HSC English Advanced – Module B: T. S. Eliot Lecture Notes

These flashcards review core Module B concepts, past HSC question focuses, Eliot’s poems, themes, stylistic features, critical quotes, and exam-writing strategies discussed in the lecture.

What does the Module B concept of "textual integrity" refer to?

The coherent use of form and language to create a unified whole in meaning and value.

Which 2024 HSC question theme focuses on evaluating a text’s artistry and integrity?

“Evaluate how the artistry and integrity of your prescribed text has influenced your understanding of its literary value.”

List two recurring focuses of recent HSC questions on Eliot.

1) Concept-driven themes (e.g., entrapment, spiritual hunger) 2) Personal and intellectual engagement with the poems’ construction.

Name the three core knowledge areas students must master for Module B.

Texts and their aesthetic qualities, themes, and Eliot’s context.

Complete the trilogy of Eliot’s poetic ‘journey’: grim nihilism, dark vision of hollow humanity, and …?

A partially redeemed Christian vision.

Which poem introduces ‘the frustration and impotence of the modern man’?

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1915).

Identify one stylistic feature of ‘Prufrock’ that subverts tradition.

Fragmented dramatic monologue in free verse with irregular rhyme.

What modern psychological thinkers influence ‘Prufrock’s’ portrayal of the divided self?

Nietzsche and Freud.

Quote that signals Prufrock’s paralysis of expression.

“It is impossible to say what I mean!”

According to critic Miller, why does Prufrock remain imprisoned?

He stays within his own subjective space and all experiences become imaginary.

In what year was ‘The Hollow Men’ written, and what post-war concern does it address?

1925; it addresses spiritual emptiness after World War I.

Give two dominant themes of ‘The Hollow Men’.

Religious doubt and existential futility.

Which biblical phrase is fragmented in ‘The Hollow Men’ to symbolise lost faith?

“For Thine is the Kingdom …”

What river allusion connects ‘The Hollow Men’ to Dante’s Inferno?

“Gathered on this beach of the tumid river.”

Grover Smith claims the Hollow Man-speaker seeks what form of refuge?

Apathy and concealment, desiring to be only a scarecrow.

State one hopeful interpretation J. Hillis Miller finds in ‘The Hollow Men’.

Their sightless eyes “may see again.”

Which poem, published in 1927, explores religious transformation through a journey motif?

Journey of the Magi.

What structural form does ‘Journey of the Magi’ take?

A three-part dramatic monologue recounting travel, arrival, and reflection.

Explain the paradox of the final line in ‘Journey of the Magi’: “I should be glad of another death.”

It suggests liberation through spiritual rebirth, welcoming death as entry to faith.

Maleki argues Eliot foregrounds modern man’s struggle to retain what?

Spiritual identity amid secular remedies.

Which poem uses four vignette stanzas to depict urban monotony?

Preludes.

Give one sensory image from ‘Preludes’ that conveys decay.

“The burnt-out ends of smoky days.”

Name the poem featuring the fatalistic street-lamp drum.

Rhapsody on a Windy Night.

List four overarching themes across Eliot’s suite noted in the lecture.

Entrapment, urbanisation/modernisation, spiritual fulfilment, aesthetic innovation.

Provide one recommended paragraph structure element for an HSC body paragraph on Eliot.

Integrate 4–6 textual quotes/techniques linked to the concept and context.

What does Eliot say poets must do to language, according to his 1921 essay ‘The Metaphysical Poets’?

“Force, to dislocate if necessary, language into his meaning.”

Robert Crawford reads ‘The Hollow Men’ as illustrating the failings of what?

Failings of word and Word – a degradation of language in ritual.

Differentiate ‘concept-driven’ and ‘personal engagement’ HSC questions.

Concept-driven asks alignment with thematic statements; personal engagement asks how the poem’s construction affects the responder’s insight.

Define modernity in the context of Eliot’s poetry.

A period of rapid urbanisation and technological change causing ontological crisis and alienation.

What term describes excessive indulgence in pleasure highlighted as a modern vice?

Hedonism.

Give the meaning of 'nihilism' as it pertains to Eliot’s early work.

The belief that life is meaningless, leading to scepticism and moral emptiness.

Explain ‘textual integrity’ in one sentence fit for an exam thesis.

Eliot’s integrated manipulation of fragmentary form, intertextual allusion and free-verse lyricism forges enduring textual integrity that sustains rich interpretation.

State one strategy for embedding personal response in an essay, as advised in the lecture.

Explicitly articulate how Eliot’s representation of spiritual desolation resonates with your contemporary context.

What is the recommended word count for a dense Eliot body paragraph?

Approximately 250–350 words.

Complete this Miller quotation used for ‘Prufrock’: “However far Prufrock goes, he remains …”

“… imprisoned in his own subjective space, and all his experiences are imaginary.”

What two critical lenses are suggested for contextual references in paragraphs?

Biographical context (Eliot’s personal faith journey) and social-philosophical context (modernity’s ontological crisis).

Which word from the lecture’s ‘sophisticated vocabulary’ list means ‘state of bleak emptiness’?

Barrenness.

Identify one aesthetic quality of Eliot’s poetry emphasised in Module B.

Innovative fragmentation that subverts traditional poetic structures.