Read the following poem from the Modernist period, written between the world wars. In one or two paragraphs, analyze the themes, values, and ideas that are reflected in the text.
The Boston Evening Transcript
by T. S. Eliot
The readers of the Boston Evening Transcript1
Sway in the wind like a field of ripe corn.
When evening quickens faintly in the street,
Wakening the appetites of life in some
And to others bringing the Boston Evening Transcript,
I mount the steps and ring the bell, turning
Wearily, as one would turn to nod good-bye to Rochefoucauld2,
If the street were time and he at the end of the street,
And I say, "Cousin Harriet, here is the Boston Evening Transcript."
1-A daily newspaper published in Boston, MA in the late 1800s and early 1900s
2-Rochefoucauld was a noted French author of maxims and memoirs and a nobleman

The readers of the newspaper as swaying with the opinion of the paper and losing their zeal of life. This is about the persuasiveness of people and how they let information affect their senses.

Explanation:

In this short poem, T S Eliot satirizes a real newspaper to show the fickle nature of what information does to people's opinions.

This is illustrated in the metaphor that people who read the paper sway in the wind like a corn field. Whatever is the current wind regarding the social climate, people follow it.

Some others loose their zeal of life reading about this. The goodbye to Rouchefoucauld also symbolizes a loss of good literature and cognitive thinking,

source text: from the sketch here given it will be seen, that our good grandmothers differed considerably in their ideas of a fine figure, from their scantily dressed descendants of the present day. a fine lady, in those times, waddled under more clothes even on a fair summer's day, than would have clad the whole bevy of a modern ball room. nor were they the less admired by the gentlemen in consequence thereof. on the contrary, the greatness of a lover's passion seemed to increase in proportion to the magnitude of its object—and a voluminous damsel, arrayed in a dozen of petticoats, was declared by a low-dutch sonnetteer of the province, to be radiant as a sunflower, and luxuriant as a full blown cabbage. certain it is, that in those days, the heart of a lover could not contain more than one lady at a time; whereas the heart of a modern gallant has often room enough to accommodate half a dozen - - the reason of which i conclude to be, either that the hearts of the gentlemen have grown larger, or the persons of the ladies smaller — this however is a question for physiologists to determine. add punctuation to the following excerpt. writing under the name of diedrich knickerbocker washington irving aimed his potent satire at as diverse topics as political rivals such as thomas jefferson to the very ideal of looking back on the past affectionately: a fine lady, in those times, waddled under more clothes even on a fair summer's day, than would have clad the whole bevy of a modern ball room. a voluminous damsel, arrayed in a dozen of petticoats, was declared by a low-dutch sonnetteer of the province, to be radiant as a sunflower, and luxuriant as a full blown cabbage. in those days, the heart of a lover could not contain more than one lady at a time; whereas the heart of a modern gallant has often room enough to accommodate half a dozen

wassup

explanation: