“Do I dare?”

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot - The First Modernist Poet ❏ “T.S. Eliot revolutionized poetry more than any other twentieth-century writer. His experiments in language and form and his introduction of the scenes and concerns of every-day life into poetry changed literary tastes and influenced future poets. ❏ “His best-known work, The Waste Land, was published in 1922; in it he expresses the disillusionment that many people felt after World War I and decries the inability to find meaning and purpose in life. ❏ “Eliot received the Nobel Prize in Literature in His poetry has been praised for the power of its symbolism, its precise language, and its mastery of form. At the time of his death in 1965, Eliot was considered by many to be the most important and influential poet and critic writing in the English language.” Taken from “Meet T.S. Eliot” Copyright by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The Poem ❏ Published in 1915 ❏ “Often called the first Modernist poem, ‘Prufrock’ captures the emptiness and alienation many people experienced while living in impersonal modern cities. ❏ “The poem baffled and angered many readers, who found its subject matter ‘unpoetic,’ its fragmented structure off- putting, and its allusions difficult to understand.” Taken from “Meet T.S. Eliot” Copyright by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The Title Speculate on what you think the poem might be about, based on the title. ➢ What do you think of the name “J. Alfred Prufrock”?

The Epigraph S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma percioche giammai di questo fondo Non torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero, Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo If I thought that I was speaking to someone who would go back to the world, this flame would shake no more. But since nobody has ever gone back alive from this place, if what I hear is true, I answer you without fear of infamy.

Dramatic Monologue To whom is this poem addressed? Is the reader a character in the poem?

Paraphrase / Connotation / Attitude Number off by 5s: ➢ Lines 1-22: How does Eliot establish the initial MOOD of the poem? Explain why this MOOD is important in setting up Eliot’s central point. ➢ Lines 23-48: How do the activities and questions that Prufrock focuses on establish his CHARACTER and mindset? ➢ Lines 49-74: Explain Prufrock’s self-assessment in these lines. How do the questions at the end of the stanzas and the IMAGERY show this? ➢ Lines : What do you think is the “overwhelming question”? Explain Prufrock’s fear, and how the ALLUSIONS reinforce this. ➢ Lines : Discuss Prufrock’s state of mind at the end of the poem. How does the IMAGERY support the final point.

Where does the poem SHIFT? What are the clues that this SHIFT is occurring? Looking back at the TITLE, what new insight does it provide in understanding the poem?

What’s the point? What is Eliot’s final point, or THEME, in this poem? How does “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” differ from traditional poetry? ➢ Do these differences make the poem more or less effective in communicating its message? Is this poem still relevant today? Why or why not?