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| T. S. Eliot |
Introduction to American Literature 1914-1945, 653-72
T. S. Eliot (827-30), "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," 830-3
Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren, excerpt from Understanding Poetry PDF
Invention Exercises & Organized Outline
Study Questions:
1. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is an example of free verse, meaning that it need not confirm to any particular rules. Nonetheless, many examples of free verse rely on some elements of traditional poetry. What traditional formal elements do you see at work in "Prufrock"?
2. What central conflict animates "The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?
3. How do Brooks and Warren rely upon the appearance/reality topos? How is their piece structured? Remember that the appearance/reality topos relies upon this criteria:
- Plausible claim about author's conscious (or unconscious) meaning or purpose.
- Plausible reasons for why something is a symbol/meaning explained
- Some frequency of different appearance/realty claims
- Surprising, original, not obvious
