Tradition and the Individual Talent

Do you agree with Eliot’s views on depersonalization, the idea that the artist must work to extinguish their personality? Why or why not?

Choose one Modernist poet. Compare and contrast Eliot’s views on poetry with their approach.

Eliot writes, “[T]he past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past” (37). Write two to three paragraphs about a deceased or older poet or artist who is judged differently today than in the past. When and why did critics change their view of this person?

If given the choice between Eliot’s and Wordsworth’s views on tradition and the individual, which would you choose?

Eliot and other Modernists believed that poetry should be complex and difficult. Do you think that every allusion in a poem should be accessible to the reader?

How does Eliot the person differ from Eliot the poet? What values or experiences does he exaggerate or diminish in his poetry?

Suppose you are 50 years in the future. What do you think you will know about this time that you do not now know? What values or ideals would you be surprised to see change?

Eliot hopes that his essay will be a practical guide for poets. Do you find the essay practical and applicable to your writing? Why or why not?