Virginia Woolf Two Paragraphs
The Gap of Two Experiences and the Problem of Gender Inequality
In two passages, Virginia Woolf describes her experience at a two cafeterias, one for a men’s college, and the other for a women’s college. Virginia Woolf uses complex diction, imagery and detail to convey her negative attitude towards women’s place in society. She also uses contrasting sentence lengths (short and long), tones (awe and formulaic), and imagery (vivid and bland) to help convey her attitude. Both passages contrast each other in terms of tone and sentence structure. The juxtaposition of the two passages leaves a strong contrasting effect for readers. Passage 1 is filled with a tone of awe and contains detailed sentences and imagery, while Passage 2 is constructed with a very formulaic tone and bland imagery. In Passage 1, Woolf uses extended, descriptive sentences and vivid imagery to help showcase her engrossed and impressed tone towards men’s college’s meals: “The partridges, many and various, came with all their retinue of sauces and salads, the sharp and the sweet each in its order; their potatoes, thin as coins but not so hard; their sprouts; foliated as rosebuds but more succulent.” By adding vivid, descriptive sentences and imagery, Woolf carries the idea that men have exciting, vivid, and luxurious lunches in universities in comparison to women, therefore showcasing men having higher status and priority than women. In terms of narrative structure, this passage is not chronological. Woolf chose not to make this passage chronological or else it would be too formulaic, and not pleasing. This helps showcase the men’s college’s dining hall is “heavenly”, which contrasts the unenthusiastic and formulaic nature of passage 2. It imparts the luxury of men’s social status and their priority over women. She communicates this idea by using a tone of awe: “…the Beadle himself perhaps in a milder manifestation, set before us, wreathed in napkins, a confection which rose all sugar from the
In two passages, Virginia Woolf describes her experience at a two cafeterias, one for a men’s college, and the other for a women’s college. Virginia Woolf uses complex diction, imagery and detail to convey her negative attitude towards women’s place in society. She also uses contrasting sentence lengths (short and long), tones (awe and formulaic), and imagery (vivid and bland) to help convey her attitude. Both passages contrast each other in terms of tone and sentence structure. The juxtaposition of the two passages leaves a strong contrasting effect for readers. Passage 1 is filled with a tone of awe and contains detailed sentences and imagery, while Passage 2 is constructed with a very formulaic tone and bland imagery. In Passage 1, Woolf uses extended, descriptive sentences and vivid imagery to help showcase her engrossed and impressed tone towards men’s college’s meals: “The partridges, many and various, came with all their retinue of sauces and salads, the sharp and the sweet each in its order; their potatoes, thin as coins but not so hard; their sprouts; foliated as rosebuds but more succulent.” By adding vivid, descriptive sentences and imagery, Woolf carries the idea that men have exciting, vivid, and luxurious lunches in universities in comparison to women, therefore showcasing men having higher status and priority than women. In terms of narrative structure, this passage is not chronological. Woolf chose not to make this passage chronological or else it would be too formulaic, and not pleasing. This helps showcase the men’s college’s dining hall is “heavenly”, which contrasts the unenthusiastic and formulaic nature of passage 2. It imparts the luxury of men’s social status and their priority over women. She communicates this idea by using a tone of awe: “…the Beadle himself perhaps in a milder manifestation, set before us, wreathed in napkins, a confection which rose all sugar from the