Truism in Literary Criticism of Philosophical Modernism This is the question for the Assignment:
It is something of a truism in literary criticism that one of the main philosophical
concerns of modernism is that of the essential isolation of the human being.
Generate an
analytical reading that examines Eliot’s representation of the eponymous “hero” of “The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” with this concern squarely in mind. Your thesis should
aim to answer the following question(s): what is so characteristically “modernist” about
Prufrock’s dilemma as Eliot represents it?
Quick Tips: Consult Michael Levenson’s Cambridge Companion to Modernism
and/or Anthony David Moody’s Cambridge Companion to T. S. Eliot to develop an
understanding of the poetics and concerns typical of modernism. Remember that only sources that
deal directly with your chosen author(s) / work(s) count toward your two research
sources (although, as always, any item you cite must appear in your Works Cited).
