Page 90 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

novel without having a mind of your own, with- But to continue my story. The Angel was
4
out expressing what you think to be the truth dead; what then remained? You may say that
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Identity about human relations, morality, sex. And all what remained was a simple and common
these questions, according to the Angel of the object — a young woman in a bedroom with an
Why and how would “the Angel in the
House” get in Woolf’s way? To help stu- House, cannot be dealt with freely and openly inkpot. In other words, now that she had rid her-
dents better understand this concept, you by women; they must charm, they must self of falsehood, that young woman had only to
could have students annotate or take notes conciliate, they must — to put it bluntly — tell be herself. Ah, but what is “herself”? I mean,
on the characteristics of “the Angel” and lies if they are to succeed. Thus, whenever I felt what is a woman? I assure you, I do not know.
the possible reasons these characteristics the shadow of her wing or the radiance of her I do not believe that you know. I do not believe
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
could impede Woolf as a writer, and by halo upon my page, I took up the inkpot and that anybody can know until she has expressed
extension, women in other professions. flung it at her. She died hard. Her fictitious herself in all the arts and professions open to
Also, you might be sure students under- nature was of great assistance to her. It is far human skill. That indeed is one of the reasons
stand what it meant to “kill” the Angel, and harder to kill a phantom than a reality. She was why I have come here — out of respect for you,
why the violent language is purposeful. Ask always creeping back when I thought I had des- who are in process of showing us by your experi-
them to explain the meaning of the last two patched her. Though I flatter myself that I killed ments what a woman is, who are in process of
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
sentences of paragraph 3, in context. her in the end, the struggle was severe; it took providing us, by your failures and successes,
much time that had better have been spent with that extremely important piece of
upon learning Greek grammar; or in roaming information.
the world in search of adventures. But it was a But to continue the story of my professional 5
DIFFERENTIATION real experience; it was an experience that was experiences. I made one pound ten and six by
Speaking and Listening found to befall all women writers at that time. my first review; and I bought a Persian cat with
Killing the Angel in the House was part of the the proceeds. Then I grew ambitious. A Persian
In paragraph 4, Woolf asks, “what is a occupation of a woman writer. cat is all very well, I said; but a Persian cat is not
woman?” She then says she does not
know. You could ask pairs of students to
discuss the importance of this moment in
the speech. You might ask them to trace This color engraving by
the use of pronouns in the paragraph, iden- Franz Xaver Winterhalter
tifying the antecedents and the purpose of shows Queen Victoria with
each comment (the use of “she” in “until her husband, Prince Albert,
and five of their nine
she has expressed herself” is especially children. Victoria ruled the
rich in meanings). British Empire from 1837 to
her death in 1876, then the
longest monarchy in British
history. Some say that
Victoria, known for her
strict moral standards, STAPLETON COLLECTION/Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK/Bridgeman Images
embodied the ideal of the
Angel in the House.
How does this work
portray Victoria as that
model? Are there any
ways in which this
depiction of her
challenges the idea of
the Angel in the House?

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BUILDING CONTEXT
In 2017, five years before her death, Queen
Elizabeth II surpassed her great-great-
grandmother Victoria’s mark for the
longest-reigning British monarch. You may
want to point out to students that the chil-
dren on the left side of this engraving are
the young Prince Albert and his brother the
Prince of Wales to emphasize how our ideas
of masculine clothing have changed. Unlike
other royal couples, Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert had a strong relationship. He
was a close and trusted advisor to her, and
she was devastated when he died at the age
of forty-two.

196 chapter 4 / Identity

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