Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Briefly summarize in your own words each section of The Wasteland.

44 comments:

  1. I. Burial of the Dead

    This is the first section of the poem. This section focus on death, which you can conclude from the title. Using reference from the prologue of The Canterbury Tales stating that "April is the cruellest month," he contradicts what Chaucer wrote. This is probably the most important references in the poem. The section discuss the natural cycle of death, which is symbolized by the passing of the seasons. Starting with spring leading to winter. Eliot including German references invokes an image of WWI. Throughout the rest of the first section Eliot shifts among several disconnected thoughts, speeches, and images.

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  2. Section 1-Burial of the Dead
    The title, along with one of the first lines "April is the cruelest month" indicates that this section will probably be pessimistic, and that death will be an occurring theme. Eliot then proceeds to figuratively take the reader through the natural cycle of death using the changing of he seasons. A lake used as a setting may hint to WW1 where many young lives were lost. The remainder of the section goes on to explain depressing thoughts of how people are stuck in a wasteland and aren't actually living life at all.

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  3. 1. Burial of the Dead

    In this section I see that Eliot doesn't like April. He doesn't like the spring time because that is when everything is coming to life. He says "April is the cruelest month," which shows that he doesn't like that everything is coming to life. This is why he likes winter the most because winter is the dead season. I feel like he also likes winter the most because he gets to spend time with Marie, going sledding in the mountains. All of these connect to the title of the section because the title has to do with death, and that is what the entire section is about.

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  4. I. Burial of the Dead

    The very first section of the poem is about burying the soldiers and casualties of WW1. Eliot's home is in the United States and England (2 allied forces against Germany). He starts off contradicting Chaucer's poem by saying spring is not a life-giving season and explains the natural cycle of death. It then transfers into summertime and makes references toward the war. It skips right to winter with a story of sledding with Marie. She feels trapped unless she is in the mountain just as humanity does. Madame Sosostris is introduced to show that death is fate and it continues in a cycle. Eliot then complains that there is no liveliness in society. Everything seems to go in a cycle rather than doing new and interesting things. Eliot doesn't like to see everyone jump on the bandwagon and live a dull life.

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  6. II. A Game of Chess

    The second section is about sex. The title refers to a scene from the play Women Beware Women, in which the moves from a chess game between two people are linked onstage to the seduction played out by another pair. In the poem he creates and image of a woman in a room that is very intimate and tantalizing. In this room there is a painting above the mantel that depicts "Philomel," a reference to a classical woman who was raped by "the barbarous king" Tereus. The repeating of the word "think" was Eliot's not-so-subtle way of telling his readers to think about the modern waste land. Other words emphasized were "noise,""wind," and "nothing." The noise and the wind were used as activity and life, but the nothing underscores the lack of meaning Eliot is trying to convey. In the last passage that refers to the woman and her lover, he has them talking about what they should do and they decide to play a game of chess. This section talks about a rich relationship and a dirt poor relationship. The poor relationship is about "Albert," who "wants a good time," but his wife, "Lil" has horrible teeth and he can't stand to look at her. So to fix this problem he gives her money for new teeth, telling her to get them or he'll find someone else. The reference to "HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME," shows that drinking was more important in the relationship than anything else. Eliot was showing the lost of meaning during sex and through images of loveless sex with the rich and the poor.

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  8. I. The Burial of the Dead
    This section is all about the cycle of life and death. "April is the cruelest month, Winter kept us warm"(Lines 1,5) April represents that start of life, the birth of all these beautiful flowers. Winter is death all the flowers are gone and all is left Is ugly potatoes. "And I will show you something different from either your shadow at morning striding behind you or your shadow at evening rising to meet you."(27-29) This is talking about the cycle of a day and how every morning the sun rises and is alive but every night the sun falls and dies. It is saying there is something different than just life and death. "That corpse you planted last year in your garden, has it begun to sprout?"(74-75) This is talking about resurrection. Eliot is saying Life is filled with cycle of life, but once you die does another cycle start?

