Continuing With the Beats... Ethos, Pathos and Logos in Ginsberg's 'America'

Coincidentally, an idea I had about a possible assignment also concerns the Beats. The other day I was watching this Youtube video and was struck by how funny "America" seemed to be when performed by Ginsberg himself. I had always read this poem as a scathing attack on American consumerism and/or colonialism, to be read as provocative or acerbic but never overtly humorous. This experience seemed to lend itself to a reading of "America" using the concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos. Rachel currently assigns a similar paper in which she has students respond to Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" using these terms.

First, I would have my students read the poem in class (probably out loud, although the cursing is a matter I'll have to address). Then, I would assign a short free-writing assignment wherein everyone writes their initial reaction to the poem. Next, I would play this video and assign a second round of free-writing about their reaction to it. Throughout the following discussion we would examine how the ethos, pathos, and logos operated differently in each reading. A short essay (2-3 pages) based on this discussion would constitute the writing assignment. There are several advantages and disadvantages to this assignment, which are roughly as follows:

Advantages:
- Hearing an audience react so favorably to a canonical poem would (hopefully) lead some students to reevaluate their initial reactions, and find it at least somewhat interesting/fun instead of intimidating/boring.
- After applying ethos, pathos, and logos to this poem and seeing how each can act differently in different media, students will be able to apply those same concepts elsewhere.
- Students can write about themselves. Instead of an academic reading of the poem, they will be able to talk about how they reacted, why they reacted this way, whether they found the poem offensive, amusing, important, etc. No subjective reading is wrong as long as they ground their reasoning in the terms provided.

Disadvantages:
- I am of course betting on the assumption that most students will find the initial reading difficult or at least "academic" and the subsequent reading substantially different (although essays that argue against any differences between the two are valid as well).
- There are pedagogical difficulties associated with teaching literature that Rachel's assignment avoids. I will need to be very clear in my explanation that our purpose is not to uncover a "correct" or even literary interpretation of the poem.
- Grading. This is an aspect that I feel I will have difficulty with for most assignments, however. I would like to grade on the quality of the prose more than the complexity of the argument (leaning more toward Jonas' side of the scale).

Although it's unlikely that this specific assignment will make it onto my syllabus, it is likely that a similar assignment dealing with ethos, pathos, and logos will. This assignment has been particularly helpful to think about because it deals with two of my main concerns. First, I want to avoid assigning things based purely on my personal interest in the subject. And second, I want to make it clear to the students that learning how to write clear, logical prose is our ultimate goal, and not high-minded literary interpretation or mastery over specific "forms" or "types" of essays.