TS Eliot writes, in the opening of his epic poem “The Wasteland,”
April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dead tubers. (1-7)
Traditionally, Spring has been viewed as a positive event in life, when nature wakes up from winter’s slumber.
However, in this Modernist poem, April, the month when Spring takes full hold, is called the “cruelest month.”
Why? Please explain why in the context of the important literary movement of Modernism.
**To do that, you’ll want to cite a definition for Modernism (Britannia) but define the movement, likely in the intro, then look at how this work fits into that definition as you write your body paragraphs.
Please use a credible literary source to first define the Literary Modernismof the early 20th century.
write your answer as a complete academic essay in MLA format with the body paragraphs grounded in our paragraph plan:
main idea
cited evidence:
“write quote in here” (be sure to put in citation, so author name and page number)
analysis
*note that the main idea and analysis are blank. I leave them blank until I finish the reading. After you finish reading, go back in and fill out the main idea and analysis around each quote. Choose the best paragraphs to use in your essay. Once you have chosen your body paragraphs, you can write an informed thesis that reflects what your main ideas talk about, and you can then craft your intro and conclusion.
Remember, too, that we cite line numbers for poetry, not page numbers.
Literary source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47311/the-waste-land
Posted inUncategorized