Fall Semester 2000	Office: Clemens 401
Time: T/Th 3.30-4.50	Office Hours: T/Th 1-3 and by appointment
Place: Clemens 6	Phone: 645-2575 x 1029
schmid@acsu.buffalo.edu

Course Description

It seems that no one is neutral about the Beats. Ever since the publication of On The Road in 1957, Beat writers have attracted either uncritical praise or virulent censure. Damned as unliterary or celebrated as visionaries, the actual work of the Beats all too often gets lost in the hubbub of conflicting voices. In this class, we will look at a wide variety of Beat work. Our main focus will be literature, but as the title of the course indicates, we will also be investigating something more amorphous called 'Beat culture.' Accordingly, our discussions will also include the music of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, the art of the Abstract Expressionists and William Burroughs, and the huge culture industry that has grown up around the Beats. We will oscillate between a focus on the social and political context the Beat writers emerged out of and an interrogation of why so many remain so invested in the Beats at the end of the twentieth century.

Course Texts

In order to facilitate our discussions, we will use the following texts, which are for sale at the University Bookstore and also on reserve at the Undergraduate Library:

Jack Kerouac, On The Road (1957)
Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels (1965)
William Burroughs, Naked Lunch (1959)
William Burroughs, Queer (1986)
Ann Charters, ed. The Portable Beat Reader (1992)
Brenda Knight, ed. Women of the Beat Generation (1996)

All other readings will be available on course reserve through the class website.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (you'll need this to read Course Reserve materials)

We will also watch short films and documentaries, listen to music, and contemplate art.
Download RealPlayer (you'll need this to listen to sound files and watch video clips)

Course Requirements

1. Completion of all reading and writing assignments.
2. Two papers:
 a) Paper I (7-9pp) Due: Thursday, October 5th.
 b) Paper II (7-9pp) Due: Thursday, November 9th.
4. A final exam.
5. Reading Notes: a total of 19.

Grading

Participation          20%
Reading Notes       20%
Paper I                  20%
Paper II                 20%
Final Exam            20%

Revisions

You will have the option of revising Papers I and II. The new grade, if the second version is a substantial improvement, will be averaged with the original grade. In order to improve your grade, your revision must not merely redot the 'i's' and recross the 't's,' but must demonstrate structural changes such as altering the organization of the paper or its thesis statement, or improving sentences and paragraphs. Revisions are due on a specific date indicated in the syllabus. I will not accept revisions after that date.

Reading Notes

On certain dates indicated in the syllabus, I will ask you to write reading notes about that day's reading. These reading notes are NOT a summary of the material. Rather, the notes are your opportunity to say what you think about the reading: What are these authors trying to do? Do they succeed or fail? Do you agree or disagree with what they're saying? Are there any parts of the story that you found confusing, contradictory, annoying, inspiring? These are the kinds of issues I'd like you to discuss in your notes. Reading notes will not be graded, but I will read them and return them to you. I will not accept late reading notes.

Attendance

Attendance at all classes is mandatory. If you have more than two unexcused absences over the course of the semester, your final grade for this class will be docked by half a grade. If you have more than four unexcused absences during the course of the semester, your final grade will be docked by a full grade. An excused absence is an absence due to illness that is supported by a doctor's note. An unexcused absence is any and all of the following: illness not supported by a doctor's note; faulty alarm clocks; oversleeping; missing your bus; your printer running out of toner or paper; being abducted by aliens, being overcome with excitement at the thought of a Presidential election, etc.

Final Exam

Iíll give you more information about the exam later in the semester. For the moment, let me emphasize that ANYTHING I say in class could potentially be in the exam, so get into the habit of taking notes!

Late Paper Policy

Late papers will be docked half a grade unless you have spoken to me BEFORE the due date with a persuasive excuse. For papers over two weeks late, I will dock a full grade. If you think you might need an extension on a paper, PLEASE TALK TO ME. I will not give incompletes for the class except under very, very, very, very dire circumstances.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged dependence upon some secondary source. Indebtedness can range from direct quotation to the use of certain key phrases to the paraphrase of certain central ideas. If you use the words or ideas of others, please acknowledge and document them carefully. If in doubt, please ask me how to footnote, compile a bibliography, etc. If I suspect unacknowledged dependence on outside sources, be assured that I will investigate it thoroughly.

