Question

For this project, you will explore the ideals and culture of a poem from the period between 1900 – 1945. The poem should provide insight into the issues of the time. Use the method described above and questions from this lesson to write a 500-word explication essay about your selected poem. Neatly type the poem and then type your final draft of your explication. Apply the conventional standards of English and make effective choices concerning meaning and style. Write and edit your document so that it conforms to the traditional guidelines and conventional style. You will upload your document for your teacher to grade. Additionally, you will recite the poem and share with the class, or submit a video recording of the recitation if directed by your teacher

Answer 1

The 20th century opened with great hope but also with some apprehension, for the new century marked the final approach to a new millennium. For many, humankind was entering upon an unprecedented era. H.G. Wells’s utopian studies, the aptly titled Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought (1901) and A Modern Utopia (1905), both captured and qualified this optimistic mood and gave expression to a common conviction that science and technology would transform the world in the century ahead. To achieve such transformation, outmoded institutions and ideals had to be replaced by ones more suited to the growth and liberation of the human spirit. 

Answer 2

The poem that I would pick is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot. The poem was first published in 1915.

This poem is a great example of Modernist literature, and it provides insight into the issues of the time. In this text, J. Alfred Prufrock is concerned with the life he has had so far. He is frustrated, as he believes himself to be stuck, and unable to progress in life to the extent he would have wanted to. He is also lonely and isolated, and he laments the lack of a partner. All of these problems reflect many of the worries of modern life that became apparent in the early 20th century and that still plague our life.

The poem is written in the style known as stream of consciousness. This is a way of writing in which the thoughts of the characters are written in the way in which they appear in the characters' minds. Because of these, the thoughts are often random, convoluted or illogical.