Thinking Activity on T.S. Eliot's Essay 'Tradition and Individual talent'

Thomas Stearns Eliot

Biography

Thomas Stearns Eliot

Born: September 26, 1888 in Missouri

            Essayist, publisher,  playwright,                literary and social critic

Father: Henry Ware Eliot,

               (the president of the Hydraulic                 Brick Company)

Mother: Charlotte Champe Stearns,

               (volunteer at the Humanity                        Club of St. Louis., teacher)

Q2- What do you understand by Historical sense?

          If we know about figures and facts of history we can understand the time in which people are living and their ways of living, we can compare literary things which are changed, which is better, which is not, many things we can develop with historical sense.

There is quote from his essay on historical sense

"The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence"

          It gives a sense of writing timeless and temporal to the writer. Timelessness in the sense that work of art doesn't have its past and present. Temporal means it still exist or present in modern times.

Q3- What is the relationship between Tradition and Individual talent?

          Tradition and Individual talent both helps each other. All new writer does not have their own style, first they read and try to write related to reading. Some new writer have individual talent, they read but they gives new turn to his writing with tradition. Tradition and Individual talent are similar or closely related to each other.

Q4- Explain: " some can absorb knowledge, the more tardy must sweat for it. Shakespeare acuired more essential history from Plutarch than most men could from the whole museum"

          Eliot talks about the greatness of Shakespeare and his historical sense, he was not university scholar but he was scholar, in a sense of writing. There are lots of people who are reading many books but still they can't develop writing skill with sense.

Q5- Explain: " Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon poet but upon the poetry"

          Eliot wants to say that critic must have to criticize or appreciate the poetry not poet. Sometime critic criticize or appreciate literary work by author's name so it is not good to became good critic or reader also.

Q6- How would you like to explain Eliot's theory of Depersonalization?

          Poet have to separate his personal emotions from his poetry.  He gave example of sulphuric acid , to describe creative process he used as a example chemical reaction of to form sulphuric acid (H2So4). He talked about the formation of sulphuric acid to create this acid it needs sulfurtrioxide(So3), Water(H2o) in which most important thing is the entire process will not take place without a catalyst, Without Platinum it was impossible to complete this reaction or formation of Sulfuric acid. When Sulfuric acid made, we find no presence of platinum in it. Same as the poet’s own self is necessary to create work but it should not reflect in work.

Q7- Explain: " Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality"

          Eliot again talk about the depersonalization. He says that  whenever poet create anything, own self should not reflect in their creative work. Poet should learn to be detach when they create anything. He has to escape from his personality and create something new, which is impersonal or different from his personality.

Q8- Write two points on which one can write Critique on T.S Eliot as a critic.

1) His idea of Depersonalization:

the man who suffers and the mind which creates are different.

2) His theory of Historical sense:

The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.