Journal 17

1. What is the significance of the poem’s epigraph?  How does it relate to Prufrock?

 The epigraph relates because in the epigraph from Dante’s Inferno, it talks about someone discussing their confession was to someone in hell so he knew that it would never make it to the world and this relates to the story because the poem is also meant to be private.

2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks.  Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?

“Shall I part my hair behind?”, “Do I dare to eat a peach.  

All his questions involve him asking “Do I?” “Dare I?” or “Shall I?” this forms the pattern of how he feels unsure and has anxiety over what he should do with himself. This is because everyone has a different view on what they believe is he correct way.

3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?

His main flaw is that he feels like he is a background chacater in his own life because he feels like he is ridiculous and dull. This is shown in his wirting and it shows that his main flaw is that he has very low self asteem and has a very low opinion of himself.

4. Why do you think this is called a love song?  In what way is it a love song?

This is called a love song because of the irony involved in the poem in that it is called a love song but he is in fact alone so the title of the poem is meant to be ironic.