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  9. The Game of Chess

    This section of the poem describes how a two people have a relationship, yet sex is the most important. Looks is what matters and not the soul of the couple. In this section there is a part where a woman is given money to fix her teeth before her man comes home. If she does not loook good enough he will find someone else. The Game of Chess is relating to pairs playing a game. The love life is a game. There is no romance or loves, just the sex aspect.

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  10. The Fire Sermon

    This section is about giving up passion and finding freedom through earthly things. Elliot is seeing his wasteland as cole, dry, and filled with garbage. Especially through sexually, Elliot represents the wasteland. He adds in homosexuality with also women letting a man do away with them. Elliot sees this as a waste. He notices how the fuit use to be plump and now are no good. He also relates this section with Queen Elizabeth and how she was always open to marraige. She was "suppose" to be married to be a queen, yet she decides on her own whether or not to wed. Some think without marriage the land will be no good. This is the longest section.

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  11. In this section it is about a man who dies by drowning. The seacretures are picking his body apart. The man is asked to recall his own mortality. This section has only ten lines but really contributes to a religious import.

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  12. What the Thunder Said

    This section builds to a climax and is both imaginary and dramatic. This section describes how the lands of Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna and London are destroyed. What The Thunder Said represents thunder heard all the way in Europe. The thunder shows meditation and brings out reconcilliation in this section. They are offering an alternative to the world while its dead. Changes could be made.

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  13. Please finish this section if you have not done so yet. This section is worth more points than the rest and when you do finish it, Post all the sections in just one post. For example:
    Section I: Burial of the Dead--then give the summary
    Section II: The Game of Chess--the summary
    Section III: The Fire Sermon--the summary
    Section IV:Death by Water--the summary
    Section V: What the Thunder Said--the summary

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  14. Section I talks mainly about death as the title Burial of The Dead shows. written not long after world war I it shows the natural cycle of life and it seems as if he is burying those left dead from the war. Section II changes from death to the topic of sex. It is linked to a poem Women Beware Women where a game of chess and the moves made relates or is linked to the seductive moves of another pair. Section III talks about sex also. This section however talks about sex and death. Section IV also adresses death and talks of a sailor who is being torn apart by the churning ocean. Section V talks about once angain death and sterility but tries to talk of there being ways to overcome this wasteland that he based the whole poem on

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  15. I. Burial
    the first sections starts the poem off on a harsh note. "april is the cruellest month" personally i think april is a great month, warm weather is starting, easter, both of my sisters birthdays. Eliot has this as a warning from the beginning that this will not be a happy and soft poem. Eliot is speaking of his frustrations of death-hense the title of the section The Burial of the Dead

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  16. II. Chess
    The second section switches the topic from death to sex. Eliot believes the world is going corrupt because sex is not a meaningful thing to anyone and husbands will cheat on there wives with no regrets for little things like appearence. In the poem, the girl(Lil) thinks that drinking is more important then going to get her death fixed, usually people drink when they are depressed so maybe eliot was trying to show everyone that he wasnt the only depressed crazy one at the time.

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  17. III. Sermon
    The fire sermon has a lot of nature things in it, like fire and the river which shows eliot has a connection with the earth which is on of societies corruptions today (pollution). In this section he also has a tarot card reader, which shows he believes in this spiritual form of speaking with the dead and predictiong your future along with buddism-which has many thoughts of nature.

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  18. IV. Death by Water
    this section is small, and talks about the sailor drowning, and the animals in the sea picking his body apart. i think this is eliots struggle with what happens after people die just like Holden Caulfield in catcher in the rye

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  19. V. Thunder-Summary
    This last section sums everything up It say that the "unreal cities"-(London, Jeruselum)are all corrupt and falling apart. It ends basically saying that the solution to the problem is that peace through regeneration will save the Earth. "Shantih Shantih Shantih" a buddist phrase.

