Virginia Woolf | |
Virginia WoolfVirginia Woolf, "Death of a Moth" Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was born in London and was largely self-educated.
Besides being an essayist, literary critic, short story writer, and novelist,
Woolf taught at Morley College in London, and was both a newspaper and
book publisher. She was also active in the women's suffrage movement in
England. A key Modernist writer, Woolf abandoned traditional literary
approaches for an internal one, using a "stream of consciousness"
technique which recorded her characters' thoughts and emotions. Her novels
include The Voyage Out (1915), Mrs. Dalloway (1925), and
her masterpiece To The Lighthouse (1927). She also wrote the collections
of essays A Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938),
and the collections of stories Kew Gardens (1919) and Monday
or Tuesday (1921). After a long battle with mental illness, Woolf
took her own life by drowning in Sussex, England. "The Death of the
Moth" is taken from The Death of the Moth and Other Essays
(1942). | QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION | CONTENT - Describe the weather the morning of the day the author recounts.
- What is the moth doing the first time the author sees it?
- How does the author try to help the moth?
- What is the moth's last action? How does Woolf react?
- What does Woolf see out the window? How does the author link the
moth with what's going on outside?
STRATEGY AND STYLE - The author spends a good bit of time in the first paragraph pointing
out that this is just an ordinary moth she's describing, not even a
"proper" one at that. What do you make of this description?
How would the tone of the piece change if this were the most beautiful,
exotic moth she'd ever seen?
- In the first paragraph the author describes the morning as having
"breath." How does this personification fit in with the ideas
of life and death throughout the essay? Where else is there personification?
- Discuss "The Death of the Moth" as a description essay.
In what specific places does Woolf make an appeal to the senses? What
makes it good description?
- What are the rooks doing outside? What does the author compare
their activities to? What image does this comparison create? How does
this image help introduce the essay?
| ENGAGING THE TEXT | - What do you think about when you think about death? Did any of
these thoughts go through your mind during your reading? Are you thinking
of any parts of the reading now?
- Do you kill bugs or try to let them be? Does the situation matter?
Does the type of bug matter? Are you likely to rethink your position
in about these things after reading this essay? Explain.
| SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING | - Write an essay about the meaning of life and death suggested by
Woolf in this essay. Be sure to detail what's going on inside and outside
of her room, what happens before and during the moth's death, and how
your view of these things fits in with hers.
- Write a comparison/contrast essay using this piece and Ed Koch's
"Death and Justice" as the focal points. How are life and
death interrelated in the two works? Is Woolf's view compatible with
the idea of the death penalty? What does each say about the sanctity
of life?
| FOR FURTHER RESEARCH | Do some research into the circumstances surrounding Woolf's death. Some
of the links below will get you started. What was going on in the world
at the time of her death? How was her mental health? How did she die?
What was the reaction to her death? How did your research deepen your
understanding of the ideas of life and death she presents in this essay? | WEB CONNECTION | Here is a multimedia page
about Virginia Woolf and British Gardens. You can click around and
take a cyber-tour of the London and the English countryside at several
different sites. These pages bring Woolf's work to life in beautiful and
fun ways. | LINKS | Biographical This is the homepage of
the searchable Virginia Woolf Web. Try typing in "death"
and "moth" and see what you come up with. This site
contains info on Woolf and Hogarth House. You'll find biographical and
critical information there, and it's good place to check if you're doing
research about Woolf, or would just like more background. "I have a feeling I shall go mad. I cannot go on any longer in
these terrible times. I hear voices and cannot concentrate on my work.
I have fought against but cannot fight any longer. I owe all my happiness
to you but cannot go on and spoil your life." That is Woolf's suicide note. For more, here's an Associated
Press story about Woolf's sad death. (Free registration required.)
Bibliographical Here is Monday or Tuesday
in etext. Why don't you pick a poem, study it, and see how you can compare
it to her prose writing style? Did you know that Woolf also wrote poetry? This page
has links to Night and Day in downloadable formats, and this
page
has links to The Voyage Out in downloadable formats. Pick one
and download it. Do you like reading electronic texts? What are the
drawbacks of etexts? What advantages do they have over plain old paper?
Cultural This is a review
of an exhibition about Woolf at the New York Public Library in 1993.
The review will give you a glimpse into Woolf's personal history, as
it describes, letters, manuscripts, paintings, and photographs, among
other things. (Free registration required.) Would you like to put Woolf's work into historical context? Here is
a searchable Modernism
timeline that will be a great help and is even fun to use. This is a good general
Bloomsbury page. "Bloomsbury" is a district in London
and the name given to a group of Woolf's acquaintance who met to discuss
(and argue about) art and politics and other things.
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