This unit, in keeping with the purpose of its antecedent developed last year, points out parallels in selected writings of white and black American writers who, under the same canopy of creative and humanistic expressions, share interests in the same themes, experiment with similar writing styles, and find themselves facing the same artistic conundrums. This particular section examines the theme of
alienation
in the poetry of T. S. Eliot and LeRoi Jones. Hardly contemporaries, these two poets from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds are spiritual kinsmen—soul brothers—for their visions of the modern age interface on the same plane. Whereas Eliot was the prophet of the apprehensive twenties, of its innate fear of a technological age on the brink of war, Jones became the oracle of the explosive sixties, of its rage at an insensitive world that systematically exploited black people. A careful study of the poetry of Eliot and Jones reveals that one decade was the harbinger of the other.
Note: This course, designed for high-ability juniors and seniors, demands a keen interest in poetry.