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  20. I.Burial of the Dead

    This poem starts out by a narration of a German woman and her family. She is Lithuanian not Russian and is related to a archduke. The character is depressed sad possibly from Germany's loss in the war.She goes to a fortune teller and she says the character will die by the water and that she should be careful. She than talked to stetson about a body in a garden.

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  21. II.A Game of Chess

    The woman sitting in a chair is confused by the scents around her. When her husband comes home he won't have sex with her unless she gets new teeth, he will find some one else. It ends in goodnight which is repeated 10 times.

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  22. III. The Fire Sermon

    The title is a reference to the Buddha's fire sermon it is referencing specifically that everything burns with passion,feelings, and love. The character is surrounded by trash and rats. he is a hermaphrodite(?) and watches two people have sex she doesn't want to he does and she lets him. When it is over she is glad it is over.

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  23. IV. Death by water

    References the first section that she will die by the water. It references Phlebas a sailor who drowned and didn't care where he floated or who ate him. It makes the narrator consider him/her dieing.

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  24. V. What the Thunder Said

    Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna, and London are destroyed. Than they move to India where Datta, Dayadhvam, and Damyata seem to be talking through a problem.

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  25. Section 2 dealt with the topic of sex. it was depicted as a game of chess between the man and woman. Women of this time period became very sexual and showy. There seems to be no more relationships, everything revolves around sex. Eliot is appalled by the reasons men will cheat on their wives without regret.

    Section 3 starts out by a river. Tiresias watches a man aggresively have sex with a lonely female. He leaves without hesitation after meaningless sex. It returns to the banks of the river and women are singing songs.

    Section 4 shows the death of the Phoenician sailor who died in the water. Animals are picking appart the body. Eliot may be confused as to what happens after death.

    Section 5 the first half of the section builds up for an apocalyse where unreal cities are destroyed and people go crazy. Rains then come and bring life back to the land. Along with the rain, the thunder brings reconcilliation.

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  26. Section 1. In this section Eliot explores the cycle of death thrpugh the different seasons and what they mean to him and stresses to us how he feels. He describes April as being "the cruelest month", because it is in the spring. Meaning giving life, and after the tragic world war he doesnt want to think about giving life because of all the dead soldiers being burried. So i feel that its okay to say He likes winter the most by being a dull season. dark full of death black and white night dead trees no leaves.

    section 2. talks about sex. With the section being called "A Game of Chess" depicting a scene from a play in which a game of chess kind of controls the actions of different people in a seduction.

    section 3. this section is also about sex a character named Tiresias watches a sex scene between a man and women that seems so meaningless but the girl does not resist. After he leaves she does not care and is glad it over.

    section 4. this section involves the death of a sailor man who died at sea and now the hard see shows no mercy ripping him apart limb by limb.

    section 5. this poem starts off with a discussion of Jesus Christ . directly after he describes a scene of battle and war. But it is the earth bein desroyed citys and towns left in ruins. Shower come and renew life for the land.

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  27. The first section focuses on death and birth. When Eliot relates the harsh winter ground to the blooming of flowers and the life spring brings. However this section mainly focuses on death.
    Second section mainly focuses on the topic of sex. Saying how sex will end the world because no one believes that sex is special anymore. Everyone will one day not even remember who the partner was and just blow it off. That everyone also has their moments and he wasn't the only one that should be judged.
    Section three talks about fire and earth, how today's society didn't even care. We need to protect our world because someday it may not be there anymore. Eliot seemed kind of like a nature freak.
    Section four I believe talks about the way of life. A sailor drowned and then nature just went on its course with the animals eating the corpse and the body being no more
    Section five basically brings the whole poem together, talking about the corruption of our world and how we need to realize it quickly

