Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Connect this poem to Modernism. What Modernist characteristics does the poem have?

23 comments:

  1. Well, compared to the time it was written it was considered very modern. But you really can't place a time period on Eliot's writing, he used his own style that wasn't repeated (other then imitations that could never live up to his level of creativity). Other modernist have probably used Eliot as a good role model to follow when they want to be unique and do there own thing without being shun by society. Although him being a little coo-coo in the head might of helped his uniqueness.

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  2. In the time period it was composed, The Wasteland was a very unique poem that displayed many modern characteristics. Unlike many other poems of the time, the Wasteland did not rhyme, or use excessive imagery to paint a picture in the readers mind. Eliot created a new type of poem that used individual fragments to create a sense of emptiness that he thought the world was experiencing at the time. The many characters in The Wasteland accomplish this effectively, by displaying traits that Eliot believes are having a negative impact on humanity. This characteristic along with frequent symbolism and references makes this a very modernist poem.

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  3. T.S. Eliot fell far from the norm. Most poetry in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth followed similar styles and language. The main thing i noticed was a lack of complete sentences. Short, confusing fragments make nearly every line confusing to follow. Most poetry of this time period was simple and clear which is completely the opposite of "The Wasteland". Another obvious sign of modernism is the constant change of of speaker. For example, the first few lines are simple but almost immediately it introduces new languages and fragments. Eliot understood the difficulty of the poem so he even created an annotation for it. Lastly, Eliot uses quotes from popular songs of his time period and shows how easily everything can be signs of flaws in society.

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  4. The Modernist characteristics that the poem has is that he is changing the way people look at the world at the time. He doesn't take the traditional form of writing poems. He uses many different languages which takes a twist on the poem. Also, the poem doesn't flow, it just has short fragments. The modernism used in The Wasteland expresses a rebellious way of writing for Eliot's time. The post World War One literature was during the time of change from traditional to modern.

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  5. The Wasteland is connected to Modernism in many ways. First, the poem breaks traditional form with not having traditional lines and stanzas. Next, Eliot rejects society by having a very dark and sad view on many things like women, memories and nature. Eliot experiments with language by taking a risk and putting many different languages into his piece like German and French. Another connection to Modernism is the rejection of plot and disordered text. He changes the subject many times throughout sections. The last connection to Modernism is the emphasis on individual and inner being rather than social being. He focuses on what matters to him the most, than what other people care.

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  6. During Eliot's time of writing The Wasteland he used a style no one else had used or seen before. He did not want to go with the normal poem and showed you could write a poem without rhyming or just trying to create vivid pictures. He wanted his poem to show how he felt the world was at the time he wrote this. There was a low morale and an loneliness from all the death and destruction of the war. He showed this well though with The Wasteland was and still is a very unique style of writing. Modernism was a theme of this time period and this was a modern poem

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  7. The Wasteland was written during the time period that modernism also was in effect. The concept behind modernism was to show the rejection away from society. In addition, the emphasis on individual and inner/social being. The main connection between The Wasteland and modernism is that both have a distorted view of perception. On page 1001, Eliot uses foreign language that connects to famous pieces of works. How ever, by using a foreign language, there is a sense of confusion. Like in modern pieces of art, for example Picoso, just draws all things he hates on top of its self. This poem, has multiple plots on top of it self.

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  8. The Wasteland was very modernbased on when it was written and the language or style used. The modernist Eliot is he enjoys illusions, dusty pictures and secret messages. He also expresses himself with loss and despair while uses many stories to show his concerns. Eliot's poem has a very distortive perspective, therefore that relates to modernism.

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  9. The Wasteland by Eliot, is connected to the movement to modernism in many a way. He was living during the period where the traditional norms of the 1800s were cast aside and writers wrote more realistic and how life really is. This is modernism. In the poem, real life situations are portrayed and the feelings of characters come out. He uses different types of people and settings and captures the reality of life. There is no fairy tale plot with a happy ending. This poem is also connected to modernism because many stories were taken and put together like in modernistic paintings. All in all, Eliot was a modernistic writer and The Wasteland is a great example of a modernism writing.

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  10. The time period in which this poem was written really connects to the text, the time of modernism. The poem is broken up in to fragments, so it does not make sense as a whole and that is what modernism is about.
    I answered this question in the question about, "What observations of language and style can you make about this poem?"

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  11. T.S. Eliot's poem is very modern. In the time when sonnets were probably the most common form of poem, the disjointed and gruesome The Wasteland steps far beyond the bounds of ordinary.
    Modern poems are more cerebral and less emotional. This is reflected in The Wasteland because it's not a poem that tugs on your heart strings. It's a poem that requires a lot of thought and interpretation.
    Also modern poems represent the writers inner feelings. This is definitely shown in the poem because it is all about how Eliot feels after his breakdown as he's recovering and looking out at the flaws of the world. Also he conveys the state of post war civilization and the soul through his heap of broken images. Like in the section of the poem "A Game of Chess" this part probably reflects the flaws of marriage because of his own person marriage problems being driven mad by his unstable wife. He felt empty and aimless, and therefore his poem is a direct reflection of himself.
    Much like the modern painting from the power point we saw, Eliot conveys his message through broken up images put together to create the whole. Which is a very modern technique.
    This poem is like a standard of modernist poem because it's set on it's own and the uniqueness and individuality of Eliot shows through.

