Introduction to Modernism and T.S. Eliot

1. Poetry may make us from time to time a little more aware of the deeper, unnamed feelings which form the substratum of our being, to which we rarely penetrate; for our lives are mostly a constant evasion of ourselves. (T.S. Eliot) Introduction to Modernism and T.S. Eliot

2. Big Ideas of the Modern Age (The “Modernist” period begins at the end of World War I) • WWI was an extremely brutal war. It created a generation of writers who questioned traditional values. As a result, many of them focused on social problems, a loss of belief in the old truths, and human despair. • Modernist writers created a “New Poetics.” They created experimental ways of writing to try to capture their observations about modern life.

3. T.S. Eliot • Considered the first “Modernist” poet • Experimented with language and form • Introduced scenes and concerns of everyday life into poetry • Wrote “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” when he was still in college

4. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (688) • Captures the emptiness, loneliness, and alienation many people experienced while living in impersonal modern cities. • When it was first published, the poem baffled and angered many readers because • Its subject matter was “unpoetic” • Its structure was “fragmented” • Its allusions were “difficult to understand”

5. T.S. Eliot wrote: • “Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” • Listen to the poem read aloud. Do not try to understand everything in the poem. Try to pick out a few images, phrases, or sentences that “communicate” ideas to you. • Try to “see” some of the images Eliot’s words suggest. Put a sticky note next to a place in the poem where you can picture an image. • Try to “listen” to sounds and rhythms of the poem. Put a sticky note next to a place in the poem where you like the sounds of the lines.