Compare And Contrast Annie Dillard And Virginia Woolf

Many people, after reading “The Death of the Moth” by Virginia Woolf or “Once More to the Lake,” would get the general idea that both essays are about death. However, it is apparent to me that both works are really an illustration of the significance of life, but each essay accomplishes this in a different way. I aim to show how these two essays are alike by comparing their similar theme of “carpe diem” as well as some stylistic choices.

A trickiest aspect regarding growing up is considering death. It's something individuals truly don't like to think about, but thinking about mortality is pretty much an inevitable part of coming of age. Everybody does it at some point—you know because we're all going to die someday, as are our loved ones. You know the drill: Our grandma show us, cherish, then they get super old and die, and after that we slither into the bathtub with their corpses. It's just the circle of life. What's that? You've never taken a bath with a dead person? Well then you might be a little surprised by how things unfurl in Helena Maria Viramontes' 1985 short story "The Moths," a story about a youthful Latina girl who feels at odds with pretty much everybody in her family except her cherished Abuelita.

In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.

Annie Dillard, the author of "Death of a Moth" and Virginia Woolf, the author of "The Death of the Moth" have different perspectives on the subject of life and death.

"The Death of the Moth," written by Virginia Woolf, explains the brief life of a moth corresponding with the true nature of life and death. In this essay, Woolf puts the moth in a role that represents life. Woolf makes comparisons of the life outside to the life of the moth. The theme is the mystery of death and the correspondence of the life of the moth with the true nature of life. The images created by Woolf are presented that appeal to the eye. For instance, the moth's body during the death is appealing to the eye. The image makes the reader more interested. The essence of true life is energy. As Woolf describes, "I could fancy that a thread of vital light became visible. He was

Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf both wrote beautiful essays, entitled “Death of A Moth,” and “Death of the Moth,” respectively. The similarities between the two pieces are seen just in the titles; however, the pieces exhibit several differences. While both Dillard and Woolf wrote extensive and detailed essays following deaths of moths, each writer’s work displays influence from different styles and tone, and each moth has a different effect on the respective writer; Dillard utilizes more blunt, and often graphic description in her writing, contrasting with Woolf’s reverent and solemn writing. Dillard is affected by allowing her to contemplate the concept of eternity and purpose

In life, there are often many different ways to experience an event depending on a person’s background and field of study. Regarding these two passages, John Audubon, a scientist, and Annie Dillard, an artisan, describe a murmuration of starlings based on their experiences. The use of their craft in the description of this phenomenon is shown through their styles of writing. While both authors use descriptive language, Audubon utilizes an exact and scientific style while Dillard utilizes a reflective and poetic style.

To conclude, Annie Dillard’s piece “The Death of the Moth;” is about Dillard being reminded of the death of a moth she observes and how it relates to herself, this piece is a great depiction of the impact of life and death. She talks about her personal experience in a tone that

Analyzing her newfound appreciation sanctions Woolf to remind herself that life is precious. Reminding herself of life 's grandeur enables Woolf to then transfer the tone into her writing. Conveying the value of life, changes Woolf’s perspective. She values life more, but as she has learned earlier from the moth, sadness is inherent; sadness is brought by tragedy, like dying. Conclusively, Woolf’s use of pathos in her writing enabled her to present a clear tone, which contributed to the theme that death is inevitable.

In the short stories, the “Death of the Moth,” Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf discover a moth flying and observes it. The short versions has two versions and both author tries to explore the theme of life and death and explains their perspectives on it. Both of the short stories have similar titles, but both pieces exhibit several differences. Annie Dillard starts off her short story by beginning the death of the moth and realizes the value of life. Virginia Woolf tells us that she sees the moth as a pathetic creature and sees that death is a powerful force that no one can stand up to. Both authors go into great detail pertaining to life and death.

Life is a constant struggle against the ever present chill of death. Fear, betrayal, and cowardice all stems from life’s distaste of death. Human beings naturally rebuke the unknown, so it is only logical that people fight the inevitability of death. However, most people are ignorant of the reality of one day dying, prompting writer Virginia Woolf to write the essay, “The Death of the Moth”, in order to convey the frailty of life whilst also showing the awesome might of death. In the essay, her main purpose is to show that the moth embodies the human race, and that death is an inevitable fact of life no matter how much the human race struggles to stay alive. Woolf is able to get her purpose across by

Young, beautiful, and doomed; In several, if not all, works of Edgar Allan Poe, there is a not so subtle theme that is found. One of the death and beauty. How is the death of a young woman romanticized within selected works of Edgar Allan Poe? In such works as “Lenore”, “Ulalume”, popular “Annabel Lee”, “The Raven”, and short story “The Oval Painter” ,the “death of a beautiful woman” theme is prevalent and strongly noted within context, word choice, and imagery. In the eyes of Edgar Allan poe, death, especially that of a woman, to be lamented and mourned by a “bereaved lover”, is the most valued tool to have and utilize when writing. In his own life, Poe was able to relate to the subject matter, as many of his heroins are believed to be based upon his wife Virginia, who had died at a young age. Unraveling the methods to how Poe romanticized death of young women in his literature might give insight to not only Poe’s life, but humanity in general..

In Mrs. Dalloway, references to life and death are seen frequently throughout the entire novel. It would not be correct to claim that Mrs. Dalloway focuses more on one or the other, for the novel brings attention to both life and death. Virginia Woolf exhibits these profound ideas through the thoughts of her characters in Mrs. Dalloway. The thought of death is constantly lurking in the thoughts of each character, and it makes even the most ordinary events become meaningful, and sometimes threatening.

Virginia Woolf and Monique Wittig are amongst the most celebrated feminist theorist. As women, Woolf and Wittig have different critical theoretical approaches in the idea of a woman. Both theorists addressed many social issues regarding problems concerning feminism, as well as have similar and different arguments about feminism. My approach for this essay is comparing and contrasting the works of Virginia Woolf and Monique Wittig each on the envision of a solution to women’s inequality in society, which writer I connect with, conceive of a woman, and the strengths and weakness of each approach.

In her novel, Mrs.Dalloway,Virginia Woolf has been able to interweave characters with such ingenuity that they flow into each other, each representing a single or more of her concerns, building together a complex structure of human fallibilities that at once speak to,but are greatre than, any single protagonist burdened with the kind of anxieties that plagued Woolf."They-Clarissa and Richard Dalloway, their daughter