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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 Jack Kerouac's fictionalized name in the novel Go?

2. Neal Cassady's moniker in "Visions of Cody" was Cody ______________.

3. For whom was Jack Kerouac once a sports writer?

4. Where did Jack Kerouac attend college?

5. What business did Neal Cassady's father open in Los Angeles, CA?

Short Essay Questions

1. What biographical facts are mixed up in Kerouac's "On the Road"? What details are omitted?

2. What does Kerouac's letter to Neal Cassady reveal about their friendship?

3. What political references are made in the poem "America"?

4. Who is John Clellon Holmes, and what is his impact on the Beat Generation?

5. Where does Jack Kerouac refer to his own style of writing in "On the Road"? What metaphor does the author make?

6. Describe the poetry of Gregory Corso, including subject and themes.

7. What are Herbert Huncke's contributions in the anthology? On what subjects does he focus?

8. What religious allusion is used in the poem "Thou Shalt Not Kill"?

9. What repetition is used in the "Peyote Poem"? Why?

10. What does Ann Charters write of the origination of the Beats in the Introduction?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did the Beat Generation originate? What key figures began the movement? Where did they meet?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the poets Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen. Where did these poets meet? How did they become associated with the Beat Generation?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the author Kenneth Rexroth. For what works was Rexroth known? What examples are in the anthology? What is the poet's impact on the Beat Generation?

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