Virginia Woolf, Professions for Women

In the first paragraph (lines 1-17), the writer’s primary purpose is to

• establish her background to show why she is an appropriate choice of speaker for the group

• connect her work to the work of previous great women to demonstrate her expertise

• explain why writing is an easy occupation that all women can pursue

• downplay her accomplishments to create a humble, trustworthy persona

• set up a point about the “cheapness” of writing that she will later argue against

What is the literary device used in the statement “No demand was made upon the family purse” (lines 12-13)?

• hyperbole

• metonymy

• allusion

• onomatopoeia

• personification

In the second paragraph (lines 18-30), Woolf distinguishes herself from other professional women because

• Writing and publishing come very easily and naturally to her.

• She purchases a luxury item rather than necessities with her earnings.

• She made the effort to mail her writing to a publisher, which resulted in a paycheck.

• She spent several hours a day writing when she was a girl, preparing for the writer’s life

• Her Persian cat causes disagreements with her neighbors, interfering with her peace to write.

Paragraph 3 (lines 31-74) utilizes all of the following rhetorical strategies EXCEPT

• metaphor

• personification

• allusion

• antithesis

• rhetorical question

Through the figure of the Angel in the House, Woolf suggests that

• a woman’s role in society is to be self-sacrificing, charming, and pure

• battling a woman’s natural inclinations is necessary for success as a writer

• societal expectations for women impede a woman’s ability to write honestly

• women of all ages face obstacles to their work in an unchanging society

• an internal phantom whispers to a woman writer and guides her pen

The organizational pattern of this essay can best be described as

• description of purpose to personal anecdote to symbolic story

• specific information to qualification of points to qualified opinion

• history to personal anecdotes to projection into the future

• personal reflection to fictional example to personal experience

• general overview of problem to illustrative anecdotes to solution

All of the following statements characterize the author’s struggle to become a writer EXCEPT

• “The family peace was not broken by the scratching of a pen.” (lines11-12)

• “The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room” (lines 48-49)

• “‘Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own.’” (lines 53-54)

• “My excuse, if I were to be had up in a court of law, would be that I acted in self-defence.” (lines 59-60

• “It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.” (lines 68-69)

Throughout the essay, the author’s attitude toward her audience is one of

• disdain and sarcasm

• politeness and condescension

• concern and criticism

• honesty and admiration

• hopefulness and skepticism

Virigin Woolf uses all the following EXCEPT

• metonymy

• analogy

• rhetorical question

• understatement

• sarcasm

Backing is...

• The facts or evidence used to prove the argument

• The statement being argued (a thesis

• The general, hypothetical (and often implicit) logical statements that serve as bridges between the claim and the data

• Statements that limit the strength of the argument or statements that propose the conditions under which the argument is true.

• Statements that serve to support the warrants (i.e., arguments that don't necessarily prove the main point being argued, but which do prove the warrants are true.)