"The Waste Land" by T.S Eliot
Click HERE for a hypertext version of the poem.
Modernism: A movement that dominated the arts and culture of the early 20th century.
The "earthquake in the arts which brought down much of the structure of pre-twentieth-century practice in music, painting, literature, and architecture" (Barry, 78).
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester, UK: Manchester UP, 2009. Print.
Click HERE for a hypertext version of the poem.
Modernism: A movement that dominated the arts and culture of the early 20th century.
The "earthquake in the arts which brought down much of the structure of pre-twentieth-century practice in music, painting, literature, and architecture" (Barry, 78).
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester, UK: Manchester UP, 2009. Print.
Essential Question:
What did a Modernist society look and feel like? (High Modernism: 1910-1930)
What did a Modernist society look and feel like? (High Modernism: 1910-1930)
Victorian Period Modern Period The Great War |
Inventions and Technological Breakthroughs
Focus on 2-3 inventions Inventions, 1868-98 Inventing Entertainment Elevated Railway 9th Infantry Boys' Morning Wash
Brooklyn Bridge Chrysler Building Empire State Building
Quickened Pace of Transportation Wright Timeline: Flight Watch Quicktime Video Automobiles
Factory Life Factory fire images 1911 Girls Taking Time Checks Girls winding armatures Factory Panorama
World War I Photos of Great War WWI Trivia Western Front trenches
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Essential Question
How is Modern poetry distinct from the previous era of Romantic poetry?
How is Modern poetry distinct from the previous era of Romantic poetry?
Activity 1: Read these 19th century poems and answer the corresponding questions. Use the "Intro to Modernist Poetry" grid to record your analysis.
The Daffodils
I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. —William Wordsworth,1804 Click to read full poem |
Sonnet 43 from the Portuguese, “How Do I Love Thee?”
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. —Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Published, 1850 Click to read full poem |
introduction_to_modernist_poetry.docx | |
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- Who is the speaker in the poem?
- What is the tone of the speaker?
- How would you describe the poet’s language and choice of words (diction)?
- What formal poetic and structural devices can you identify?
- For “Daffodils” – What is the poet’s relationship to nature? How does he feel about the natural world and how do you know?
- For “Sonnet” – Would you say the poet believes in the power of love? Why or why not?
Essential Question
What is the form and function of a modernist poem?
What is the form and function of a modernist poem?
Activity 2
The English novelist Virginia Woolf declared that human nature underwent a fundamental change "on or about December 1910." The statement testifies to the modern writer's fervent desire to break with the past, rejecting literary traditions that seemed outmoded and diction that seemed too genteel to suit an era of technological breakthroughs and global violence.”—from the EDSITEment-reviewed Academy of American Poets“The Modernist Revolution: Make It New”
Click to read: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"
The English novelist Virginia Woolf declared that human nature underwent a fundamental change "on or about December 1910." The statement testifies to the modern writer's fervent desire to break with the past, rejecting literary traditions that seemed outmoded and diction that seemed too genteel to suit an era of technological breakthroughs and global violence.”—from the EDSITEment-reviewed Academy of American Poets“The Modernist Revolution: Make It New”
- Compare the setting of “Daffodils” to the city scenes, factory scenes, and WWI landscapes. What symbolic differences can you identify?
- How would these speakers feel if they lived during the 1900s? How might the subject matter of their poems change?
Click to read: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"
- What are the fundamental differences that you notice between this poem and the previous ones?
Activity 4: Modernist Poetry Techniques
Definition -- Function -- Example
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Essential Question
How can we use our own knowledge and understanding to identify features within a difficult poem?
How can we use our own knowledge and understanding to identify features within a difficult poem?
Epigraph
Epigraph: (definition) a short quotation or saying at the beginning of literature intended to suggest its theme
Epigraph: (definition) a short quotation or saying at the beginning of literature intended to suggest its theme
“Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent:Σιβυλλα τι θελεις; respondebat illa:αποθανειν θελω.” Click here for translation and story |
Ancient Greek oracle (classical allusion numero uno!): 1. A person (in ancient Greece) through whom a god was 2. a message or prophecy often told by a medium |
Discussion:
- Why has the epigraph been used? In other words, what might we encounter in this poem?
- What does the classical allusion represent? What might Eliot be suggesting about society through the use of a classical allusion?
