The above is a photograph of Virginia Woolf at the age of 16.
This reading assignment is approximately one page long. It ends toward the end of page four with the words "this moment of June."
Please cite your favorite sentence or pair of sentences so far and try to say why. References to syntax (the order of the words) and diction (the choice of words) are welcome.
Good luck!
27 comments:
First comment! :)
I liked the comment at the bottom of page 3, going into page 4. "He would be back from India one of these days, June or July, she forgot which, for his letters were awfully dull; it was his sayings one remembered; his eyes, his pocket-knife, his smile, his grumpiness and, when millions of things had utterly vanished-how strange it was!- a few sayings like this about cabbages." I liked this passage because it was such an interesting description of the person, sort of showing, but not telling. I also liked the syntax, how it was kind of one long list of descriptions, because I found that interesting. The strange descriptions used were also interesting, such as "a few sayings like this about cabbages". I really just liked the style of writing, how simplistic it was, and how it was a "show, not tell" kind of writing.
My favorite sentence was on near the bottom of page 4,
"In people's eyes, in the swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwhich men shuffling and swinging; brass bands; barrel organs; in the triumph and the jingle and the strange high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved; life; London; this moment of June."
This sentence immediately attracted my (Annabel) attention not because it was the last sentence we had to read, but because of all the sounds you think of when you read this sentence. I can hear the uproar of London as if it were New York with all the loud buses and cars honking their horns and the distant sounds of the aeroplanes whizzing by. I also enjoy this sentence because it ends with such power. "life; London; this moment of June."
Howdy y'all this is MIKE.
Although many of the sentences had interesting structure, one of my favorite phrases was:
"...she had burst open the French doors and plunged at Bourton into the open air. How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the early morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a wave..." (Pg 3)
I really loved the imagery used in this small passage, it was all about creating this 3D picture that really incorporated all of the senses. One can picture the ornate French doors being flung open, the possible bang as they hit the wall, the feel of the fresh air on the face. Woolf talks about the air just being fresh, pure, and clean. Also, I have never thought of a wave in the sense that Woolf does. She chooses her words so carefully, and in doing so they have great meaning. I think the comparison of the air to the 'kiss of a wave’ extremely compelling (it really makes for an interesting image).
Also, I agree with Julie, there is definitely an interesting/fine line between showing through text and telling through text - I think Woolf is able accomplish both).
Checking in.... and i also would like to say the sentence that Mike chose was my second choice, meaning i was going to pick that sentence until i got to my favorite sentence.
yo guys its AUDREY!!!!!!!!!!
i agree with everything that has been said so far, especially about how the writing is so simply written but beautifully put together that makes it very poetic.
Like Mike, one of my favorite passages was "How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the early morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a wave; chill and sharp and yet (for a girl of eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling as she did, standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to happen; looking at the flowers, at the trees with the smoke winding off them and the rooks rising, falling; standing and looking until Peter Walsh said, "Musing among the vegetables?"-was that it?- "I prefer men to cauliflowers"-was that it?"
besides the fact that this sentence is so interestingly and extremely long, it is filled with a compelling description and beautiful imagery. in the beginning part of the sentence, She almost sets up a list when describing the "wave." first it is the "flap" then it is the "kiss." She then goes on to further describe it as chilling and sharp. She adds to the ominous feeling with the feelings set up by the girl. this passage sets a mood and even gives off a chilling foreshadowing that "something awful was about to happen."
"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." was my favorite passage. As the first sentence it immediately draws you in. You are already asking: what flowers? Why does she need to buy flowers? Who is she anyways? I read this sentence and was intrigued from the beginning. Though I read many sentences with far more interesting structure this still stood out in my mind.
Hello all, it's jane!
My favourite sentence would be at the beginning of the novel,
"How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the early morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a wave; chill and sharp and yet (for a girl of eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling as she did, standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to happen; looking at the flowers, at the trees with the smoke winding off them and the rooks rising, falling; standing and looking..."
This is my favourite sentence because there's so much 'movement' going on in terms of Woolf's description of the air, and how she manipulates something so basic as air to be so special, so amazing, just with her diction. Also the uses of semi-colons in the syntax shows the readers all the things that are happening and also depicts her thoughts to us. Lastly it is especially descriptive and she uses a wide range of imagery which really helps the readers have an idea of the setting.
"...she had burst open the French doors and plunged at Bourton into the open air. How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the early morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a wave..." (Page 3)
I just think that the language in this sentence is particularly beautiful and the way that air is described is beautiful as well. It is very descriptive language, but I think that it flows nicely and is calming to read.
Checking in. (and agree with everyone so far...)
checking in...btw this is kate not Catherine event hough my "name" is Katherine
Hey everybody! It's Laurel (made the screenname in fifth grade...no judgment! hah)
I love the sentence, when Clarissa is thinking about Big Ben, and the time right before it strikes the hour, "First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable," (Woolf, 4). The simple yet non-obvious syntax feels important without being flashy, completely accurate while completely poetic. I love that a moment can be musical and then irrevocable, that time is seen as such an artful yet impossible to control thing. I think it's interesting that Woolf has been playing with time so much for us so far, in a way that feels familiar in terms of what human consciousness is actually like. It can be somewhat difficult to follow, but as the reader travels back in Mrs. Dalloway's mind to what it was like when she was eighteen, back to the moment, to her other musings about life, we get a sense of mystery and beauty about time, both musical and irrevocable.
I realy like this sentence:
"In people's eyes, in the swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwich men shuffling and swinging, brass bands; barrel organs; in the triumph and the jingle and the strange high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved; life; London; this moment in June" (4).
First off this sentence really paints a clear picture of London during this time period. With the wonderfully put together word choice of swing, tramp, and trudge in a "bellow"of an uproar, not just an uproar, we can see that there is so much happening. It may be grungy, noisy, crowded, and bustling but there is still triumph, a jingle (not annoying noise, good word choice here), and a "strange high singing" of an airplane, once again not an annoying drone. We can really see all the good and wonderful parts in her eyes shining through an old London.
The syntax at the end of the sentence really ends it beautifully..."was what she loved; life; London; this moment in June." It is so simple and yet so brilliant. Simply life, London, this moment in June. She loves life, life in London, and the very moment she is pondering all of this. Everything seems so simple and beautiful.
checking in...
no objections to people's comments thus far
I really like the passage that Jane chose about the air feeling like the flap of a wave and then turning to the girl or eighteen being solemn and feeling as if something awful would happen. This imagery of the cold wind as if a slap thought about the future.
I also loved the passage, "Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable pause; a suspense (but that might be her heart, affected, they say by influenza)" The chose of words in this sentence was interesting to me because i never really associate positiveness with solemnity and then further down in that paragraph it says how she is excited and loved life yet at the same time she solemn. These first couple of pages made me want to read more and I am interested to find out what happened between her and the boy in India.
Hello! This is Cooper.
I must say that I really seem to enjoy the phrase in the opening paragraph; "The doors would be taken off their hinges; Rumplemayer's men were coming. And then, thought Clarissa Dalloway, what a morning--fresh as if issued to children on a beach". I love the use of syntax in this phrase.
Woolf didn't just use the adjective in typical language by placing it after the subject it describes with a dash. Although, I mainly chose this because of the how fun, exciting, and interesting the metaphor was. The metaphor has great imagery in it of children playing frivolously on a beach. The metaphor explains the word "fresh" because fresh is like kids on a beach in a sense because kids on a beach are just free without worry and our new because they are children. The beach is also free, thus suggesting freshness and not being old or wrung-out a billion times. The doors taken off would also make the door-ways seem new and fresh because it's a new space with no barrier anymore. A new entrance and/or exit.
