T.

S Eliot Essay Checklist

Introduction

 Start with a developed thesis that is clearly linked to the question. Your thesis will be 1-2
sentences long and should include:
o Extrapolation of the key term or terms of the question e.g. if the question is about
disillusionment and decay then you must express:
 what Eliot is disillusioned about
 what kind of decay he perceives in his world
 what is the cause of the disillusionment and decay
o Reference to Eliot as a key figure in the Modernist movement
o Reference to the value and significance of Eliot’s poetry – what it offers readers of all
ages therefore why it transcends time e.g. a platform from which to examine our own
lives; by giving voice to the anxieties and fears of man, Eliot provides a means for us
to better understand our own existence
o Reference to Eliot’s unique/distinctive craftsmanship/poetic artistry i.e. his ability to
“give us a language for our inner reality” (Jeanette Winterson).

 A conceptual sentence on the first poem which is linked to your overall thesis.

Ensure that when introducing each poem, you include the following: form, name of poem,
year of publication e.g. A dramatic monologue, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1915)
represents …

 A conceptual sentence on the second poem which is linked to your overall thesis and states
how the ideas in the second poem extend or develop the ideas in the first.

 If you are doing a third poem then you will also need a conceptual sentence on it which links
to the overall thesis and which shows how this poem. Extends or develops the ideas in the
first two.

 A final sentence that states the overall value/significance of Eliot’s poetry and links this to
the question. This sentence also needs to evaluate Eliot’s purpose i.e. make a judgement
about how effective he is in achieving his purpose. This sentence also needs to evaluate
Eliot’s purpose i.e. express your considered perspective about how effective he is in
achieving his purpose

Body Paragraphs
 Each paragraph needs to start with a conceptual thesis statement. This statement should link
to your overarching thesis and the question and Eliot’s purpose. Each body thesis statement
should develop the overarching thesis of the essay. For example, if your overarching
response to the essay question is about Eliot’s perception of the Modern world as a
metaphorical wasteland of disillusionment and decay, and your first body paragraph is on
‘Prufrock’ your paragraph thesis would include a discussion of the specific disillusionment of
Prufrock, as a prototypical modern man, that is borne from a decaying modern world, and the
sense this metaphorical hell which leads to nothing, is inescapable.

 Each idea in the paragraph needs to be linked to Eliot’s personal, social and/or historical
context. For example, when discussing ‘Preludes’ you link Eliot’s perspective to the modern
world at the beginning of the 20th century where the rapid changes brought about by the
industrial revolution lead to the destabilization of society as a result of the questioning of the
old order and values.

 Ensure you discuss the form, style and structure of each poem in connection to the context
of the poem – state how the form was a deliberate response to the change in context.
Personally, I think the best way to do this is to make the form and structure the first
techniques you discuss. That means, you establish your thesis and then you get straight into
how the poem’s form and structure help Eliot achieve his purpose. Thus, for a poem such as
‘Prufrock’ you would identify Eliot’s distinctive Modernist style which is evident in his use
of stream of consciousness and the poem as a dramatic monologue. However, it is not
enough to simply identify the form and structure, you must then say what it achieves by
linking it to the big ideas of the poem. For example, you could link the stream of
consciousness to the idea of fragmentation. The dramatic monologue form gives the reader
an insight into the intense feelings of alienation and dislocation felt by Prufrock etc.

 You need to develop your argument throughout the essay. Use discourse markers like
‘furthermore’, ‘additionally’, ‘moreover’ etc. to do this but ensure that you come back to the
key terms of the question. Many students simply give a identify techniques and explain their
effect without showing the example is working to build the argument.

 Final sentence of your body paragraph needs to come back to your overarching thesis and
the question. It should also be an evaluative sentence that looks at Eliot’s achievement in the
poem. For example, you could make a statement about ‘Prufrock’ that links the distinctive
Modernist form and style to the ability of the poem to strike a chord with readers that allows
it to transcend time. You could say something about Eliot’s ability to make the ideas and
textual features coalesce in such a powerful way that the poem offers a unique and
provocative insight into the human condition and the intense human emotions that are central
to all of our lives.
 Quoting:
o Ensure quotes form a natural part of your sentence
o Ensure each quote is written out correctly showing the lines breaks by using a
forward slash (/) E.g “Let us go then, you and I,/When the evening is spread out
against the sky”
o The other way to write out lines is to do it exactly how it appears in the poem e.g.
“Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky”

 Names of poems:
o Once you have written the names of the poems out correctly in your introduction you
can shorten them in the body of your essay e.g. instead of writing ‘The Love Song of
J. Alfred Prufrock’ all of the time you can just say ‘Prufrock’

 Drawing links between the poems:

o Ensure you continually draw links between the two or three poems you are analyzing
o Also try to briefly draw links to some of the other poems e.g. if you are discussing the
dehumanising effects of the modern world on the individual in ‘Prufrock’ you could
make a link to ‘Preludes’ and the way the synecdoche of people as body parts,
“hands” and “feet” similarly reflects this idea.

Conclusion

 Come back to the question in your first sentence.

 Be evaluative; make a judgement about the effectiveness of Eliot’s poetry and its value and
significance over time.
 You should be able to write an effective conclusion in 2-3 sentences.