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    On the Road: A Reader's Guide to the Jack Kerouac Novel
    On the Road: A Reader's Guide to the Jack Kerouac Novel
    On the Road: A Reader's Guide to the Jack Kerouac Novel
    Ebook54 pages55 minutes

    On the Road: A Reader's Guide to the Jack Kerouac Novel

    By Robert Crayola

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    About this ebook

    Jack Kerouac's On the Road was a handbook for a generation and continues to inspire people today with its wild energy and unconventional ideas. With this new guide you will have an even greater understanding of the book. Included in this guide: a biography of author Jack Kerouac, a look at the book's context, its literary elements, detailed chapter summaries, analysis, and suggestions for essays. This is the definitive guide to On the Road, concise, easy to understand, and guaranteed to add to your enjoyment of this modern classic.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobert Crayola
    Release dateJul 7, 2014
    ISBN9781311931511
    On the Road: A Reader's Guide to the Jack Kerouac Novel
    Author

    Robert Crayola

    Robert Crayola is the author of numerous educational guides and videos, plus the following works: COMICS Prince Pander (2014) The Pubic War (2015) Batman LSD: The Living Nightmare (2016) Star Wars: Vader & Son (2016) ILLUSTRATED BOOKS & STORIES William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience (2011) The Little Girl and the Little Boy (2016) The Past is Still Happening (2016) There Is No Government (2016) SHORT FICTION Savage Tales (2013) DRAMA 18 Plays For Untalented Actors (2012) NONFICTION Cheat Codes For Life (2010) FICTION Dr. Jew (2010) Ueda Sensei Solves Crimes of Depravity and Perversity (2011) Ueda Sensei Vomits on the Garbage of Humanity (2012) Ueda Sensei Castrates the Insidious Underground (2013) SHORT TEXTS Prayer Magic: Conversations With Reality (2008) Vipassana Meditation: My Experiences at a 10-Day Retreat (2012) ALBUMS Alpha Cat (2011)

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      Book preview

      On the Road - Robert Crayola

      On the Road:

      A Reader's Guide to the Jack Kerouac Novel

      by Robert Crayola

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2014 Robert Crayola

      https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/robertcrayola

      ****

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      The Elements of Literature

      Major Characters

      Chapter Summaries & Commentary

      Critical Questions & Essay Topics

      The Original Scroll

      Conclusion

      INTRODUCTION

      Widely regarded as one of the great novels of the twentieth century, On the Road was a handbook for a generation. It was a sharp affront to the bland conformity that followed the end of World War II. Jack Kerouac presented a different way of living, strange characters, unorthodox sexual relationships, and drug use, all within a wild narrative full of energy that seems to fly off the page.

      This guide to On the Road is designed to add to your understanding, clarify any confusing parts of the text, and get you thinking about the book's deeper meaning. You will find it beneficial whether you have read the book or not. All details of the plot will be revealed, however, so if you don't want spoilers read the book first.

      Let's begin our study of On the Road by looking at its author, Jack Kerouac.

      AUTHOR: Jean-Louis Jack Kerouac was born on March 12, 1922, in Lowell, Massachusetts. His parents were French-Canadian and he grew up speaking both French and English. Kerouac had a close bond to his parents. They instilled in him a Catholic spirituality that would stay with him even as he explored Buddhism in his later years. His older brother Gerard died when Kerouac was only four, leaving a strong memory that would inspire the novel Visions of Gerard. The boy's death also seemed to contribute to his father's abuse of alcohol.

      Kerouac played football in high school and got a scholarship to Columbia University in New York City. He wrote some sports articles for the school newspaper. He dropped out of school, however, and made friends with the group of people who would become famous as the Beats (including Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs). The Beat movement was not a formal organization, nor was there any manifesto. The movement was more of a stylistic attitude to life that rejected conformity and monotony.

      After brief stints in the merchant marines and navy from 1942 to 1943, Kerouac began his first adult writings. He was a witness in the murder trial of his friend Lucien Carr and was put in jail for helping Carr dispose of evidence. To get bail from his girlfriend, Kerouac agreed to marry her. The marriage lasted a few years until they had it annulled in 1948.

      About this time, Kerouac's parents moved to New York City and he began the travels that would be immortalized in On the Road. He also worked on his novel The Town and the City and had it published in 1950. The writing of On the Road is the stuff of legend, only partly true. Kerouac actually completed various drafts and sections over several years, but the draft that became famous was reportedly written in twenty days. He had trouble finding a publisher for this idiosyncratic work. He also married Joan Haverty at this time and then divorced her in 1951.

      The early 1950s was a period of traveling, writing, odd jobs, drugs, and drinking for Kerouac. He wrote ten more novels. He also had a growing interest in Buddhism, reflected in his novel The Dharma Bums, although many figures in the Zen community criticized Kerouac's take on Zen.

      On the Road found a publisher in 1957. After years of struggle, Kerouac was suddenly successful and famous. In many

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