American Movie and Poetry Literature Review
1) After watching A Streetcar Named Desire, what do you think of the performances? Did anything surprise you about this movie? What do you think the movie was saying about gender and class? 2) How is the version of “Battle Royale” in the book different from the video What are some of the symbols in this scene, and what do you think they represent? 3) Ginsberg’s poetry is breakthrough in many ways, but is undoubtedly obscene. Even worse, Ginsberg was a member of NAMBLA, an organization that supports pedopihilia and wants to remove laws against underage sex. In other words, most people would regard him as a horrible human being. So, should we bother to study him? What about his poetry makes him worth remembering, in spite of his behavior and beliefs? Where should we draw the line on “cancel culture”? 4) After watching the Wallace video and reading his essay, comment on whether you think he is able to take his own advice. Where do you see him practicing the kind of good writing he is talking about in the video, and where do you see him falling victim to his own criticisms? Or does he?