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  34. I. The Burial of the Dead
    In this section, Eliot compares the stages of life with the different seasons. He uses metaphors to compare and uses detail to explain how he feels about this certain subject about life. He is mainly talking about death and how the different seasons correlate with the different stages of life. "Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding a little life with dried tubers."
    II. A Game of Chess
    In this section, Eliot talks about sex. He believes people these days are taking it for granted and how they aren't respecting it for what it is. He uses the phrase, "Hurry up please its time" the most in this section because hes saying that if you wait too long, you will miss out on whats important.
    III. The fire sermon
    He does a lot of comparing in this section using metaphors. In this section there is a guy named Tiresias, that gets involved with a girl and they have sex. Eliot believes sex should wait and should be meaningful and special.
    VI. Death by Water
    Eliot talks about Phlebas the Phoenician and how he dies. He compares his death to the ocean, and how he lived a very unpredictable life. "As he rose and feel he passed the stages of his age and youth entering the whirlpool."
    V. What the Thunder Said
    Eliot talks about the different modern day struggles we go through and how we deal with them. He talks about the past and about what major things that have happened that have changed the world. He talks about the London Bridge, the Holy Grail, and the unreal cities.

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  35. I.Burial of the Dead:
    The first section, as indicated by the title is about death. The first line, “April is cruelest month” which references to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales sets the dark tone of the poem. Eliot goes into the cycle of death symbolized by the changing seasons. In line 8, Eliot says “Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee.” Starnbergersee is a lake in Germany and a couple lines later he includes lines from a German song referencing to WWI. The “burial” of this section is all the soldiers and casualties who died in the war. Eliot also uses lots of depressing imagery, for example, in line 19 he says “What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow out of this stony rubbish?” These images indicate that society has become a wasteland.

    II.A Game of Chess:
    In this section, Eliot describes the corruption in society with the value of marriage. The whole section revolves around sex. He relates sex to a game of chess showing how people don’t appreciate what they have and if someone’s not good enough, they’ll just move on to the next person with no regret . Eliot uses many references of corrupt relationships, for instance, this one where the husband where leave his wife Lil if she doesn’t get her teeth fixed and make herself look presentable. The line “Hurry up please it’s time” is repeated all throughout the section. How the meaning of marriage changed to being all about sex upsets Eliot.

    III.The Fire Sermon:
    This is the longest section of the poem. It’s taken by a sermon by Buddha in which he encourages his followers to give up earthly passion, symbolized by fire, and search for freedom from earthly things. Homosexuality is expressed in this section with Eugenides and the speaker who go to a hotel for “homosexual trysts”. The speaker then claims to be Tiresias from greek mythology who has both female and male features.

    IV.Death by Water:
    This is the shortest section by far. It describes a man, Phlebas the Phoenician, who has died by drowning. The “drowned Phoenician” echos what Madame Sosostis said in “The Burial of the Dead.” He has been dead two weeks and animals at sea are picking his body apart.

    V.What the Thunder Said:
    This is the last section of poem which presents a solution to overcome all these problems of society. In this section, Eliot describes the destroying of the “unreal” cities of Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna, and London and other references to death and no hope. But rain comes, bringing back life and the hope that we can fix this wasteland, which is the thunder “speaking”. Eliot closes the poem with the chant “Shantih shantih shantih” which translates to “the peace which passseth understanding.”

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  36. section one:

    This section is about death. It goes through the cycle of death using seasons and plants and refers to April as the cruelest month. Eliot also brings up an image of WWI which recently ended and that all the soldiers are being buried at the time. This shows that death is a wasteland.

    Section two

    This section is about sex. It uses the metaphor that sex is like a game of chess. Eliot then gives the image of a wealthy women sitting in a magnificient throne and how aphrodisiacs are needed for sex and procreation. He then goes on to refer to the story about a women being raped. Eliot shows how society is a wasteland through the story of the husband returning from war and the wife not being good looking enough for him. He thinks that sex being the only important thing in a relationship is the wasteland.

