Rachel Bringewatt
AP Practice Essay 2
10/15/12
After dining at both a men's and women's university, Virginia Woolf compares her experiences. Woolf focuses on the food she was served and says nothing of the conversation or of the individual students. And while many people may think that "luncheon parties are invariably memorable for something witty that was said, or for something very wise that was done," Woolf is able to depict the different roles men and women play in society through her description of the food alone. Her purposeful and contrasting tone, structure, and detail in the two passages present her belief that all women fill the same place in society - the practical, homely, economical housewife, while men are more relaxed and enjoy living life.
The most obvious difference between the passages is the tone Woolf used. In her passage about the men's meal, Woolf's attitude is relaxed and admiring. "The partridges, many and various, came with all the retinue of sauces and salads, the sharp and the sweet." In contrast, her tone when describing the women's meal is blunt, factual, and slightly disapproving. "Here was the soup. It was a plain gravy soup," and "Next came the beef...a homely trinity, suggesting the rumps of cattle in a muddy market." Woolf's tone mimics the different priorities of men and women. The men are more playful and sociable, while the women more practical and are concerned about putting the food on the table.
Likewise, the structure and word choice of the two passages are quite different. In the men's passage, Woolf's sentences are longer, with superfluous words. "Meanwhile the wineglasses had flushed yellow and flushed crimson." However, in the second passage, Woolf's sentence structure is very concise. Her sentences are short and simple. "Here was my soup." This contrasting sentence structure illustrates another difference between men and women's roles in society. The men provide the entertainment, while the women complete necessary tasks. Basically, women tend to have "no-nonsense" personalities while men are more jovial.
Lastly , Woolf highlights very different details at each meal to make her point. At the men's meal, she focuses on the finery and relaxed air. However, at the women's meal she focuses on the dull, "homely" dinner. She points out that, "There was no pattern. The plate was plain." and states "That was all. The meal was over. Everybody scraped their chairs back;...soon the hall was emptied."
Woolf's tones, sentence structure, and use of detail show Woolf's definite opinion about women's role in society. She thinks that women, unlike men, are all the same. They are practical, simple, and spend their days doing things because they are necessary. Through her diction, Woolf suggests that women should maybe step out of their box and try to enjoy life to its fullest. Women should adopt the men's attitude of "No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself."