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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is overwhelming to Ginsberg?

2. What is the main theme of the poem?

3. Ginsberg had an ambition to become which of the following?

4. In the poem "mad" refers to ____________.

5. In what year was the poem written?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the theme affect each person? Where does it appear?

2. What is one of the main themes in this poem? To what does Ginsberg compare the flower?

3. How long will Ginsberg continue to work at Greyhound? What is his opinion of the wage and capitalism?

4. In what room in his apartment does the poet talk about his needs? What is his condition?

5. What is Ginsberg's comment about immigrants and their treatment in America?

6. What is an asphodel? How does it compare to Ginsberg's concept of desire?

7. What is the child's condition and outlook upon his surroundings?

8. What is the poet's feeling about physical passion and the enjoyment of it?

9. How does the poem end? What is the inference of things to come?

10. When was AN ASPHODEL written and what is the main theme of the poem?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There was a lot of yearning mentioned in the work. Relate to this yearning to the poetry of Walt Whitman. Write a Whitman-esque poem regarding yearning. Analyze and list at least three other poets or poems in the same vein. Compare and contrast to Ginsberg's work at that time to Whitman's.

Essay Topic 2

In BACK OF THE REAL Ginsberg mentions Jesus and the crown of thorns. Why did Ginsberg choose this particular symbol? Give examples off types of symbolism used in this poem. How does Ginsberg use the crown of thorns as a metaphor? What does the metaphor represents Are there other flowers are plants that might have worked better than the crown of thorns? Does the juxtaposition used help or hinder the poem? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Many members of the Beat Generation seem to have a great fondness for locomotives and traveling. In Sunflower Sutra, Ginsberg and Kerouac relate locomotives to days gone by and an old America as well as to the lives of hobos and rail jumpers. Compare and contrast reality versus romance in regards to locomotives. Write about the imagery of locomotives in the US versus other countries. Include an analysis of how romance is tied to trains like the Oriental Express. What form of transportation has taken place of the locomotive?

(see the answer keys)

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