History 305

Devine

Spring 2011

Study Questions on the 1960s

William L. O’Neill, “The Counterculture”

1. According to O’Neill, how did Catch-22, folk music, and the twist contribute to the origins of the counterculture?

2. What does O’Neill think of the Beatles? Did they embrace counterculture values?

3. What role did drugs play in shaping the counterculture?

4. O’Neill argues that contrary to Timothy Leary and others, drugs were not liberating but “encourage[d] conformity among the young.” Why does he believe that the pot-smoking younger generation was no different than their drinking and tranquilizer-popping parents?

5. How did Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters differ from Timothy Leary and his followers?

6. How did Janis Joplin differ from Joan Baez? Why was Joplin more popular with the counterculture of the mid- to late 1960s?

7. Were the counterculture and consumerism complimentary or contradictory forces? O’Neill suggests that despite its reputation for being rebellious, the counterculture actually embraced the consumer ethos of mainstream America. Do you agree?

8. O’Neill suggests that rather than introducing a new set of values, we see in the counterculture simply the reappearance of self-indulgent romanticism fueled by the mass media and its propagandizing of the pleasure principle. What evidence does he cite to make this case?

9. Why does O’Neill argue that the counterculture increased social hostility and broadened the gap between the privileged and the working class?

10. Why does O’Neill say that the counterculture was “hell on standards?”