Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Post-1900 – The Modernist Period – T S Eliot: Selected Poems (Faber, 2009) — Edexcel A-Level English Literature

This component requires A-Level students to analyse T S Eliot's Selected Poems (Faber, 2009) as a post-1900 modernist text, exploring themes of alienation, fragmentation, and spiritual decay. Success depends on close reading of poetic form, language, and structure, alongside confident use of critical terminology and contextual knowledge of modernism.

This component focuses on the close study of T S Eliot's Selected Poems (Faber, 2009) as a key text of literary modernism. Students will explore how Eliot revolutionised poetic form and language to capture the fragmented, anxious experience of early twentieth-century life, addressing themes such as alienation, spiritual decay, memory, and desire. The unit demands both analytical precision and a secure grasp of modernist contexts, including the impact of urbanisation, World War I, and the crisis of faith.

Studying Eliot is essential for understanding the trajectory of post-1900 poetry and the ways in which modernist writers broke from Victorian conventions. The skills developed here - close reading, comparative analysis, and contextual integration - are transferable to other components and to the unseen poetry paper. Mastery of this topic will enable students to engage confidently with complex, allusive texts and to construct sophisticated arguments about how form and meaning intersect.

• →Modernist fragmentation: Eliot's poetry rejects linear narrative and unified voice in favour of collage, allusion, and abrupt shifts in perspective, reflecting a fractured modern consciousness.
• →The objective correlative: Eliot's theory that emotion should be evoked through a set of objects, situations, or events, rather than stated directly - e.g. the 'patient etherised upon a table' for paralysis.
• →Urban alienation: The city is presented as a site of isolation, spiritual emptiness, and dehumanisation, as seen in 'Preludes', 'The Waste Land', and 'Prufrock'.
• →Allusion and intertextuality: Eliot weaves references to Shakespeare, Dante, the Bible, and Eastern texts into his poetry, creating layers of meaning that demand active reader engagement.
• →Time and memory: Eliot explores the simultaneity of past and present, often blurring temporal boundaries to suggest that memory is inescapable and desire is perpetually deferred.

• Analyse the use of dramatic monologue and stream of consciousness to reveal Prufrock's internal psychological state.
• Evaluate the impact of startling, anti-romantic imagery, such as the etherised patient and the yellow fog.
• Explore the function of intertextual allusions, particularly to Dante, Shakespeare, and Marvell, in highlighting Prufrock's inadequacy.
• Connect the poem's themes of paralysis and alienation to the broader context of the post-1900 Modernist period.
• Analyse the use of the dramatic monologue form and how it reveals the narrator's internal fragmentation and anxiety.
• Evaluate the significance of the seasonal structure (December, April, October) in tracking the decay of the relationship and the passage of time.
• Explore the function of musical imagery, contrasting classical references with the primitive 'tom-tom' of the narrator's anxiety.
• Discuss emotional paralysis and the inability to communicate authentically within the cultured social rituals of early twentieth-century Boston.
• Analyse the use of synecdoche and fragmentation to depict the dehumanisation of the urban working class.
• Evaluate the sensory imagery (smell of steaks, dingy shades) in establishing the sordid, decaying atmosphere of the modern city.
• Explore the shifting narrative voice, particularly the transition from second-person address to the first-person reflection in the final section.
• Discuss the tension between the mechanical routine of city life and the fleeting glimpses of spiritual longing or 'some infinitely gentle / Infinitely suffering thing'.
• Analyse the structural use of time markers to create a sense of inevitability and entrapment.
• Evaluate the personification of the streetlamp as a guiding, yet sinister, force dictating the speaker's focus.
• Explore the motif of memory as a fragmented, involuntary process rather than a coherent narrative.
• Discuss the use of grotesque imagery, such as the rusty spring and the rancid butter, to subvert traditional romantic poetry.
• Analyse the use of the dramatic monologue form to represent the collective consciousness of a decaying European civilisation.
• Evaluate the recurring motifs of dryness and blindness as symbols of spiritual and intellectual barrenness.
• Examine the personification of History as a deceptive, manipulative force that fails to provide moral guidance.
• Discuss the significance of the cosmopolitan characters, such as Mr Silvero and Hakagawa, as representations of a fragmented, rootless modern society.