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  12. The Wasteland is a perfect example of a modernist poem. Qualities of modernism include breaking away with traditional forms, reaction against realism, a sense of alienation, loss, and despair, experiments with language, and a distortion of perception. All of these are incorporated into Eliot's poem. For example, The Wasteland is not written in a traditional way. The speaker changes each stanza and includes a variety of mini stories and brings them together into one idea; Eliot’s perception of how we live in a wasteland. The mood of the poem is of despair and hopelessness and starts off right away in line one, “April is the cruelest month”. Throughout the poem, images of death are seen in war, drinking, and failing marriages. Eliot’s message was to convey the soul’s and civilization’s sense of emptiness, confusion, and aimlessness after WWI using these “heaps of broken images” which is exactly what modernism is all about.

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  13. The poem The Wasteland is closely related to modernism because they are both rejecting society. One of the modernist characteristics this poem has is fragmentation. This is a unique form of writing because the poem doesn't have one plot but has bits and pieces of others combined into one. Another characteristic that makes this modern is the use of different languages. Even though the majority of the poem is written in English there are a few phrases written in german to give the poem emphasis on fragmentation. Modernism emphasizes celebrating passion and the individual and inner being rather than social being. In section one, The Burial of The Dead, the stanza written in German is telling us how a marriage should be. I think it is ironic that Eliot is writing about how a marriage should be but he had a failed marriage himself.

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  14. The wasteland show modernism by focusing on passion, spirit, and the inner being rather than morality and social connections. The poem doesnt agree with society and how its run and pushes traditional values and assumptions. The use of different languages shows how confusing and complex the world is. Eliot helps you perceive the world and distort what you thought was real is actually just what other people want you to see it as. Its a distortion of perception and a reaction against realism.

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  15. Surprisingly, The Wasteland has several Modernist characteristics for a poem written in the 1920’s. Similar to modernism, Eliot reacts against traditional realism by using metaphors and short thoughts to create a story. He also develops a sense of loss and despair in The Game of Chess and Death by Water. Another connection Eliot makes with Modernism is his how he relates the worlds current issues during his time including humanity and the economy to an American Wasteland. These problems are still evident in our modern society.

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  16. Modernism is a break away from previous genres. The Wasteland is a very good example of modernism. It was written in 1922 T.S. Eliot wanted people to know that this wasn't another boring poem from the 1800's. He took a different approach and said these are all the things messed up in our lives, saying were living in a wasteland. No one before him did that. This poem jumps from one scenario to another without warning. It will go from a rich woman perusing to "play the game of chess" to a woman expecting her husband to return and see that she still has ugly teeth! This poem is extremely different from previous poems.

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  17. T.S Eliot created his own unique style in 1922 that was different from many poets at the time. He used fragments to portray the harshness of his american wasteland. He also skipped around and told many bits and pieces of stories that were hard to understand.YOu must read it many times before you can fully understand it, and even then its still very confusing to me and my peers. Though he was insane this poem worked well as a whole displaying his corrupted time period

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  18. Modernism is conveyed in this poem by the sense of disillusionment of the narrator. The sense of isolation is a common theme in modernist works. The ideals in the poem are contrasted by the works of the 1800's and early 1900's. Also this poem draws from a variety of sources, including semi-radical ideas of the past. The characters seem self conscious and real instead of the idealized characters of the past. I still don't like modernism.

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  19. This poem was an interesting read for me because it was very dificult to comprehend. T.S Eliot used his modernist writting style to create a sort of, abstruce image. And the peom is fragmented and put into clusters. Not using tradition stanzas that we are used to. So it forces us to think outside the box. Although in his time there were many modernist writters, Eliot seperated himself from everyone else and created his own style. This poem connects to modernism in many different ways. The most obvious way is that Eliot wrote about realistic situations that he considered important at that point in time.

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  20. The Wasteland has many modernist qualities, but what I believe it connects with most is the terrible tragedies of our culture. For example, taking the world and just pointing out a lot of its flaws. Today our society does the same by always talking about the wrong doings and never talking about what our culture happens to do right. Even though that may not happen often.

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  21. T.S Eliot creates his own version on modernism. He does not follow the typical format of a traditional poem. He has his own unique style that stands out from modernism poetry. In his poem, he rarely rhymes, and doesn't use a pattern when writing his stanzas. He likes to switch up his wording by changing the languages in the poem.
    He is a very diverse writer that elaborates on many common, modern day problems. He talks as if he is talking about the present day and his writing style proves it. These days, People tend to be different and don't live by the same standards as others. His writing style connects to how society is changing and how were living today.

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  22. The modernist movement was a reaction against realism and the traditional forms of art, film, poetry, etc. It provoked a sense of alienation and despair and asserted that individuals create the world in the act of precieving it. Eliot precieved the world at the time as a wasteland. His fragmented, multilingual poem "The Wasteland" differed from the poems of it's time. His crude commentary on the modern world is evoked through visuals of death, corruption and despair.

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