"The Burial of the Dead"
Vocabulary - Click for definitions
Vignette Tubers Starnbergersee Colonnade Hyacinth Clairvoyant Phoenician Wheel The Hanged Man Saint Mary Woolnoth Mylae |
For each vignette, identify:
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Essential Questions:
- What is the purpose or overall message of the stanza?
Stanza 2: "What are the roots that clutch..."
Choose 3 of the 4 questions to analyze. Use direct examples.
Use your analysis to discuss and analyze the following questions:
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Stanza 4: "Unreal city"
Analyze each question below. Use direct examples for support
Use your analysis to discuss and analyze the following questions:
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"A Game of Chess"
- Title: What is meant by the title? What is the denotation and connotation of the title?
Task: Use the analysis chart below to discover the meaning of this section (lines 76-138).
Repetition: What could the repetition suggest about the upper class?
- In lines 120-126, the word "nothing" is repeated six times.
- In lines 130-133, the idea of not knowing what to do (ex. "What shall I do now?") is repeated in four different ways.
a_game_of_chess_-_analysis_chart.docx | |
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a_game_of_chess_-_allusions,_2015.docx | |
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File Type: | docx |
How is high society portrayed?
Plot:
Allusion: Lines 170-173 are an allusion to Ophelia's suicide speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet. This is the only allusion in the lower class section. What might Eliot be trying to say through this allusion?
- Where is the action taking place? How do you know?
- Who is Lil and what is about to happen with her husband?
- Lil's friend (the speaker) is chastising her in lines 144-149. What is being said?
- What is meant in lines 159-160: "It's the pills I took to bring it off, she said. / (She had five already, and nearly died of young George.)"? What type of pills?
Allusion: Lines 170-173 are an allusion to Ophelia's suicide speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet. This is the only allusion in the lower class section. What might Eliot be trying to say through this allusion?
What type of wasteland is Eliot portraying?
Why does Eliot contrast the high and low class societies in the same vignette?
The Fire Sermon
Sexual Intercourse
"The title of this chapter, The Fire Sermon, is a sermon given by Buddha. In this sermon, he encourages people to stay away from earthly passion – free themselves from the fire of lust."
Click HERE for the Sermon on the Mount
"The title of this chapter, The Fire Sermon, is a sermon given by Buddha. In this sermon, he encourages people to stay away from earthly passion – free themselves from the fire of lust."
Click HERE for the Sermon on the Mount
Essential Question: To what extent is this section a satire of modern romance?
The Typist and the Carbuncular (lines 214-256)
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What Thunder Said
Guiding Question: Why does Eliot mix a religious allusion with such harsh imagery?
Activity 1: Imagery
Lines 331-358
Lines 331-358
- What words, phrases, or ideas jump out to you as being repetitive?
- Symbolism: List all of the concrete nouns that are mentioned as lacking water. What does water symbolize? Why has Eliot created this image of a dry, arid land? Relate it to the title.
- Rhyme: "If there were water we should stop and drink / Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think" (335-336) What do these lines mean? Why do they rhyme?
Activity 2: The Road to Emmaus
Three sections to "What Thunder Said" as stated by Eliot himself in his notes.
Watch the video below to get the story of the road to Emmaus. It is vital that you understand the story of the crucifixion and resurrection in order to understand Eliot's allusion.
Three sections to "What Thunder Said" as stated by Eliot himself in his notes.
- The journey to Emmaus
- The approach to the Chapel Perilous
- Present decay of eastern Europe.
Watch the video below to get the story of the road to Emmaus. It is vital that you understand the story of the crucifixion and resurrection in order to understand Eliot's allusion.
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Activity 3: The end
- Brihadaranyaka upanishad - a story from the Hindu faith: gods, men, and demons asked their father how to live well. He answered with the sound of thunder, which was heard as "Da." Each interpreted it differently:
- Datta - give (charity and selflessness) What is Eliot worried about in society?
- Dayadhvam - compassion What is Eliot worried about in society?
- Damyata - control (self-control) What is Eliot worried about in society?
- "London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down" (line 426). Yes, this is a popular nursery rhyme, but how could this be symbolic of modern culture?
- Why might the poem end with the words give, sympathize, control, and peace that passes understanding?