Title
Welcome
Subject
Information About This Site
Description
Welcome to my online archive of materials for teaching a short mini-unit on Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg’s poem “A Supermarket in California”! Hello, my name is Kayleigh Forlow and I am an English for Secondary Education major and Mellon Scholar at Hope College. The lesson plans included on this site grew out of my thesis for my Sophomore Seminar Mellon Scholars project on “A Supermarket in California” (the research paper related to this project is included in the “Other References” section of this site for further reference in teaching the lessons and/or for additional reading). In my research paper on this poem I posit that Ginsberg intertextually invokes Walt Whitman and Federico García Lorca, because he is looking to these previous revolutionary poets (a term I seek to define in my paper) who used their poetry to attempt to create more socially accepting societies for guidance and support for his ideas of how to do the same in his current culture. In particular, he looks to Whitman and Lorca, because they lived in oppressive and polarized societies similar to the exclusivist and conformist mainstream society of America in the 1950s in which Ginsberg lived.
These lessons are an extension of that same thesis and seek to help high school aged students develop and understanding of:
a.) why Ginsberg invokes Whitman and Lorca in the poem
b.) the ways in which Ginsberg, Whitman, and Lorca were all countercultural figures who defended marginal groups oppressed by the mainstream societies of their cultures and eras
c.) how Ginsberg, Whitman, and Lorca used their poetry to try to create more socially inclusive societies in their cultures and eras
d.) how the study of these three poets and their works, in particular their social visions, is relevant to the events and nature of the era and culture students live in today
In addition to a section devoted to each of the three lesson plan I have created and resources need to teach it, there is also a section on this site devoted to materials that can be used for further research and reading on these poets by both students and teachers. The documents listing the full set of Michigan Curriculum Framework Standards and IRA/ NCTE standards referenced in the lesson plans to give a sense of what sort of standards are being fulfilled are also included under the section devoted to additional resources. I hope you find this site and materials included on it to provide a helpful, informative, and creative addition to your current curricula!
These lessons are an extension of that same thesis and seek to help high school aged students develop and understanding of:
a.) why Ginsberg invokes Whitman and Lorca in the poem
b.) the ways in which Ginsberg, Whitman, and Lorca were all countercultural figures who defended marginal groups oppressed by the mainstream societies of their cultures and eras
c.) how Ginsberg, Whitman, and Lorca used their poetry to try to create more socially inclusive societies in their cultures and eras
d.) how the study of these three poets and their works, in particular their social visions, is relevant to the events and nature of the era and culture students live in today
In addition to a section devoted to each of the three lesson plan I have created and resources need to teach it, there is also a section on this site devoted to materials that can be used for further research and reading on these poets by both students and teachers. The documents listing the full set of Michigan Curriculum Framework Standards and IRA/ NCTE standards referenced in the lesson plans to give a sense of what sort of standards are being fulfilled are also included under the section devoted to additional resources. I hope you find this site and materials included on it to provide a helpful, informative, and creative addition to your current curricula!
Creator
Kayleigh Forlow