Which of these statements characterize the speaker of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”? Check the two best choices.

He is a young man with an interesting and exciting life.

He is a balding, middle-aged man who has many regrets.

He is an old man who knows a lot about art, especially the art of Michelangelo.

He leads an uneventful life because he is afraid to take risks.

5 answers

The two best choices that characterize the speaker of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are:

  1. He is a balding, middle-aged man who has many regrets.
  2. He leads an uneventful life because he is afraid to take risks.

These options reflect Prufrock's self-awareness, his feelings of inadequacy, and his introspective nature throughout the poem.

Why is a dramatic monologue effective in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”? Check the three best choices.

Readers relate to Prufrock’s doubts and fears when they’re told in Prufrock’s own voice.

A dramatic monologue is the best way to convey Prufrock’s confidence in himself.

An audience is more receptive to ideas that are conveyed through a character’s feelings.

It’s easier to feel Prufrock’s sense of confusion and insignificance when he talks about it.

The three best choices that explain why a dramatic monologue is effective in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are:

  1. Readers relate to Prufrock’s doubts and fears when they’re told in Prufrock’s own voice.

  2. An audience is more receptive to ideas that are conveyed through a character’s feelings.

  3. It’s easier to feel Prufrock’s sense of confusion and insignificance when he talks about it.

These choices highlight how the use of a dramatic monologue allows readers to connect deeply with Prufrock's internal struggles and emotions.

For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.

So how should I presume?

—“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,”
T. S. Eliot

Which modernist ideas are in this famous passage? Check the four best choices.

despair and disillusionment: feeling that life is meaningless

introspection: thinking about why one does things

stream of consciousness: a rambling voice mirroring the confusion in the world

the mistrust of institutions: fearing the government

loneliness: feeling separated from others

The four best choices that reflect modernist ideas in the passage from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are:

  1. despair and disillusionment: feeling that life is meaningless

  2. introspection: thinking about why one does things

  3. stream of consciousness: a rambling voice mirroring the confusion in the world

  4. loneliness: feeling separated from others

These choices capture the essence of Prufrock's internal struggles, the sense of emptiness in his life, and the modernist themes of individual consciousness and isolation.