Read the following lines from t. s. eliot's "the love song of j. alfred prufrock":

and would it have been worth it, after all,
after the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
would it have been worth while,
to have bitten off the matter with a smile,
to have squeezed the universe into a ball
to roll it toward some overwhelming question,
to say: "i am lazarus, come from the dead,
come back to tell you all, i shall tell you all"—
if one, settling a pillow by her head,
should say: "that is not what i meant at all;
that is not it, at all."
which sentence best analyzes the poet's use of allusion in this passage?
a. the speaker refers to lazarus to convey the idea that people should live in the moment because life is short.
b. the speaker compares the universe to a ball to illustrate how difficult it would be to discuss "the overwhelming question."
c. the speaker mentions a famous painter to show how people pretend to be who they're not so they can fit in.
d. the speaker refers to marmalade, tea, and porcelain to reinforce his disillusionment with the american dream.

A.The speaker refers to Lazarus to convey the idea that people should live in the moment because life is short.

Explanation:

Eliot, who wrote this poem in the early 1900's, expresses his ideas through Prufrock. This man is too rational and would like to fall in love with a woman , but he is tortured by his own reasoning. In this excerpt, Prufrock  is questioning "life" , even events from everyday life: "After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,  // Among the porcelain, // To have bitten off the matter with a smile, .." Then, he thinks that too much questioning  may be useless since we live for a short period of time: " If one, settling a pillow by her head,  // Should say: "That is not what I meant at all;  //That is not it, at all." This means that when we die - the poet thinks her love may die- all our explanations are senseless.

  plan: i will begin with a quotation about the importance of unity in a community. then, i will state my claim that an activity will unite our school by creating a shared vision, purpose, and direction. in the body, i will use three main points that describe the different avenues the students can take: through a variety of clubs, through a special event, or through an awareness week. i will provide evidence about other towns that have unity activities and the kinds of events that they include. pictures will illustrate my three main points in action. for the ending, i will restate the main idea in a new way and pose a question to keep the audience thinking.