Questions on Rhetoric and Style

  1. How does Woolf present herself in the opening paragraph? What relationship is she establishing with her audience?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: How does Woolf present herself in the opening paragraph? What relationship is she establishing with her audience?
  2. Identify an example in the opening paragraph of each of the following, and explain its effect: understatement, parallel structure, rhetorical question, irony, and metonymy.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Identify an example in the opening paragraph of each of the following, and explain its effect: understatement, parallel structure, rhetorical question, irony, and metonymy.
  3. What is the effect of the personal anecdote in paragraph 2? Does the anecdote appeal mainly to logos or pathos? Why is it especially effective for Woolf’s audience?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: What is the effect of the personal anecdote in paragraph 2? Does the anecdote appeal mainly to logos or pathos? Why is it especially effective for Woolf’s audience?
  4. What does Woolf mean in the following description of the Angel in the House: “The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room” (para. 3)?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: What does Woolf mean in the following description of the Angel in the House: “The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room” (para. 3)?
  5. Discuss the effect of the short simple sentences that Woolf uses in paragraph 3. How do they contribute to her tone as she describes the Angel in the House?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Discuss the effect of the short simple sentences that Woolf uses in paragraph 3. How do they contribute to her tone as she describes the Angel in the House?
  6. In paragraph 3, Woolf tells how she did her “best to kill [the Angel in the House].” Examine the words and images she uses to describe this act. Do you believe the violence of her descriptions to be appropriate? Explain why or why not.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: In paragraph 3, Woolf tells how she did her “best to kill [the Angel in the House].” Examine the words and images she uses to describe this act. Do you believe the violence of her descriptions to be appropriate? Explain why or why not.
  7. How does the shift in person in paragraph 4 serve Woolf’s purpose? In what ways is this a transitional paragraph?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: How does the shift in person in paragraph 4 serve Woolf’s purpose? In what ways is this a transitional paragraph?
  8. What is the effect in paragraph 5 of Woolf’s referring to a novelist as “he”? Should Woolf have used “she” as though she were referring to herself? Why or why not?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: What is the effect in paragraph 5 of Woolf’s referring to a novelist as “he”? Should Woolf have used “she” as though she were referring to herself? Why or why not?
  9. Summarize the extended analogy Woolf develops in paragraph 5 to describe “a girl sitting with a pen in her hand.” Explain its effect.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Summarize the extended analogy Woolf develops in paragraph 5 to describe “a girl sitting with a pen in her hand.” Explain its effect.
  10. Would you characterize the language at the end of paragraph 5, where Woolf writes about “the body,” to be delicate and genteel or euphemistic? Explain, keeping in mind the historical context of the work.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Would you characterize the language at the end of paragraph 5, where Woolf writes about “the body,” to be delicate and genteel or euphemistic? Explain, keeping in mind the historical context of the work.
  11. By the time of this speech, Woolf’s extended essay A Room of One’s Own was well known as a feminist manifesto: Woolf claimed that every woman requires a separate income and a room of her own if she is to become an independent, productive woman. How does Woolf embellish this metaphor of a room of one’s own in paragraph 7? What is the effect?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: By the time of this speech, Woolf’s extended essay A Room of One’s Own was well known as a feminist manifesto: Woolf claimed that every woman requires a separate income and a room of her own if she is to become an independent, productive woman. How does Woolf embellish this metaphor of a room of one’s own in paragraph 7? What is the effect?
  12. What is Woolf’s overall tone in this speech? Because the tone evolves and shifts throughout the text, determining the overall tone is complex. Identify passages where Woolf displays various tones, sometimes in order to assume a specific persona, and then develop a description of the overall tone. You will probably need to use two words (possibly joined with “but” or “yet”) or a phrase rather than a single word. Does Woolf display anger, bitterness, resignation, aggression, apology, combativeness? Or does she show a combination of these emotions or others?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 8 - Professions for Women - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: What is Woolf’s overall tone in this speech? Because the tone evolves and shifts throughout the text, determining the overall tone is complex. Identify passages where Woolf displays various tones, sometimes in order to assume a specific persona, and then develop a description of the overall tone. You will probably need to use two words (possibly joined with “but” or “yet”) or a phrase rather than a single word. Does Woolf display anger, bitterness, resignation, aggression, apology, combativeness? Or does she show a combination of these emotions or others?