Preview

Essay Response to Virginia Woolf

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
535 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay Response to Virginia Woolf
Essay Response Virginia Woolf spent many of her childhood summers in a seaside village in Cornwall, England. In an excerpt from her memoirs from her childhood summers, Woolf reminisces on fishing trips with her father and her brother. Woolf utilizes language in order to convey the lasting significance by using punctuation, diction, and choppy phrases Woolf uses punctuation in several different ways, but she was especially effective at using it to convey her enthusiasm. Near the end of the first paragraph, Woolf talks about how she felt when catching a fish “…and then-how can I convey the excitement?- there was a little leaping tug…” Here, in just this sentence alone, Woolf conveys her excitement and enthusiasm by using punctuation. “… how can I convey the excitement?...” This phrase appears in the middle of two other little phrases, almost like she’s taking a little break to try and collect her thoughts in order for the reader to understand them. Had she not taken this little moment to sort herself out, her words may have ended up jumbled and not well put together. This makes her seem so enthusiastic, that she has to take a break in order to calm herself back down. Virginia Woolf uses diction to help create a lasting significance. For instance, near the beginning of the essay, Woolf talks about how once when they were out fishing/ sailing, her brother, Thoby got to steer them home. “But once Thobby was allowed to steer us home…And Thobby took the fisherman’s place; and steered; flushed and with his blue eyes very blue, and his mouth set, he sat there bringing us to there, bringing us round the point, into the harbor, without letting the sail flag.” (paragraph 1). Notice the use of the word “flushed”. “…flushed and with his blue eyes very blue…” Woolf could have used a word such as “blushing” or even “rosy”, but she chose flushed because by definition flushed refers to turning red, by either being embarrassed, an illness, or by a strong emotion. Her brother
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Analysis of Virginia Wolfe Fishing Trip
    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis of Virginia Wolfe Fishing Trip

    how eventful it really was. Recalling Thoby's "blue eyes" and the "streaming hair" of the jellyfish, Moments of Being almost forces the reader to feel what Woolf did; to experience the misty breeze aboard a ship and the stickiness of the sea. Woolf almost memorizes the affair because of how much it meant to her. She was away from her village in Cornwall and was able to bond and "hang about" with her father out on the vast ocean. Woolf also uses descriptive language to describe the lasting impact her father's words had on her. Having had her passion for fishing "extinguished," Woolf learned that life can be as capricious as a trip to the casino. Sometimes, one can even go home broke.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Essay On Jane Eyre
    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dbq Essay On Jane Eyre

    Bronte demonstrates her stance on feminism by creating characters that defy the stereotypical ideal woman during the Victorian era. Jane’s characterization opposed many desired virtues of the Victorian era because the ideal woman at the time was docile and selflessly devoted to her family as demonstrated in Patmore’s poem which reads, “ Man must be pleased, but him to please/ Is woman’s pleasure.” (Document E) As opposed to the character of Jane Eyre portrayed as a strong, stubborn woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and has control of her own choices. Since she has no familial male figures present in her life, Jane has the opportunity to make autonomous decisions on what she wants, contradicting the standard rule of male ownership of…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Virginia Woolf's Memoirs Of Being
    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Virginia Woolf's Memoirs Of Being

    Flowing from Virginia Woolf’s poem “Memoirs of Being” is a beautiful piece of her childhood. This picture that has been created, is one that is filled with imagery, anaphora, and is an allusion to a time when her cares were not burdened in the way that they would become later in the poem. We can see that the piece is a picture of a time of youth. One that is not yet marred with the understanding of consequences. And a joy can be seen from start to finish, but her understanding of that joy experienced growth during this piece. Although, she doesn’t agree with her truly enjoys her trip, she finds that the joy experienced therein is one that is a ‘momentary glimpse’ of her childhood, and not one that would be repeated.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Observational Social Theory
    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Observational Social Theory

