apprehension by using
images to represent political and economic changes in society which he considered abhorrent
to the themes of freedom and constraint. Similarly, America displays an irregular structure
and meter demonstrating Ginsberg’s exploration of his own artistic freedom through the
structure of this poetry.
To a great effect, Ginsberg demonstrates constraint as a form as oppression especially in Part
2 by Moloch’s inescapable presence which is created by the impelling, heated repetition of
1
, Howl Coursework
the name (“Moloch! Moloch!”1). The speaker’s cry of “Moloch whose factories dream and
croak in the fog!”2 conveys a biblical deity as a symbol of industrialisation alongside unjust
authorities which is a powerful technique in highlighting the corruption within American
society. The personification of Moloch’s “factories”3 – of them “croak[ing]”4 and
“dream[ing]”5, quite common and mundane activities that humans do, creates an image of
buildings coming to life capturing Ginsberg’s fear of the rise of industrialisation replacing
people all together. Interestingly, Ginsberg takes a similar stance to wars in America whereby
he challenges the United States on the futility of war. This fear is further emphasised in the
tone that is demonstrated in this part of Howl, as it is one of frantic distress as a result of the
overwhelming use of punctuation particularly the exclamation marks- which expresses an
accusation towards constraint and a demand for liberation. Ginsberg also describes Moloch as
an “incomprehensible prison”6 and the “soulless jailhouse”7, which accentuate the feeling of
being trapped and constrained. The use of the adjective “incomprehensible”8 is powerful in
demonstrating Ginsberg’s inability to understand the “soulless”9 minds which are “lacklove in
Moloch”10and are “manless in Moloch”11 conveying the lack of true emotion ultimately leads to
the rise of conformity. Vision is a frequent metaphor as the use of “a thousand blind
windows”12 and “blind capitals”13 are indicating that the inability to see means American
minds do not acknowledge the amount of damage which is being done to them. This is
understandable since many of the ‘best minds’ Ginsberg has observed, have been ridiculed in
their generation due to their inability to truly understand and conform to society's norms,
confirming his belief was that freedom cannot exist alongside such dedicated compliance to
standards. The speaker states that “They broke their backs lifting Moloch to heaven”14 which
is extremely ironic because Moloch is a biblical demon, going to heaven. The effect of this
being a powerful comment on the hopeless efforts of society, as when conformity lives long
enough people start to fight for inadequate causes like going to war for an unjust government
1Line 269, Howl
2Line 273
3 Line 273
4 Line 273
5 Line 273
6 Line 263
7 Line 264
8 Line 263
9 Line 264
10 Line 281
11Line 281
12Line 271
13Line 288
14Line 291
2
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