Woolf: The Death of the Moth

Virginia Woolf (sure looks sad about that moth)

Finish reading the essay The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf and blog thoughtful answers to the following questions: (Tyshauna, since you don't have a blog yet, it's okay to do them on paper or to email them to me.)

1. How would you describe the speakers attitude in paragraph 2?
2. In what ways is the third paragraph the center of the essay (apart from its being the third in a series of five)?
3. Why does the speaker lay down the pencil at the end of paragraph 4?
4. Woolf's style in this essay might be described as discursive, with longer, complex sentences predominating. Yet she uses a few brief, simple sentences. Identify two and discuss their impact.
5. Trace the emergence of combat imagery in the essay.
6. Woolf does not explicitly state a thesis, but she could be said to have an implicit one. How would you state it?
7. Describe the speaker's attitude toward death in this essay.