Read the excerpt from Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare. If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour!Now read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."For I have known them all already, known them all: Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; I know the voices dying with a dying fall Beneath the music from a farther room. What does the phrase “dying fall” most likely mean in both excerpts?
Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid. In this excerpt, “the eternal Footman” is most likely an allusion to
Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! Smoothed by long fingers, Asleep . . . tired . . . or it malingers, Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me. Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter, I am no prophet— and here’s no great matter; Which words best indicate that Prufrock feels anxious?
Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."And indeed there will be timeTo wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”Time to turn back and descend the stair,With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]Do I dareDisturb the universe?In a minute there is timeFor decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.In this stanza, Prufrock repeats “Do I dare?” three times. What does the repetition indicate about his state of mind?
Read the verses from the Bible’s Ecclesiastes 3.1-4. 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Which lines from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are an allusion to these verses?
Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panesLicked its tongue into the corners of the evening,Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,And seeing that it was a soft October night,Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.Based on the excerpt, how does the narrator feel about the evening fog?
Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. What is the most likely reason for the women to be speaking of Michelangelo?
Which lines from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" provide an example of stream of consciousness?
Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? . . . I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. Which words best indicate that Prufrock feels isolated?
Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: How is this excerpt an example of dramatic monologue?
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