It is assumed that J. Alfred Prufrock is a character that T. S. Eliot creates through the use of dramatic monologue. Using this method, the speaker addresses a silent listener and sometimes reveals qualities that he or she later may regret sharing. And I have known the arms already, known them all — Arms that are braceleted and white and bare (But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!) Is it perfume from a dress That makes me so digress? Arms that lies along a table, or wrap about a shawl. And should I then presume? And how should I begin? . . . Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? I should have been a pair or ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. . . . Compare the oral readings of the poem with your written reading. Write a summary paragraph that evaluates which interpretation of the poem you prefer. Use evaluation criteria and details from each reading to explain your reasoning. Click here for the checklist.