Week One

T 8/29  Introduction to the Class

Th 8/31 Introductory Video
              Chuck Workman, The Source (1999)

Week Two

T 9/5  What was the Beat Generation?
    John Clellon Holmes, ìThis Is the Beat Generationî (Course Reserve)
    Jack Kerouac, ìThe Origins of the Beat Generationî (Course Reserve)
    Paul O'Neil, "The Only Rebellion Around"(Course Reserve)
    Lisa Phillips, ìBeat Culture: America Revisionedî (Course Reserve)
    Norman Podhoretz, ìThe Know-Nothing Bohemiansî (Course Reserve)
Blues For Peace (online definition of 'Beat')
    Reading Note #1

Th 9/7 Introductory Lecture on Kerouac
    Reading:
    Jack Kerouac, "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose" (Charters, 57-58)
    Jack Kerouac, "Belief & Technique for Modern Prose" (Charters, 58-59)
    Reading Note #2

Week Three

T 9/12  Jack Kerouac, On The Road
    Reading Note #3

Th 9/14 Jack Kerouac, On The Road

Week Four

T 9/19  Jack Kerouac, On The Road
    Reading Note #4

Th 9/21 Beat People 1
    Reading:
    Neal Cassady excerpts in Charters (187-225)
    Carolyn Cassady, "Life With Jack and Neal" (Course Reserve)
    Reading Note #5

Week Five

T 9/26  Introductory Lecture on Ginsberg
    Reading:
    Allen Ginsberg, "Visions of Ordinary Mind" (Course Reserve)
    Reading Note #6

Th 9/28 Allen Ginsberg, ìHowl,î ìFootnote to Howl,î ìA Supermarket in California,î ìSunflower Sutraî
    Reading Note #7

Week Six

T 10/3  Allen Ginsberg, ìAmerica,î ìKaddish,î ìSong,î ìOn Burroughsí Workî
    Reading Note #8

Th 10/5 Introductory Lecture on Burroughs
    Paper #1 Due
    Listen to William Burroughs read

Week Seven

T 10/10 NO CLASS - FOLLOW MONDAY SCHEDULE

Th 10/12 William Burroughs, Queer
    Reading Note #9

Week Eight

T 10/17 William Burroughs, Queer
 

Th 10/19 Beat People 2
    Reading:
    Excerpts from Herbert Huncke, John Clellon Holmes, Carl Solomon, and Gregory Corso in Charters (145-185)
    Herbert Huncke, excerpt from Guilty of Everything (Course Reserve)
    Reading Note #10

Week Nine

T 10/24 Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels
    Reading Note #11

Th 10/26 Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels
    Revision of Paper #1 Due

Week Ten

T 10/31 Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels
    Reading Note #12

Th 11/2 Beat People 3
    Excerpts from Lawrence Ferlinghetti (245-253), Michael McClure (264-287), Gary Snyder (288-306), Bob
    Kaufman (327-330), Amiri Baraka (339-353), and Bob Dylan (370-379) in Charters.
    Reading Note #13
San Francisco Poetry Renaissance Web Site

Week Eleven

T 11/7 William Burroughs, Naked Lunch
    Reading Note #14

Th 11/9 William Burroughs, Naked Lunch
    Paper #2 Due

Week Twelve

T 11/14 William Burroughs, Naked Lunch
    Reading Notes #15

Th 11/16 Allen Ginsberg, Later Poems (in Charters 547-560 and Course Reserve)
    Reading Notes #16

Week Thirteen

T 11/21 Film: Pull My Daisy and/or Fried Shoes, Cooked Diamonds

Th 11/23 NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING

Week Fourteen

T 11/28 Beat Women 1
    Reading:
    Excerpts from Knight, Women of the Beat Generation
    Reading Notes #17

Th 11/30 Beat Women 2
    Reading:
    Excerpts from Knight, Women of the Beat Generation
    Reading Notes #18
    Revision of Paper #2 Due

Week Fifteen

T 12/5  Beat Culture Now
    Reading:
    Buying Beat Products:The Beat Generation Catalog
    The Beats AS a Product:CBC Infoculture article on a Beat auction
    Remembering the Beats: Lowell Celebrates Kerouac
    Maura Mahoney, "Back in Black: Here Come the Beatniks!" (Course Reserve)
    Reading Notes #19

Th 12/7 LAST DAY OF CLASS
    Preview of final exam
    Evaluations
    Hideously difficult quiz
    Why (study) the Beats today?