T.S. Eliot

  • T.S. Eliot was born

    Thomas Stearns Eliot. Born in Missouri, USA.
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    Modernism

    Modernism flourished from approximately the 1900 to early 1940s. Modernism was essentially based on a utopian vision of human life and society and a belief in progress, or moving forward.
    modernist literary attempted to redefine how audiences perceived the world around them, by frequently incorporating new phrases with manipulated word choices. These phrases were radical, and offered a new outlook on language.
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    Naturalism (philosophical movement)

    Naturalists identified humans as animals, studying their character in relation to their surroundings.
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    Edwardian

    Edwardian literature marked a growing division between high and low literature, as well as the growth of children's literature. The period also saw an exploration of social fears, including that of technological advances.
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    Attended Harvard

    Eliot attends Harvard University. During this time he discovered the poet Jules LaForgue, who had a heavy influence on Eliot's resulting works.
  • 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'

    Composed in 1910-11. The poem was later published in 1915.
  • 'Preludes'

    Composed in 1910. Later published in 1917.
  • Meets Ezra Pound

    Pound was Eliot's mentor and editor at the time his poems and other texts gained popularity.
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    Works at 'The Egoist'

    The Egoist was a London literary magazine published from 1914 to 1919, during which time it published important early modernist poetry and fiction. Eliot worked as an editor for the controversial magazine.
    Egoist publishes "Tradition and the Individual Talent," an essay by Eliot. In it, he argues that a poet is obligated to serve poetic traditions rather than his personal emotions.
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    WWI

  • 'Rhapsody on a Windy Night'

    written and published in 1915
  • Father dies

    Eliot's father, Henry Ware Eliot passes.
  • 'The Hollow Men'

    written and published in 1925
  • 'Journey of the Magi'

    written and published in 1927.
  • Became Anglican

    Eliot was an Anglophile (a person who is fond of English culture), and his turn to religion had an influence on the subtext of his future works.
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    WWII

  • Wins a Nobel Prize

    The Nobel Prize in Literature 1948 was awarded to Thomas Stearns Eliot "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry."
  • T.S. Eliot passes away