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,

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)