The Love Song

Question #1 (33 pts.): “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” begins with a beautiful simile (‘Let us go then, you and I,/When the evening

is spread out against the sky/Like a patient etherized upon a table;’). But does it make any sense? Do two things here in your answer.

First, see if you can EXPLICATE the imagery of this simile. Next, answer the question (a full paragraph) whether this simile contributes

to the THEME of modern alienation we have discussed.

Question #2 (33 pts.): Choose a good example of SYNECDOCHE (or Metonymy–the two terms are close in meaning) that you can find in the poem

that best reflects the poem’s theme–thoughtfully explain WHY this synecdoche is thematic in a fully developed paragraph.

Question #3 (34 pts.): In two good paragraphs, EXPLICATE and discuss the closing lines of the poem beginning with: “I have heard the

mermaids singing, each to each.”