Tentative thesis for this essay, followed by three or more subclaims (topic sentences of the proposed body paragraphs), as well as by your statement of purpose (what you want your analysis to do to your readers) and statement of relevance (which connects your analysis with presumed benefits of your readers and which will anchor your conclusion).
Prompt:
A distinguished poet and literary critic T. S. Eliot, in his appreciation of In
Memoriam, observes: Its technical merit alone is enough to ensure its perpetuity. While
Tennysons technical competence is everywhere masterly and satisfying, In Memoriam is
the most unapproachable of all his poems. . . . In Memoriam is the whole poem made by
putting together lyrics, which have only the unity and continuity of a diary, the
concentrated diary of a man confessing himself. It is a diary of which we have to read every
word (136).
Furthermore, Eliot defines the poem as a religious poem, but for another reason
than that which made it seem religious to his contemporaries. It is not religious because of
the quality of its faith, but because of the quality of its doubt. Its faith is a poor thing, but its
doubt is a very intense experience. In Memoriam is a poem of despair, but of despair of a
religious kind (138).
Review the poem and the assigned criticism and write an essay to investigate the
emotional and artistic intensity of Tennysons melancholic masterpiece. What qualities
make this work elevate feelings for the ages and for our times, with their aggressive,
inhumane policies and technologies, in particular?