• Analyse the use of classical allusions, such as Ariadne and Nausicaa, to create bathos when juxtaposed with the modern figure of Sweeney.
• Evaluate the significance of the title's pun on Homo erectus, emphasizing the devolution and animalistic nature of modern man.
• Discuss the structural irony of using highly controlled, regular iambic tetrameter quatrains to depict a chaotic, sordid brothel scene.
• Explore the contrast between the woman's seizure and the surrounding characters' detached or mechanical responses, including Sweeney's continued shaving.
• Analyse the allusions to Webster and Donne as representatives of a unified intellectual and sensory experience regarding mortality.
• Evaluate the contrast between the macabre, intellectualized death in the first half and the overwhelming, animalistic physicality of Grishkin in the second.
• Discuss Eliot's concept of the 'dissociation of sensibility' as it manifests in the poem's stark structural and thematic divide.
• Examine the use of sensory imagery, particularly scent such as the feline smell, to underscore the base, unspiritual nature of modern existence.
• Identify and analyse the use of multiple, fragmented narrative voices (polyphony) to reflect societal breakdown.
• Evaluate the subversion of seasonal renewal, contrasting the pain of spring with the 'forgetful snow' of winter.
• Explore the significance of literary and cultural allusions, including Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde' and the Baudelaire allusion behind Eliot's phrase 'Unreal City'.
• Assess the role of Madame Sosostris's tarot reading as a motif for spiritual emptiness and the search for meaning in a secular age.
• Analyse the structural juxtaposition between the wealthy woman's opulent boudoir and the working-class pub setting.
• Evaluate the use of sensory imagery and synthetic perfumes to create a claustrophobic, sterile atmosphere in the opening stanza.
• Explore the significance of the Philomel myth depicted in the tapestry, symbolising silenced voices and sexual violence.
• Assess the use of colloquial dialogue and the recurring pub call 'HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME' to convey urgency and mortality.
• Analyse the function of Tiresias as the unifying consciousness of the poem who 'sees' the spiritual decay.
• Evaluate the use of literary allusions, such as Spenser's 'Prothalamion', to contrast past ideals of marriage with modern pollution and promiscuity.
• Examine the portrayal of the typist and the clerk to demonstrate the mechanisation and emotional detachment of modern sexual relationships.
• Discuss the synthesis of Eastern (Buddha) and Western (St. Augustine) ascetic traditions in the concluding lines as a response to the 'fire' of lust.
• Analyse the fulfillment of the 'fear death by water' prophecy and its structural role in the wider poem.
• Evaluate the imagery of the sea currents picking the bones in whispers as a symbol of the erasure of human identity and materialism.
• Examine the paradoxical nature of water in this section, acting as both a fatal force and a purifying release from the 'waste land'.
• Discuss the direct address to the reader ('O you who turn the wheel') as a universal memento mori.
• Analyse the use of the arid landscape as a metaphor for spiritual and cultural barrenness in post-war Europe.
• Evaluate Eliot's integration of Eastern and Western religious allusions, such as the Upanishads and the resurrection of Christ.
• Examine the structural fragmentation in the final stanza and how it reflects the collapse of traditional narratives.
• Discuss the significance of the thunder's commands (Datta, Dayadhvam, Damyata) as potential solutions to the wasteland's paralysis.
• Analyse the significance of the epigraphs (Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' and the Gunpowder Plot) in establishing the theme of failed action.
• Examine the motif of eyes and vision as symbols of moral judgment and spiritual truth which the hollow men avoid.
• Evaluate the use of the 'Shadow' that falls between intention and action, representing psychological and spiritual paralysis.
• Discuss how the subversion of the 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' nursery rhyme reflects the cyclical, meaningless nature of their existence.
• Evaluate the significance of the poem's structure as a six-part sequence reflecting the stages of purgatorial ascent.
• Analyse the use of paradox and repetition (for example, 'Because I do not hope to turn again') to convey spiritual stasis and submission.
• Explore the integration of religious intertexts, including Dante's Purgatorio, the Catholic Mass, and biblical scripture.
• Assess how the imagery of the 'Lady' functions as an intercessor figure, bridging the gap between the human and the divine.
• Analyse the dramatic monologue form and the retrospective narrative voice of the Magus to explore themes of alienation and memory.
• Evaluate the use of sensory imagery and pathetic fallacy in the first stanza to depict the physical and spiritual arduousness of the journey.
