hi
i need help in answering my home work. it's talk about elements of strangeness and distance. indeed of alienation in waste land , also i have to talk about language and structure as well as subject matter(with examples ) plz help me in that

Dear ()(),

[or may I call you (*)?]

Please explain a little more what you mean by 'waste land'. That expression doesn't mean quite the same as your thread title 'waste of land'.

Do you mean deserts; or do you mean urban areas which are unbuilt on and apparently uncared for; or are you possibly referring to T.S.Eliot's long poem 'The Waste Land'?

Do you have a particular poem in mind?

Ian

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2005 05:30PM by IanB.

Must be Eliot's The Waste Land.

[www.stfrancis.edu] />
Do a Find for alienation for some notes on that page.

Other discussions:

[www.sparknotes.com] />
[www.english.uiuc.edu] />
[www.english.uiuc.edu] />
[tinyurl.com] />
Nice rack by the way!

hi thanx for helping me
but i need help in talking about the language and structure of alination in the poem

Well, if you insist. In fact, there is likely no alienation at all intended by the author, and I have no clue what is sought by the 'language and structure of alienation' term.

In response to numerous claims by admiring critics of the newly-published poem that it was about the collapse of political systems, Eliot said the poem was merely "a piece of rhythmical grumbling". Some also said it concerned the disillusionment of the generation, to which Eliot replied, "Nonsense!".

He also said the poem was inspired by his readings about the Holy Grail, especially J. L. Weston's book From Ritual to Romance, and two volumes from The Golden Bough by James Frazer (Adonis, Attis, Osiris). The Holy Grail we see so often nowadays as either the chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper, or as Mary Magdalene carrying Christ's love child are not the same as the Grail TSE discusses at all.

Turns out the original Grail legend had to do with a Waste Land where all animals and crops have died because waters have dried up. The desolation is somehow related to the sickness of their old ruler, the Fisher King. The object of the Grail quest is to revive the ailing king and restore the land's vigor. The hero knight was required for some reason to ask for the meaning of the Cup and Bleeding Lance. If he remembered to make that inquiry, the king would magically be cured and waters rise again, restoring crops in the process.

Similarly, in the Golden Bough, the gods of vegetation (a Phoenician, a Phrygian and an Egyptian) experienced death and resurrection which represented the seasonal decay and revival of nature. Fairly silly stuff, but not my fault. Earlier cultures had strange beliefs. Not to say lots of our current beliefs are much wiser, no.

Still, if required, we will have to manufacture some alienation materials by whole cloth. If they are purely fictional, we can surely be forgiven since the assignment itself is poppycock (as TSE himself told us).

There are references to Dante's Inferno, so surely one can infer that Hell is a place of alienation, right?

Tiresias might also be used for that response, having been both a man and a woman. He is both familiar with and alienated from each sex, I mean.

[en.wikipedia.org] />
What else ... In the second part, we see unhappiness with marriage. In part three, the secretary and her pushy friend. In part five, we find the Hindu wisdom of how to escape desolation through generosity and self control.

Well, that is enough for the moment. I have errands to run and miles to go before my nap. Hopefully this will give you some ideas to help you make further interpretations on your own. Click on the earlier links and look for synopses of the various parts, for example.

[www.sparknotes.com] />
Perhaps someone else can guess what is desired by the language and structure query, but it is too vague for me, sorry.

There is some info. here: [www.english.uiuc.edu] />
and here:

[www.english.uiuc.edu] />
even here:

[en.wikipedia.org] />
and finally here:

[www.mala.bc.ca] />

A note to students of Eliot. If these link sources were ranked by understandability, you would start near the bottom of this list and proceed upward.


Les

thanx for your help but i want some words, lines, repetition of word in the poem which make us feel of alination.
rhyme, rthem, any of the language techniqes which convey to the reader the sense of alination and strangness

There are all kinds of references to particular lines here:

[www.sparknotes.com] />

Les

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2006 03:24AM by lg.

() (), you have been given so much help already, but still you want contributors on this site to give you specific lines, words, etc.

I am beginning to wonder whether you have actually read the poem. You probably need to read it several times. Assuming you have done that, or will do that before posting again, and assuming that you know what you mean by 'a sense of alienation and strangeness', I suggest that you pick out and post the lines and words that you think match what you are looking for, and ask if we agree.

That way, we won't actually be doing your homework for you, and you should arrive at a satisfactory result more quickly.

Ian

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2006 04:02AM by IanB.