2002APEnglishLanguage

SampleEssays
Question2
SampleQ
AuthorVirginiaWoolfvividlyreflectsuponchildhoodsummersatanEnglish
seasidevillageinacollectionofhermemoirs.Woolfdescribesanincidentwhenher
fatherswordsdiscouragedherfrompursuingheroncefavoratepasttime:fishing.
Woolfconveysthelastingsignificanceofthischangeofhabitthroughheruseofsimiles
andmetaphors,antitheses,andsensorydetails.
Modesofcomparisonplayanimportantroleinthisexcerpt,assimileand
metaphorareemployedtoconveythesignificanceofthisonesummer.Afterherfathers
statementofdislikeforfishing,Woolfceasestocontinuethehobby.However,since
fishingwassuchapleasuretotheauthor,sheisstillabletocreateanimageofthe
activityinherhead.Woolfcomparesthisimagetoaseed,which,sinceitisimpossible
tohaveeveryexperiencefully,onecangrowsomethingthatrepresentsotherpeoples
experiences.Woolfsaysthatsometimesonehastomakedowithseeds.Woolfsuse
ofthismetaphorallowsreaderstofullycomprehendwhatfishinghasbecomeforthe
author.Nolongerisitafruitofpassion,butadormantseed,amemoryfromwhichno
realactioncanbeextracted.Woolffurtherexplainshowfishinghassimplyretreatedinto
hermemorybycomparingfishingwithquicklooks,likethoserapidglances...thatI
castintobasementswhenIwalkinLondonstreets.Fromthissimile,readerscangrasp
thelackofpervasivenessoffishingintheauthorslife.Fishingissimplyamomentary
flashfromthepastandnothingmore.ThismetaphorandsimileallowsWoolftoadeptly
conveythelastingimpressionofherfatherswords,assheregretfullysettlesforher
memorytoexperiencefishing.