• Examine the proleptic imagery in the second stanza (such as 'pieces of silver' and 'vine leaves') that foreshadows the life, betrayal, and crucifixion of Christ.
• Assess the paradoxical relationship between 'Birth' and 'Death' in the final stanza as a metaphor for spiritual conversion and cultural obsolescence.

• 💡Read both essay options carefully and choose the one that allows you to discuss the widest range of Eliot's techniques and contexts.
• 💡Ensure every paragraph links a specific poetic method (AO2) to a relevant contextual factor (AO3).
• 💡Maintain a strong, continuous line of argument (AO1) that directly answers the specific prompt chosen.
• 💡Ensure all quotations and textual references are drawn directly from the specified Faber 2009 edition of Eliot's Selected Poems.
• 💡Revise the defining characteristics of Modernism and apply them directly to specific poems in the collection.
• 💡Prepare to discuss how Eliot's poetic voice and structural choices reflect the anxieties of the early twentieth century.
• 💡Focus closely on the transition between the sordid urban landscapes and Prufrock's internal anxieties to demonstrate an understanding of the objective correlative.
• 💡Select short, embedded quotations regarding time and hesitation to effectively illustrate Prufrock's psychological paralysis.
• 💡Contrast the rhythmic, rhyming couplets with the fragmented free verse to show how form mirrors the speaker's fluctuating confidence.
• 💡Compare the narrator's emotional paralysis here with similar themes of inaction in 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'.
• 💡Focus on Eliot's use of synecdoche and fragmented imagery to represent the psychological state of the speaker.
• 💡Integrate contextual knowledge carefully: relate the poem's social rituals to Eliot's early Boston milieu and its style to his engagement with French Symbolism.
• 💡Link the fragmented structure of the poem to the fragmented psychological state of the modern city dweller.
• 💡Compare the urban decay in 'Preludes' with the sterile upper-class environment in 'Portrait of a Lady'.
• 💡Use the concept of the 'flâneur' (the urban wanderer) to discuss the narrative perspective observing the city streets.
• 💡Compare the urban isolation in this poem with 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' to demonstrate a deep understanding of Eliot's recurring motifs.
• 💡Focus on the cinematic technique of montage, explaining how disjointed images accumulate to create a mood of despair.
• 💡Use specific quotations, such as 'lunar synthesis' or 'twisted branch', to anchor your analysis of Modernist decay.
• 💡Link the imagery of the 'dry brain' and the 'decayed house' to the broader Modernist preoccupation with cultural sterility.
• 💡Compare the passive, elderly speaker of 'Gerontion' with the paralyzed protagonist of 'Prufrock' to highlight Eliot's exploration of inaction.
• 💡Examine the shifting tone, from passive reflection to apocalyptic fear, to demonstrate an understanding of the poem's emotional trajectory.
• 💡Compare Sweeney's animalistic traits with the spiritual paralysis seen in other Eliot poems like 'The Hollow Men' or 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'.
• 💡Focus on the abrupt transition between the first two stanzas and the rest of the poem to demonstrate Eliot's masterful use of bathos.
• 💡Use the term 'objective correlative' when discussing how the sordid setting and mechanical actions evoke the emotional emptiness of the characters.
• 💡Link the poem's thematic division to Eliot's critical essay 'The Metaphysical Poets' to access higher marks for contextual understanding.
• 💡Contrast the skeletal, intellectual imagery of the first four stanzas with the fleshy, sensory imagery of the final four stanzas.
• 💡Compare the figure of Grishkin with other spiritually vacant characters in Eliot's work, such as the typist in 'The Waste Land'.
• 💡Link Eliot's fragmented form directly to the psychological trauma and cultural ruin following the First World War.
• 💡Trace the motif of water (or lack thereof) introduced here, as it becomes a crucial structural element throughout the entire poem.
• 💡When discussing context, connect the 'Unreal City' to the mechanised, alienated existence of modern urban life in 1920s London.
• 💡Contrast the elevated, blank verse of the opening with the fragmented, colloquial speech of the pub scene to demonstrate Eliot's mastery of different registers.
• 💡Use the motif of the 'withered stumps of time' to discuss how the past intrudes upon and degrades the present.
• 💡Connect the lack of meaningful communication in this section to the broader Modernist theme of isolation in the modern world.