    According to Lefrancois, Social cognitive theory is a label for Bandura’s theory, which explains social learning through imitation using the principles of operant conditioning while recognizing the importance of cognitive activities such as imagining, symbolizing and anticipating (Lefrancois, p.386). Bandura’s theory was based on Skinners operant conditioning. If you recall Skinner believed in “free will” Therefore, Skinner believed that we have a mind, but due to the limitations on how to study our ”mind” he studied behavior because it could be seen by observation. Skinner was known for operant conditioning that was based on Thorndike’s “Law of effect”. Skinner and Thorndike believed that if a behavior…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre Essay
    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jane Eyre Essay

    While reading this book, the reader may pity Jane. Charlotte Bronte creates a consistent thread until the end of the book. Jane struggles with the same problem throughout the work, which is betrayal. She deals with it a place that was supposed to be her home, school and the work place.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparison
    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparison

    Each author writes in a manner that clearly describes their surroundings. Dillard goes to the woods to relax and enjoy the world. She describes her environment in a very straight-forward manner painting a vivid image of the setting; even the worms and “twiggy dirt” received mention. She is then inspired by her book and surroundings. Woolf writes from an entirely different perspective. Instead she describes only what is outside, providing evidence that Woolf isolates herself from the rest of the world, instead of embracing and enjoying it as Dillard did. She describes the field that is being plowed, the black, net-like flock of birds flying…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Life and Moth
    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Life and Moth

    Virginia Woolf’s purpose in writing this piece is to remind us of the power that death has over life. She shows us the desperation of attempting to avoid death but also the inescapable ending of…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Virginia Woolf College Meals

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Virginia Woolf College Meals

    Woolf’s harsh description and cold tone regarding the women’s college in the second passage depicts her attitude towards women’s roles in society. She uses short and curt sentences with blunt and repetitive bursts. IN contrast to the phrase “a confection which rose all sugar from the waves” in the first paragraph, Woolf uses phrases such as “rumps of cattle in a muddy market” and “mitigated by custard” in the second passage to create a stark contrast. This creates a sense of inferiority and bluntness towards a women’s place. She seems to suggest that the meal at the women’s college could not have possibly been better than the one at the…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Death of a Moth
    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Death of a Moth

    placement in the piece. Woolf's description of the phenomenon of death is in the last paragraph. Just as…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Jane Eyre, Hamlet and Keats
    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Jane Eyre, Hamlet and Keats

    Jane is not an omniscient narrator, like Hamlet, therefore the reader can see things she does not, such as the gloomy significance of the extract and how it is an indication of her future relationship with Mr Rochester, and Thornfield. The whole of the novel is written in elaborate, complex sentences, which perhaps is the author 's way of demonstrating Jane 's intelligence and eloquence. The style of language and it usage is similar to that of Keats. Bronte uses active verbs such as "rising moon" and "blended clouds" (p143) and "noise" breaking out, and integrates them into the elegant prose to bring a sense of movement to Jane 's surroundings. An idea of sound is also achieved by the use of onomatopoeic words such as "tinkle of the nearest stream" and "whispering" (p143) this brings a sensuous aspect to the prose, something that Keats also manages to achieve in his Ode to Autumn. There is even a small degree of alliteration "wave wanderings" (p143) something, which Keats also uses.…

    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Jane Eyre Art Essay
    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Jane Eyre Art Essay

    By convention, artwork – both in the illustrative and written medium – serves as a literal representation of an idea. Brush strokes paint vivid colors in hopes of capturing an iconic moment, and words are deliberately structured to tell a moving story. At its core, any form of art fulfills the capacity to capture life; yet it is the hope of true artwork to not only represent, but rather provide meaning. Artwork, and in particular ekphrastic descriptions of that artwork, serve as a recurring theme placed at the forefront of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. The novel uses Jane’s myriad occurrences with various forms of artwork to provide insight into the understanding of the semantics of emotional expression, and rather than project art through…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Kate Chopin: A Literary Analysis
    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Kate Chopin: A Literary Analysis

