Able 11th- and 12th-grade students can enjoy the imagery, direct language, and indirect thought of T. S. Eliot. Eliot's treatment of the apathetic society and the isolated individual, his concern for spirituality over sensuality, and his plea for collective responsibility for evil are themes that can be traced in his major works through formalistic and historical criticism. Simon and Garfunkel's "Dangling Conversation" can introduce students to the isolation and ineffectuality of "The Hollow Men." A comparison between what students expect to find in a love song and what they find in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" can lead the students into the message of the poem. An in-depth study of the relationship of "Murder in the Cathedral" to Greek drama and medieval morality plays, as well as intensive work in diction and prosody, can be rewarding. Oral reading of Eliot's works can illustrate one of his recurring ideas--modern man's apathy because of a need for spiritual values. Once the central themes have been established, students can broaden their understanding by reading thematically similar works by other writers, such as Camus, Kafka, and Yeats. (LH)