Exploring the Text

1. How would you describe the mood or atmosphere of “The Hollow Men”?

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   Exploring the Text: - How would you describe the mood or atmosphere of “The Hollow Men”?
2. What image patterns do you notice in “The Hollow Men”? Consider how often each one is repeated. How do the images—and their repetition—add to the deeper meaning of the poem?

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   ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=

   Exploring the Text: - What image patterns do you notice in “The Hollow Men”? Consider how often each one is repeated. How do the images—and their repetition—add to the deeper meaning of the poem?
3. “The Hollow Men” has two epigraphs. How do you think these are connected to the rest of the poem?

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   Exploring the Text: - “The Hollow Men” has two epigraphs. How do you think these are connected to the rest of the poem?
4. “The Hollow Men” borrows from several genres. What “sampling” can you pick out? In what ways does this technique help T. S. Eliot develop his ideas?

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   Exploring the Text: - “The Hollow Men” borrows from several genres. What “sampling” can you pick out? In what ways does this technique help T. S. Eliot develop his ideas?
5. How does the last section of “The Hollow Men” differ from the first four sections? Why do you think “prickly pear” (a kind of cactus) replaces “mulberry bush” in his rewording of the nursery rhyme?

   Question

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   Exploring the Text: - How does the last section of “The Hollow Men” differ from the first four sections? Why do you think “prickly pear” (a kind of cactus) replaces “mulberry bush” in his rewording of the nursery rhyme?
6. In “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” Eliot writes, “To proceed to a more intelligible exposition of the relation of the poet to the past: he can neither take the past as a lump, an indiscriminate bolus, nor can he form himself wholly on one or two private admirations, nor can he form himself wholly upon one preferred period. The first course is inadmissible, the second is an important experience of youth, and the third is a pleasant and highly desirable supplement.” How does “The Hollow Men” illustrate this idea?

   Question

   ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=

   Exploring the Text: - In “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” Eliot writes, “To proceed to a more intelligible exposition of the relation of the poet to the past: he can neither take the past as a lump, an indiscriminate bolus, nor can he form himself wholly on one or two private admirations, nor can he form himself wholly upon one preferred period. The first course is inadmissible, the second is an important experience of youth, and the third is a pleasant and highly desirable supplement.” How does “The Hollow Men” illustrate this idea?
7. Some critics consider “The Hollow Men” a response to World War I, while others see it as a reflection of Eliot’s failing marriage and personal religious crisis. What are your thoughts about those two possibilities? Could the poem be both? Explain your answer.

   Question

   ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=

   Exploring the Text: - Some critics consider “The Hollow Men” a response to World War I, while others see it as a reflection of Eliot’s failing marriage and personal religious crisis. What are your thoughts about those two possibilities? Could the poem be both? Explain your answer.