How does jazz influence Ginsbergs “Howl?
” “Howl” was influenced by jazz music in two main ways. First, jazz represented an unaccepted form of music during the early and mid-twentieth century. It was an African-American style of music not listened to by the “respectable” white middle class. It represented grime and seedy clubs and behavior. But this was the exact context that Ginsberg’s “best minds” were forced to inhabit because of their isolation and status as outcasts from that respectable society. However, the Beats were not there by force but by choice. They identified with African-American culture and the injustice heaped upon that community. The second way jazz influenced “Howl” is in its rhythm and beat. Ginsberg used the “long line” to construct “Howl.” This line was meant to flow with a jazz style beat and was built upon how each line could be spoken within that varying and improvisational rhythm. • How is Ginsberg’s sexuality expressed in his poems and what message is conveyed in his use of lewd sexual description?
