J Alfred Prufrock
In this technique, Prufrock compares the evening sky to this disturbing image, suggesting the stifling nature of modern life.
What is a simile?
This techniques gives he winter evening in Preludes human-like qualities, as it performs this action, suggesting a sense of lifelessness and decay.
What is personification?
The recurring image of "street-lamps" flickering throughout the poem is an example of this technique, representing the fragmented nature of memory.
What is symbolism?
This is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.
What is an epigraph?
The Magi's journey to see the birth of Christ in the poem is an allusion to this biblical event.
What is the Nativity or the birth of Jesus?
Prufrock constantly asks this type of question to express his existential anxiety and indecision.
What is a rhetorical question?
Eliot creates a vivid, sensory picture of urban decay with lines like "burnt-out ends of smoky days" using this literary device.
What is imagery?
The phrase "midnight shakes the memory" gives an abstract concept physical power, exemplifying this literary device.
What is personification?
The contrast between "hollow" and "stuffed" in describing the men suggests a contradiction, making this an example of which literary device?
What is an oxymoron?
Eliot uses vivid, harsh picture of "cities hostile and the towns unfriendly" to convey this technique, highlighting the physical and spiritual challenges of the journey.
What is imagery?
Eliot employs this narrative technique to portray Prufrock’s fragmented, anxious thought process.
What is stream of consciousness?
The line "The worlds revolve like ancient women gathering fuel in vacant lots" uses this comparison to highlight the cyclical nature of time and human existence.
What is simile?
Eliot describes a woman as "twists like a crooked pin" in a surreal comparison that reflects distortion and decay, an example of this technique.
What is a simile?
The description of the "eyes" as a powerful, haunting symbol of judgement and spiritual presence exemplifies this poetic device.
What is symbolism?
Eliot describes "summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, / And the silken girls bringing sherbet" to contrast with the hardships of the journey, employing this technique.
What is juxtaposition?
The yellow fog is personified as this, suggesting its feline-like movements through the city.
What is a cat?
Eliot's use of broken, disconnected images in Preludes mirrors the chaos and alienation of modern life, a hallmark of this Modernist technique.
What is fragmentation?
The pairing of the mechanical, repetitive actions of life and the dreamlike disarray of memory reflects this poetic technique, often used to contrast two dissimilar elements.
What is juxtaposition?
In The Hollow Men, the "shadow" that falls between "the idea / And the reality" serves as an example of this abstract concept, symbolizing the barrier between thought and action.
What is a metaphor?
This religion Eliot converted to, inspiring the composition of Journey of the Magi.
What is Anglo-Catholicism?
This biblical figure is alluded to by Prufrock when he expresses his lack of heroism and decisive action.
Who is John the Baptist?
Eliot often employs this poetic technique, where a part of something is used to represent the whole, as seen in "muddy feet" symbolizing the people trudging through the city.
What is synecdoche?
This real event influenced Eliot to explore feelings of despair, loss and a sense of anger toward society and religion?
What is WW1?
The epigraph "Mistah Kurtz—he dead" refers to a character from this novella by Joseph Conrad, symbolizing moral and spiritual collapse.
What is Heart of Darkness?
In Journey of the Magi, Eliot uses this technique to mirror the monotony and difficulty of the Magi's journey, seen in the repetition of "And the" throughout the stanzas.
What is anaphora?