I have been doing some research on the the literary movements of the 50s - 60s, and am attempting to put together a presentation for my Senior Seminar. Now, my teacher is not about to accept any research done outside creditable sources, but after spends months in the university library I still have a few questions and I was hoping some of you here might be able to sort them out for me. What I need isn't so much facts as the "feeling" of three major cities: New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. I'm connecting these cities through Allen Ginsberg and his reading of "Howl" to three very different audiences. I think knowing the atmosphere or personality of the three places would help greatly. 1. For those who lived in any one of these cities during the 50s or 60s, what was your general feeling towards the city? What would you say was the general state of the counter culture/ant-war movement there? Did you feel in the majority, or were you obviously a minority? 2. For those who didn't live there, what was the impression of the cities you had from media/word of mouth? What associations did you have with the cities? 3. Generally, in the most simple turns (a sentence or so) how would you describe each one of these cities during the 50s and 60s?
