PRE-READING 1. What feelings or emotions do you associate with certain times of day?
2. If you could live at any time in the past or future, when would you choose to live and why?
3. In the future, do you think you would like to live in the city, the countryside or somewhere in between?
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING
1. Which of your senses does the description of the city in Part I appeal to? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
2. From reading Part I, how do you think Eliot felt about urban life? Give reasons for your answer.
3. In Part II, a vivid picture is created of morning in the city. Describe in as much detail as possible how you imagine this setting.
4. The narrative voice changes to the second person (‘you’) in Part III. What impact does this have upon the reader, in your opinion? Explain your answer.
5. Explain your answer with reference to Part III.
6. What impression of the subject in Part III do you get from the lines: ‘The thousand sordid images/ Of which your soul was constituted’? Support your answer with reference to the poem.
7. Explain the following lines from Part IV in your own words: ‘His soul stretched tight across the skies/ That fade behind a city block’.
8. to? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
9. be? Explain your answer.
10. Explain what you think Eliot means by the closing lines of this poem: ‘The worlds revolve like ancient women/ Gathering fuel in vacant lots.’ Give reasons for your answer.
11. What theme or themes can you identify in this poem? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
CREATING 1. Write a descriptive essay set in a city at dusk.
2. There is a vacant lot beside your school. Write an email to your local city council requesting that your school be allowed to develop and use this lot. Inform them of
3. ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’. Write a talk for your class inspired by this quotation. The tone can be serious, light-hearted or both.