    The words the author used created an intensifying moment that could keep a reader enticed and wanting more. The methods used help describe the height of the moment, yet still not disclosing the obvious, almost as if showing the reader the bullet and leave them wondering where the gun is at. Another fervent moment used in “The Storm” was “The rain beat upon the low, shingled roof with a force and clatter that threatened to break an entrance and deluge them there.” (Chopin 271). This example brings suspense to the plot of the story by creating an antagonizing moment for both the reader and the…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Critical Essay on Jane Austen
    • 1601 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Critical Essay on Jane Austen

    As an extremely well versed (OK, modest) critic of English Literature and a fairly decent judge of people and character, I have chosen to write my critique, or paper, on a particularly good (a brewing controversy in some circles) author of the times. This particular author was born in Steventon, Hampshire, England on December 16, 1775 to a loving, well-educated, mother and father (1, page 1). Her loving parents did welcome this seventh (of eight) children and last of two daughters into the world with loving arms. One of the first more obvious facts in her writing is that, although her father had a modest income (around £600 yearly) (4, page 2) she was a spoiled, little brat who was well, perhaps too well, taken care of. That is, at least, what shows in her writings. I bring up this point to demonstrate that her parents truly loved her and the other children and tried their best to do what every parent wants to do with their children. Give them a better life than they had. This can be argued because she was one of eight children in the family that turned out some fairly successful kids. That and, £600 a year was not a lot of money for the time. Her other siblings did extremely well in most of their endeavors. This fact could have very easily have caused some dissension or even jealously between her and her siblings. A fact that is at same time well proven by her writings. There is some indication of this in her surviving letters to her closest confidante, her only sister (4, page 4). All of the aforementioned material, in fact, her very life, is probably the main reason that I, and thousands of normal, law-abiding men from all over the world, dread any lesson plan that includes my chosen author. At the same time, if she hadn 't had this life, they we dread so much, then we might have been deprived of such great works as Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. With…

    • 1601 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf Analysis
    • 1834 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf Analysis

    There’s always something odd and intimidating about being a guest at someone’s dinner party. When you walk in, the interior looks clean enough to be sold the next day, and the hosts are cheerful to an alarming extent. In in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Edward Albee slowly chips away at this mask from all four characters until all that is finally left at the end of the final act is the revealing, truthful pulp of each person. This enormous culturally impactful play (and movie) could never be successfully adapted until an unlikely episode of a show called The Office would send similar shockwaves through pop culture in today’s context. This 21st Century take on the play aptly named Dinner Party would bear nods to the previous tension-filled…

    • 1834 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Modernism
    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Modernism

    With the dawning of the twentieth century, a literary movement emerged. That movement would come to be known as modernism. “On or about December, 1910, human character changed . . . All human relations have shifted— those between masters and servants, husbands and wives, parents and children. And when human relations change there is at the same time a change in religion, conduct, politics, and literature.”(Woolf, Mr. Bennett, 22) Modernists were the literary artists who would come to address these changes in human character. The way individual reality was seen, as well as the way a single moment was processed, viewed and represented through the narrative had changed. Narration was a step closer to thought, a step closer to human emotion and farther away from the physical and the external. The focus of the novel as a form of writing had become much more intimate; and was fixated on the inner workings of the mind, and this is evident in the form of the narrative. The narrative form, as seen in the modernist novel, is very experimental, incorporating features such as fragmentary and distant narration, unexpected point of view shifts, an unorthodox treatment of time, as well as form that mimics content perfectly. These authors were pioneering techniques that took the literary world by storm. Modernists revolutionized the style and form of the novel. Authors like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce viewed literary convention as an enemy that they must constantly stride against with their work. Modernist authors wrote in response to writers who Woolf called “materialists. The materialist’s concern with the “body” and not the “spirit” is exactly what modernist writers were attempting to alleviate. They were working to draw closer to the spirit of the human character and away from all of these previously established literary norms and techniques. Woolf implies that even if we wander off and lose ourselves in the desert, that it would at least offer an opportunity for…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics