The Waste Land

Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.01: Who Is This Eliot Guy?

Looks can be deceiving.

(Source)

Don't let his meticulously combed hair fool you: T.S. Eliot was a pretty rebellious guy (as far as poets go, at least.) Many critics believe that Elliot changed the rules of poetry in the years following World War I. We credit Eliot today with some of the greatest poems of the 20th century (including The Waste Land), and his rule breaking even won him a Nobel Prize.

Basically, he's a big deal.

In this first lesson, we'll learn more about who Eliot was, who his friends were, and what life was like in the 1920s when Eliot wrote The Waste Land. (Spoiler Alert: judging by the title of the poem it wasn't good.) This background will help us understand why the poem takes the form it does and what Eliot was trying to accomplish in this work.

When Eliot wrote The Waste Land, World War I had just ended, and the effects of this conflict on Europe and rest of the world were massive. Seriously...huge. The war left whole sections of some of Europe's biggest cities, including London (where Eliot spent much of his time), in ruins. These events influenced Eliot in a major way, and we can see the war-torn cities of WWI lurking behind the ruinous landscapes we find all over Eliot's poem.

The world had changed, and Eliot wasn't alone in feeling like poetry needed to change too in order to reflect the experience of a new, disillusioned generation. Elliot, along with a group of writers called the modernists, set about developing new rules for literature and poetry—and the results of their efforts amounted to nothing short of a revolution.

Shmoop has front row seats to the rebellion. Let's dive right in.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.01: The Deets

Before we tackle The Waste Land line by line, we need to learn more about Eliot's biography and the time (1922) and place (London) in which he composed the poem. We'll also try to understand what Eliot and the modernists, hoped to accomplish with all their rabble-rousing. Think of this lesson as a VH1 Behind the Music segment, but for poetry.

First, let's get a brief sense of what life was like in post-WWI London, where our hit was born. Check out this fact sheet for the lowdown. (Click "Full Text" at the bottom to see everything.)

Back? Great.

Now we should probably learn a little about the artist, right? We know you're dying to know what T.S. stands for. Total Stud? Too Sweet?

Almost: Thomas Stearns.

Thomas Stearns Eliot—or T.S., as he is affectionately called—was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1888.

Though he was American by birth, T.S. spent most of his life in Britain, working as a teacher in addition to writing a handful of poems, some essays, and a few plays. And, oh yeah, in 1948 he won the Nobel Prize.

This guy's the real deal.

• Now that we've mastered the basics, check out the rest of Eliot's Shmoop biography.
• Have you ever heard the expression, "You can tell a man's character by the company he keeps?" It means that the friends you choose say a lot about who you are. Take a look at the Shmoop guide to the modernists to learn what Eliot's friends can tell us about who he was and what he wanted to accomplish.

Keep these readings in mind as we explore Eliot's poem. (It's okay if the idea of a "tradition of the new" still doesn't quite make sense.) As we move through The Waste Land in the next few lessons, we'll see first-hand how Eliot re-purposed tradition to create something radically original.

One thing's for sure: Eliot and the modernists are rebels with a cause.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.01a: Newspaper Article: Eliot and the Modernists

Break out your typewriter. You've been asked to write a story covering Eliot and his modernist gang for a 1920s newspaper. The editors at the paper have heard that the modernists are changing the face of poetry and they want to be the first to deliver the scoop.

Using everything we just learned about Eliot and his crew, compile a 300-word newspaper article that explains:

• who they are,
• what they are hoping to accomplish,
• and why they'll speak to a new generation.

You may mention The Waste Land, but don't feel like you need to deal with the poem in detail just yet. For now, focus on the background information we've covered in this section. We'll show you why The Waste Land rocks in the next lesson.

Sample Lesson - Activity