Title: Eliot’ s”The Waste Land Poem”: The Fire Sermon Part
Contents
1. Who speaks in the section? Are there multiple speakers in the section? Can you tell where one speaker leaves off and another begins? What are the explicit or implied relations among the speakers? What is the effect of splintering or multiplying the speaking position?
2. How does this section fit in the poem as a whole? Does the section underscore or illustrate particular themes of the poem? Does it advance the quest for spiritual renewal? Does it repeat certain images or voices that appear in other sections? What does this section add to the poem?
3. Identify different uses of collage. What is the effect in each instance of the juxtaposition of material drawn from different sources? How does the quotation, mythical or historical allusion comment on contemporary material or the themes advanced in the poem? How does the collage method work: Does the allusion serve a point of comparison? What does the comparison reveal? Does the allusion serve as a frame for the contemporary moment? What are the effects of this framing device? Does the collage method draw historical or mythical material into the present time or does it underscore the “timelessness” of the present event? (Does it heighten or undercut presentation of the contemporary material?) What kinds of materials are brought to bear on one another? What are limitations of the collage method? What kinds of demands does it make on you as a reader?
4. Works Cited
Word count (answers only): 2,124 (7.08 pages)