Moments of Being (Analysis Essay)

Memories are enjoyed by people on a daily basis. Remembering a memory is almost like reliving that moment once again. Woolf has very vivid memories of her youth and expresses how much they mean to her. With the use of diction, syntax, and figurative language Woolf is able to convey her idea that with memories people are able to make connections with others as well as learn from them and overcome adversity.

     From the start the reader is able to see Wolf’s use of syntax as she uses an appositive to be able to explain her memory more clearly, “better than these walks, a treat announced perhaps once a fortnight was an afternoon sailing”. The author puts extra information about her memory of that summer to show the reader how well she remembers all of this, also to create a better image so the reader could make a connection with the author experience to that of their own. The reader then learns about the character Thoby, the brother of the author, to whom their father shows great affection and pride in, “show them you can bring her in, by boy, father said, with his usual trust and pride in Thoby. The author with the use of diction shows how much Thoby is loved by his father he is also trusted so much that his father let him drive the boat at that moment, to show that he believes in him and knows he can do it. Later the author tells the experience of Thoby driving that boat for the first time and how much this impact her, “and Thoby took the fisherman’s place; and steered; flushed, and with his blue eyes very blue, and his mouth set, he sat there, bringing us round the point..”, this moment signifies in which Thoby was not a child anymore, but a young man who was growing up right in front of her eyes taking responsibly of an adult. The author use of such descriptive diction and simple repetition syntax to show how intense her memory is and how very well she can remember it to demonstrate how this memory is important.

     To continue the author not only remembers my brother, but also “pale” jellyfish that with the use of a smile she compares to lamps which continues to show how vibrant her memories and diction are. The author then proceeds with a jargon of a fisherman to demonstrate how much Woolf was into fishing that all these unfamiliar words were so simple for her, also this shows how much into the memory the author got, “sometimes lines would be handed us; baited by gobbets cut from fish; and the line thrilled in one’s fingers as the boat tossed and shot through the water…” . The author clearly was very excited catching this fish and creating a complex compound sentence aides in the process to get the reader excited as well and deep into the author’s essay. Woolf uses very dramatic active verbs to create the tone of excitement to make the reader almost be with her in that boat twisting and turning trying to catch that fish.

     Afterward, the author displays a shift in her tone from excitement to that of remorse to indicate that something important is going too happened. The author loses her enthusiasm for a comment made by her father “next time if you are going to fish I shan’t come; I don’t like to see fish caught but you can go if you like”. At that moment the author is not treated like a small child, but a growing young lady force to make a difficult decision which will impact her for the rest of her life. The author writes a simple sentence to show what she got out of that statement from her father, “it was a perfect lesson”, simple, short and to the point showing that she learn something important at that moment. The author previously said how much she enjoyed fishing, but she was the one that made the decision to stop on account of what she really value was time with her father.

    Not only did the author stated of the difficult decision she had to make, but also that how she does not regret it or dislikes her father for giving her that responsibility, as a matter of fact she relives this memory to bring good memories to learn from in the present. The author writes that her memory allows her to relives that moment to feel that passion once more and continue to grow in her present life and be a better person. The author wants the reader to make a connection with her memories into their own life and try to make connections with other people, and learn from them as well.

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