"Allen Ginsberg." Gives a short biography, tells what elements of poetry he used,who impacted his life the most, and what I felt about his work.

Essay by SpeedChick21High School, 11th gradeA+, April 2003

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Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg was a man known for his crazy, grotesque beats. He made many officials furious all over the world and not to mention he was a homosexual turned bi. His lust for other boys his age inspired a lot of his most noticed work.

Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926. His dad, Louis Ginsberg, was a published poet, a high school teacher, and a moderate socialist. Allen's mom, Naomi, was a radical communist and irresponsible nudist who went insane in early adulthood. Ginsberg grew up in Patterson, New Jersey. His crazy mother dominated his home life. He went to Columbia University, planning a career as a labor lawyer. Although, after his freshman year, he fell into a group of wild souls and was eventually suspended from Columbia. He began experimenting with drugs and thinking he and his friends were striving for a great poetic vision. During the summer of 1948, Allen had a vision in which the poet William Blake came to him and that changed him forever.

The whole wild scene crashed though when Ginsberg and his friends were imprisoned because of criminal activities. Ginsberg entered a straight phase after his imprisonment and began dating Helen Parker. He found a job as a marketing researcher and developed the advertising campaign for Ipana Toothpaste (Brusha-Brusha-Brusha from the film Grease). But his straight phase was broken when he met Carl Solomon. Ginsberg then traveled to San Francisco and joined a local poetry movement. At age twenty-nine, Allen had written a lot of poetry but published almost none. He performed his poem "Howl" and gained much popular notice from the beat community. After his performance, Ginsberg traveled the world, discovered Buddhism, and fell in love with Peter Orlovsky. Peter remained his partner for thirty years, but it was...