I have yet to truly see anything quite like this style of writing. I agree Audrey Hamm that there is a chilling foreshadowing present.
checking-in
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This is Catherine =)
I agree with Kate, my favorite sentence was the first sentence, "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." This sentence certainly does not have very interesting syntax, however I felt that the diction was what grabbed my attention. The fact that she is going buy the flowers HERSELF suggests that she is slightly impatient and cannot wait for someone else to get them for her. It also suggests that she could be a bit of a perfectionist. This sentence reminded me of the saying; nothing gets done unless I do it myself. This sentence gave me that feeling that Mrs. Dalloway cannot trust that anyone will do anything right on their own without her help. Maybe these flowers are very important and she needs to make sure that everything is done right in the purchasing of the flowers.
I do realize that as the first sentence of the book it is made to grab the reader’s attention and it definitely does that, but I also think that if it stood in the middle of a paragraph this sentence could also be of some interesting value.
"How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the early morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a wave; chill and sharp and yet (for a girl of eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling as she did, standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to hapen; looking at the flowers, at the trees with the smoke winding off them and the roks rising, falling; standing and looking until Peter Walsh said, 'Musing among the vegetables?'- was that it?- 'I prefer men to cauliflowers'- was that it?"
I liked this sentence... meaning passage because it's so incredibly long, but it flows in such an interesting way. I love the comparison to the wave, and it's such a powerful introduction- saying that she's only eighteen, but she's solemn, and it sets us up to know that something bad is about to happen. This passage most definitely made me want to read more.
......I didn't set that name, and I don't know how to change it. So I did listen to your warning about writing last names... but I have no idea how to change it.
okay no biggie
Checking in! :)
checking in...
checking in--
and Christine I totally agree about the quote "was what she loved; life; London; this moment in June." It's beautiful and simple, and the syntax reflects this.
"There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical;then the hour, irrevocable."
This sentence is interesting, it's a bit abrasive in the way that all it wants to do is catch your attention. but then it develops and the sounds of the ringing bell makes sense, and you see this "soft" but powerful sound as the author is wishing for us to understand. "There!" is definitely the intriguing factor in this sentence. And it continues with the same emphasis on the more overwhelming side of a church bell going off in its hour. Then the sentence takes a turn, as if letting us see the beauty is a loud, too much to handle bell. Almost musical, how beautiful. The next and last part of this sentence is almost touching, she describes the setting of this hour as irrevocable. We then get a feel of how the author, or the character in the book feels about the passing in time. Completely solid and irreversible.
Checking In!
Checking in...yeah English 11! It's Mike just FYI!
Okay, I kind of want to quote the entire book here.... Woolf is the MASTER of syntax and poetic prose. I guess this is cheating, because I read the introduction, but the absolute BEST sentence for me is the first: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." It is so confident, so clear, and immediately characterizes Clarissa. It also earns the lengthy description which follows soon after by grabbing the reader's attention in such a simple way. What is also interesting to me is the fact that it is given its own paragraph, as if to separate it even further from the elaborateness of the rest of the text. It is glistening with clarity of diction. It also suggests a routine behavior -- buying flowers, which makes the text immediately relatable. I also love the last sentence of the reading: "In people's eyes, in the swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwich men shuffling and swinging; brass bands; barrel organs; in the triumph and the jingle and the strange high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved; life; london; this moment of June." This sentence is complicated as far as syntax is concerned: eight semi-colons. It effectively employs the "list" format, as well as having a funnel effect. The sentence begins broadly, describing things such as buses and aeroplanes, motorcars and sandwiches. These create a certain hectic ambiance which is honed down to the very intimate and serene finality of "...what she loved; life; London; this moment in June." All of the hecticness is reduced to a single, peaceful moment. This is syntactical skill :-)
p.s. I also LOVE the contrast between these two sentences. The first is so clear, the second so intricate. They are perfect book-ends, and show the expansion of Woolf's writing in a two-page passage. Truly remarkable.
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