• 💡Compare the mechanical rhythm of the typist's encounter with the lyrical, flowing rhythms of the Spenser allusions to highlight the loss of romance.
• 💡Use the synthesis of Buddha and St. Augustine to discuss Eliot's search for universal spiritual solutions to modern decay.
• 💡Link the polluted Thames imagery to the overarching theme of the 'waste land' and the corruption of life-giving water.
• 💡Contrast the peaceful, lyrical rhythm of this section with the fragmented, chaotic voices of the preceding sections.
• 💡Explore how the dissolution of Phlebas's body mirrors the dissolution of the ego and individual identity.
• 💡Use the final warning to the reader to discuss Eliot's didactic purpose and the theme of universal mortality.
• 💡Connect the physical thirst described in the opening stanzas to the spiritual thirst of the Modernist era.
• 💡Use the phrase 'These fragments I have shored against my ruins' to anchor discussions about Modernist poetic form and intertextuality.
• 💡Compare the imagery of water in this section with its destructive presentation in 'Death by Water' to show Eliot's complex symbolism.
• 💡Contrast the 'hollow men' with the 'lost violent souls' to highlight Eliot's critique of modern passivity.
• 💡Analyse the paradox of being both 'hollow' and 'stuffed' to explore the emptiness of modern intellectual and spiritual life.
• 💡Link the 'fading star' imagery to the loss of divine guidance and the failure of the Star of Bethlehem in the modern world.
• 💡Compare the motif of the 'winding stair' in Ash-Wednesday with the urban decay in Eliot's earlier poetry to demonstrate his evolving worldview.
• 💡Quote short, repetitive phrases to illustrate how Eliot uses rhythm to mimic prayer and meditation.
• 💡Contextualise your analysis by referencing Eliot's 1927 baptism into the Church of England, but ensure biographical details serve literary analysis.
• 💡Contrast the colloquial, weary tone of the Magus with the momentous nature of the historical event to highlight Eliot's Modernist approach to myth.
• 💡Track the shift in pronouns and tense throughout the poem to demonstrate how the Magus's personal experience becomes a universal reflection on faith.
• 💡Link the poem's themes of painful transition to Eliot's own contemporary conversion to Anglo-Catholicism in 1927.
• 💡Always embed quotations seamlessly into your sentences and analyse specific word choices. Avoid 'this quote shows' - instead, use the quotation as part of your grammatical structure.
• 💡Plan your essay around an argument, not a list of points. Use connectives like 'however', 'furthermore', and 'consequently' to develop a line of reasoning that addresses the question throughout.
• 💡Integrate context only when it illuminates the text. One well-chosen contextual point, precisely linked to a quotation, is worth more than several general statements about the modernist era.

• Writing a purely contextual essay (AO3) without analysing Eliot's specific language and form (AO2).
• Failing to make a clear choice between the two questions, resulting in an unfocused or hybrid response.
• Providing a narrative summary of Eliot's poems rather than an analytical argument (AO1).
• Using a different edition or anthology, which may contain different poems or textual variations, corrected by purchasing and studying the specified Faber 2009 edition.
• Treating the poems as straightforward narratives, corrected by analysing the fragmented, modernist structure and multiple voices Eliot employs.
• Ignoring the historical context of Modernism, corrected by actively linking Eliot's stylistic choices to the cultural shifts and disillusionment following World War I.
• Error: Reading the poem as a genuine, traditional love song. Correction: Analyse the title as ironic, contrasting the expectation of romance with Prufrock's crippling social anxiety and isolation.
• Error: Misinterpreting the epigraph from Dante's Inferno as mere decoration. Correction: Explain how the epigraph establishes a tone of a private, hellish confession that the speaker believes will never reach the living world.
• Error: Confusing the shifting pronouns and addressees in the poem. Correction: Carefully track the 'you and I' to distinguish between Prufrock's divided self and his imagined audience.
• Error: Assuming the poem is a traditional, romantic love story. Correction: Recognise it as a Modernist critique of sterile social rituals and emotional detachment.
• Error: Confusing the narrator's voice with the lady's voice. Correction: Carefully distinguish between the lady's spoken dialogue, often in quotation marks, and the narrator's internal, anxious monologue.
• Error: Ignoring the epigraph from 'The Jew of Malta'. Correction: Analyse the epigraph to understand its foreshadowing of betrayal, guilt, and moral ambiguity.
• Error: Treating the four preludes as entirely separate, unrelated poems. Correction: Analyse them as interconnected vignettes that build a cohesive critique of modern urban existence.
• Error: Overlooking the shift in tone in the final prelude. Correction: Address the sudden intrusion of the first-person speaker and the contrast between cynical reality and spiritual vulnerability.
• Error: Focusing only on visual imagery. Correction: Examine the rich olfactory and auditory imagery, such as the 'smells of steaks in passageways' and the 'sparrows in the gutters'.
• Treating the poem as a literal narrative rather than a psychological exploration; correction: analyse the cityscape as a projection of the speaker's fragmented consciousness.
• Ignoring the significance of the title; correction: contrast the traditional musical 'rhapsody', which implies emotional ecstasy, with the bleak, disjointed reality of the poem.
• Misinterpreting the ending as hopeful; correction: recognise 'the last twist of the knife' as a cynical commentary on the soul-crushing nature of mundane daily routine.
• Assuming the speaker is T.S. Eliot himself; correction: identify Gerontion as a persona representing the broader cultural decay of the era.
• Overlooking the religious allusions; correction: analyse the references to 'Christ the tiger' and communion to understand the poem's critique of modern spiritual emptiness.
• Treating the poem's structure as disorganised; correction: explain how the fragmented, non-linear structure deliberately mirrors the chaotic, disjointed nature of modern history and memory.
• Assuming the poem is a straightforward narrative; correction: recognize it as a fragmented, Modernist juxtaposition of myth and reality.
• Misinterpreting the title as purely sexual; correction: address the evolutionary pun on Homo erectus and the broader theme of primitive human nature.
• Ignoring the formal structure; correction: analyse how the strict quatrains ironically contrast with the grotesque and chaotic subject matter.
• Treating the poem as a simple character study of Grishkin; correction: analyse Grishkin as a symbol of modern spiritual emptiness contrasted with Jacobean depth.
• Misunderstanding the title's reference; correction: note that it ironically echoes Wordsworth's 'Intimations of Immortality', replacing romantic hope with macabre reality.
• Overlooking the significance of the metaphysical poets; correction: explicitly connect Webster and Donne to Eliot's critical theories on unified sensibility.
• Error: Treating the section as having a single, continuous narrator. Correction: Identify the distinct, shifting voices, such as Marie, the hyacinth girl, and the speaker addressing Stetson.
• Error: Misinterpreting 'April is the cruellest month' as a literal complaint about weather. Correction: Analyse it as a metaphorical subversion of spring, where rebirth brings painful memories of life before the war.
• Error: Conflating the epigraph and dedication. Correction: distinguish the Sibyl of Cumae's death wish in the epigraph from the separate dedication to Ezra Pound, 'il miglior fabbro'.
• Error: Assuming the two halves of the section are entirely disconnected. Correction: Draw thematic parallels between the two settings, noting that both depict loveless, transactional relationships and female suffering.
• Error: Overlooking the significance of the title. Correction: Explain the allusion to Middleton's 'Women Beware Women', where a game of chess distracts from a seduction or rape, linking to the theme of sexual exploitation.
• Error: Misinterpreting the pub scene as purely comedic. Correction: Analyse the tragic undertones of Lil's physical decay and the casual discussion of abortion in a post-war context.
• Error: Assuming Tiresias is just another character. Correction: Recognise Tiresias as the central, unifying consciousness who experiences all the events and embodies both sexes.
• Error: Misinterpreting the 'fire' solely as destruction. Correction: Understand that 'fire' represents both the destructive passion of lust and the purifying fire of asceticism.
• Error: Ignoring the Thames-daughters' song. Correction: Analyse the Thames-daughters as modern, degraded equivalents of the Rhinemaidens, highlighting the loss of purity.
• Error: Viewing Phlebas's death purely as a tragedy. Correction: Interpret the drowning as a complex event that also brings peace and purification from worldly concerns.
• Error: Treating the section in isolation. Correction: Connect 'Death by Water' to the preceding 'Fire Sermon' as a structural contrast between burning passion and cold dissolution.
• Error: Ignoring the commercial language. Correction: Analyse phrases like 'profit and loss' to show the ultimate futility of modern capitalist anxieties in the face of death.
