The following is your essay prompt for The Hippies: A 1960s History, by John A. Moretta, your professor for this course. You can purchase the book online at amazon.com. I really don't write books for the money; just like doing them and after all, I was trained at Rice University to be an historian; that's why I have a Ph.D. in history!

Be that as it may, you have 16 weeks in which to read this book, which I am confident you will find most interesting and illuminating. It is a fun and easy read, especially if you like drugs and music, which I am sure most of you do. I apologize for the size of the book and the small print; that's not my fault, but my publisher's, who did not want to cut any of the information and thus to get it all in, had to decrease the print size while increasing the size of the book. My apologies; there are only certain issues an author can control.

Your papers are to be a minimum of 6 typed, double-spaced pages, with no more than one inch margins on the sides and top and bottom of page. 12-pt. font, please. I must receive your papers as a word attachment by no later than midnight, April 30, 2018. Please send your papers to my college email address: [email protected].

No late papers will be accepted. This is a required assignment; failure to do this assignment will result in a failing grade for the course. In order to successfully pass this course with a grade, you must take all the exams and complete this written assignment. If you believe you cannot complete the exams and do the paper, then please, do not take this course. I do not want anyone to fail but you will receive a failing grade if you do not take all the exams and hand your essay in on time. Sixteen weeks is more than ample if you plan your time wisely by reading, for example, a chapter or two a week. It is not a difficult, ponderous, or heavy read at all. There is a lot of cool information about people, events, rock music, etc. You will be introduced into a very fascinating world of drugs, sex, music, and people celebrating life by simply enjoying it in as many creative ways as they possibly could. Indeed, there will be much that the hippies did that many of you can relate to, even now, even if you are a millennial, which I am sure most of you are. Today's "hipsters" to me, are simply my old 1960s hippie friends "reduxed."

The 1960s proved to be one of the most pivotal, change decades in the 20th century. Indeed, there was a United States before the 1960s, especially before 1968 (the watershed year of that decade) and a US after the 1960s. One of the reasons why the 1960s was such a crucial decade was the fact that never before had so many younger Americans appeared to have galvanized into such mass protest and resistance not only to the socio-cultural status quo of their time, but  against the government led by the Democratic party and its liberal policies. Even before the Vietnam War became the raison d'etre of the 1960s youth rebellion, other affinity groups found plenty wrong with 1960s American culture and society and decided to try to establish their own alternative community within the macro-capitalist bourgeois consume culture. They called themselves the hippies and through a variety of celebrations, drugs, sex, love, and music, believed they represented the possibility of a "new consciousness" for the United States that would soon embrace everyone and change the United States for the better.

What was it about 1960s white middle class suburban America--its lifestyle, mores, norms, etc. that so alienated many white youth? As the hippies cohered into a movement or subculture, what was their "philosophy" and how did they hope to propagate their new message to the rest of the world? Despite the many flaws in the hip creed, there were moments of genuine joy, celebration, community, peace, and love, where it seemed that for an instance the hippies had found their way back to the Garden. What were some of the movement's highlights? Conversely, what were some of the movement's "lows," which in the end were greater than the "highs," ultimately resulting in the hippies' demise.