    Section three:

    This section is also about sex. Its title refers to Buddha's teachings about human desires and we need to resist them. Eliot brings up many stories and also homosexuality as they are wastelands. He includes Tiresias, a mythological prophet who was turned into a man and a woman. Eliot shows how sex in society is not a big deal as women feel "indifferent" about it and men get what they want.

    Section four:

    Eliot again focuses on death in this brief section. It tells about Phlebas, who was mentioned in the second section, a dead sailor, gets his body torn apart by the sea. It ends by saying "consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you."

    Section five:

    This section brings up the ways to solve all these problems in society. Eliot shows how Jesus Christ can solve these problems. He then refers to all these problems as a wasteland as societie's moral is crumbling and will continue.

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  37. II. A Game of Chess
    This section is about relationships and how the sex between them is corrupt. This section is broken down into two stories of relationships. The first story is a rich couple and the woman is mad that all their relationship consists of is sex. She says “Why do you never speak”, and “I never know what you are thinking”. She barely knows her husband anymore and all their relationship is based off of is the sex. The second story is a woman named Lil. She is a 31 year old woman who has ugly teeth because of the (possibly abortion) pills she is taking. Her husband has been gone in the army for four years and is coming home. Lil’s friend is advising her that if she doesn’t get new teeth that her husband might leave her.

    III. The Fire Sermon
    This scene was very interesting. ”White bodies naked on the low damp ground” (193). Is this what the effect is from the Wasteland? By my question is why is it only “white people” on the ground possibly dead? Is Eliot trying to say that “White people” are the only ones corrupt in society? It says in the beginning of this section “The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers, silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends” (178-179). Eliot is saying that the only way that we will be completely out of this waste land is when all the “White people” are dead.

    IV. Death by Water
    This section is talking about this sailor who died two weeks ago. His body is being picked apart by the seas current. Then it questions what is next? It is asking this to everyone the Christians, the Jewish, and the Atheist, people who just go with the corrupt society.

    V. What the Thunder Said.
    The final section is set up saying that we are killing ourselves. This section also sets up a scenario where it is two people walking and Jesus is walking beside them guiding them along. “I have heard the key” (410). In order to get out of this waste land we need to put the key in the lock and let ourselves out.

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  38. I. The Bruial of the Dead

    This section is obviously about death. The first line, "april is the cruellest month" starts the poem of on an ominous note. I think in this section, Eliot is introducing the Wasteland to the reader. There are many images of sadness and emptiness, like "a heap of broken images" and "dead trees give no shelter"

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  39. II. A Game of Chess
    In this section, Eliot talks about the subjects of sex. At first, we are given the image of a lavish house. A woman sitting on a "burnished throne" with jewels, ivory and colored glass all around it. This section is depicting alot of sexual desire, and a game of chess represents seduction. The couple at the beginning is actually playing chess though, because they are sterile. The other couple, Lil and her husband, actually can have children but are aborting them. Lils husband wont have sex with her unless she gets her teeth fixed, which shows me that he is only focused on appearance. Eliot is talking about the how meaningless sex has become, and how it has lost spirituality

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  40. III. The Fire Sermon

    This section also talks about sex, and how it is loveless. In one part, Tiesisas, a prophet, sees a women and a man have sex. Afterwards, the women says "well now thats done and im glad its over". This shows Eliots view on loveless sex. The beginning takes us on a journey down a river with dying vegetation, another sign of death. All around the bank are signs of a youthful party. This is Eliot making his commentary on how there is no passion in sex anymore, as with youth

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  41. IV. Death by Water

    I feel like this section is a warning to the reader. "a current under the sea picked his bones in whispers" seems to indicate his death. At the end of the section, Eliot says " Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you". This seems like a warning, telling you not to make the same mistakes as he. Because he was just like you

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  42. V. What the Thunder Said

    This last section emphasizes on death at first, but in the end offers hope. "Who is the third who walks always beside you?" indicates that Jesus is always with you. The word "Shantih" which means peace indicates that peace is the only way to restore the wasteland.

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  43. This section is closed! All blogs graded!

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