• Error: Assuming 'Shantih' provides a definitive, optimistic resolution. Correction: Interpret 'Shantih' as an ambiguous ending that may offer fleeting peace or simply highlight the impossibility of true resolution.
• Error: Treating the religious allusions as purely Christian. Correction: Acknowledge Eliot's syncretism, specifically his heavy reliance on Hindu scriptures alongside Christian imagery.
• Error: Ignoring the shift in tone and rhythm in this section. Correction: Analyse how the incantatory rhythms and repetitive structures mimic the sound of approaching thunder and heighten the sense of urgency.
• Error: Describing the hollow men as actively evil or malicious. Correction: Emphasise that their primary flaw is apathy and an inability to commit to any action, good or evil.
• Error: Misinterpreting the ending as a violent apocalypse. Correction: Focus on the word 'whimper' to explain that the world ends in pathetic, gradual decay rather than a dramatic explosion.
• Error: Overlooking the fragmented Lord's Prayer. Correction: Point out the incomplete lines ('For Thine is') to illustrate the hollow men's inability to achieve spiritual redemption or even complete a prayer.
• Error: Treating the poem as a straightforward, joyous celebration of faith. Correction: Acknowledge the poem's tone of profound struggle, doubt, and the painful necessity of renunciation.
• Error: Ignoring the specific liturgical context of the title. Correction: Explicitly connect the poem to the Christian day of repentance, fasting, and mortality ('dust to dust').
• Error: Viewing the fragmented style as identical to 'The Waste Land'. Correction: Distinguish the fragmentation here as a meditative, incantatory tool for spiritual focus rather than a reflection of cultural collapse.
• Error: Reading the poem as a traditional, joyful Christmas narrative. Correction: Focus on the poem's melancholic tone, the physical suffering described, and the Magus's ultimate sense of displacement.
• Error: Missing the significance of the quotation marks in the opening lines. Correction: Identify that the opening lines are adapted from a 1622 nativity sermon by Lancelot Andrewes, establishing an intertextual depth.
• Error: Confusing the 'Death' mentioned at the end with literal mortality. Correction: Explain that this 'Death' refers to the end of the pagan era and the Magus's previous way of life, which has been rendered obsolete.
• Students often assume that Eliot's speakers are Eliot himself, leading to biographical readings that ignore the dramatic and constructed nature of the poems. Correction: Treat the speakers as personae, not the poet's direct voice.
• Many students believe that modernist poetry has no structure or meaning, and therefore write vague, impressionistic responses. Correction: Eliot's fragmentation is highly controlled; identify patterns, repetitions, and structural devices to show deliberate artistry.
• Students frequently ignore the significance of form and instead focus solely on content. Correction: AO2 requires analysis of form, structure, and language; always discuss how something is said, not just what is said.

1. 1Week 1: Read all selected poems twice. Create a poem-by-poem annotation sheet with key quotations, themes, and structural features. Focus on 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', 'Preludes', and 'The Waste Land' first.
2. 2Week 1-2: Research modernist context and Eliot's critical theories (impersonality, objective correlative). Make concise notes linking context to specific poems.
3. 3Week 2: Practise close analysis of short passages (10-15 lines) under timed conditions. Use the 'quotation - technique - effect - link' method for every point.
4. 4Week 2: Write two full essay plans and one full timed essay (25 marks, 45 minutes). Self-assess against the mark scheme, focusing on AO1, AO2, AO3, and AO4 (connections between poems).
5. 5Ongoing: Use active recall to memorise key quotations and critical interpretations. Create flashcards for themes, techniques, and contextual links.

• 📋Close reading of a passage: You may be given an extract from one of the poems and asked to analyse how Eliot presents a particular theme or idea. Advice: Focus tightly on the extract, but make brief links to the wider poem or other poems to show range.
• 📋Comparative essay: A question asking you to explore a theme or technique in two or more poems. Advice: Balance your analysis evenly between the poems and use comparative connectives to highlight similarities and differences.
• 📋Contextual essay: A question that requires you to consider the influence of modernist context on Eliot's poetry. Advice: Integrate context into your analysis of form and language, avoiding separate 'context paragraphs'.
• 📋Critical interpretation: A question that presents a critical view and asks you to evaluate it. Advice: Engage with the critical perspective, using textual evidence to support or challenge it, and offer your own informed judgement.