《英国经典散文赏析》教学资源（参考论文）A Pure Bead of Life（My appreciation of Virginia’s The Death of the Moth）.docx_大学文库

In The Death of the Moth,Virginia told us a unique and profound story about the moth, triggering much of the contemplation of life and death.Theme Analysis and understanding of the essay,the writing styles and rhetorical devices,and my own thoughts will be discussed one by one in this paper: 1.Theme Analysis of the essay The essay is a symphony of life---the pleasant in the morning,the stillness of the noon,the extraordinary efforts against the doom and the acceptance of death.Also,it is a wonderful short drama---a tiny energetic moth enjoys life to his content in the vast vigorous world,and eventually died peacefully,uncomplainingly.However,it is this one-day-life moth that ignites the author's meditation on life and death. The moth's life to death constitutes the main line of the essay.But Virginia did not only rest on this level,she furthered her thought on the extension of breadth and depth,integrated with the thinking of life and death and the power of nature,"He was litle or nothing but life",thus creating a solemn and lofty art space and far-reaching artistic conception.The application of imagery stimulates the readers'variety of sensory,such as visual,auditory,and even olfactory.The plough,the rooks,the fields and the down beyond,the far-off smoke of houses...are all imagery showing respect and revere of life.Virginia strongly highlighted the small and large,the finite and infinite,and the transience and eternity.Based on these,it is not difficult to understand why Virginia regarded the moth as"a pure bead of life". 2.Writing styles and rhetorical devices Contrast is the main characteristic of this essay.A series of contrastive depiction in the essay reveals the writer's pondering on life and death.I sum up the serious of contrast into the following three aspects:the contrast and integration of tiny life and nature,"I"and human being,death and life. 2.1 tiny life and vast nature "Moths that fly by day are not properly to be called moths...They are hybrid creatures,neither gay like butterflies nor somber like their own species...He was little or nothing..."Virginia used a series

In The Death of the Moth, Virginia told us a unique and profound story about the moth, triggering much of the contemplation of life and death. Theme Analysis and understanding of the essay, the writing styles and rhetorical devices, and my own thoughts will be discussed one by one in this paper. 1. Theme Analysis of the essay The essay is a symphony of life---the pleasant in the morning, the stillness of the noon, the extraordinary efforts against the doom and the acceptance of death. Also, it is a wonderful short drama---a tiny energetic moth enjoys life to his content in the vast vigorous world, and eventually died peacefully, uncomplainingly. However, it is this one-day-life moth that ignites the author’s meditation on life and death. The moth’s life to death constitutes the main line of the essay. But Virginia did not only rest on this level, she furthered her thought on the extension of breadth and depth, integrated with the thinking of life and death and the power of nature, “He was little or nothing but life”, thus creating a solemn and lofty art space and far-reaching artistic conception. The application of imagery stimulates the readers’ variety of sensory, such as visual, auditory, and even olfactory. The plough, the rooks, the fields and the down beyond, the far-off smoke of houses… are all imagery showing respect and revere of life. Virginia strongly highlighted the small and large, the finite and infinite, and the transience and eternity. Based on these, it is not difficult to understand why Virginia regarded the moth as “a pure bead of life”. 2. Writing styles and rhetorical devices Contrast is the main characteristic of this essay. A series of contrastive depiction in the essay reveals the writer’s pondering on life and death. I sum up the serious of contrast into the following three aspects: the contrast and integration of tiny life and nature, “I” and human being, death and life. 2.1 tiny life and vast nature “Moths that fly by day are not properly to be called moths…They are hybrid creatures, neither gay like butterflies nor somber like their own species… He was little or nothing… ” Virginia used a series

of negative words to depict the negligible moth.In the passages following,Virginia mentioned "watching him.it seemed as if a fibre,very thin but pure.of the enormous energy of the world and been thrust into his frail and diminutive body","it was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers"The paltry moth stands vividly in pages.His life is so small that he does not have any name;his life is so inferior that no one cares about him;his life is so short that he cannot resist the final destination.All he can do is fluttering and dancing around the window-pane. "It was a pleasant morning.mid-September,mild.benignant...the earth was pressed flat and gleamed with moisture...soaring round the tree tops until it looked as if a vast net with thousands of black knots in it had been cast up into the air...with the utmost clamour and vociferation...were a tremendoushy exciting experience."Virginia wielded various verbs and adjectives to describe the energy of nature which breeds the burst of life and encourages the lure for life. The "tiny life"moth is a contrast to "big life"nature,meanwhile,in virtue of the thirst of life,“tiny life”is integrated with“big life”,Humble as it may be,anything has the right to pursue life and enjoy the equal breath of nature."The same energy which inspired...and so simple a form of the energy that was..."This connection is also the reflection of author's praise and love of life.Small "I"is one of the "tidy beads of life"of big "I".Actually,Virginia was suffered serious depression at that time,feeling the death looming,however,in this autumn morning,the vigor of living beings aroused her passion for life. 2.2“T"and human being From the second paragraph,Virginia used pronoun "I"and "one"in turns to be the subjects.Analyzing closely,we can find that when Virginia used "I",the predicates are often transitive verb."I could fancy that a thread of vital light became visible...I forgot about him...I looked as if for the enemy against which he struggled...I looked out of doors...I lifted the pencil again"Using many transitive verb,Virginia described an objective fact that captured by her senses and her reflection towards it. When she used "one",at most time,Virginia described the inner feeling and thinking aroused by the moth.Here,"one"refers to the entire human being,including

of negative words to depict the negligible moth. In the passages following, Virginia mentioned “watching him, it seemed as if a fibre, very thin but pure, of the enormous energy of the world and been thrust into his frail and diminutive body”,” it was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers” The paltry moth stands vividly in pages. His life is so small that he does not have any name; his life is so inferior that no one cares about him; his life is so short that he cannot resist the final destination. All he can do is fluttering and dancing around the window-pane. “It was a pleasant morning, mid-September, mild, benignant… the earth was pressed flat and gleamed with moisture… soaring round the tree tops until it looked as if a vast net with thousands of black knots in it had been cast up into the air… with the utmost clamour and vociferation… were a tremendously exciting experience.” Virginia wielded various verbs and adjectives to describe the energy of nature which breeds the burst of life and encourages the lure for life. The “tiny life” moth is a contrast to “big life” nature, meanwhile, in virtue of the thirst of life, “tiny life” is integrated with “big life”. Humble as it may be, anything has the right to pursue life and enjoy the equal breath of nature. “The same energy which inspired…and so simple a form of the energy that was…” This connection is also the reflection of author’s praise and love of life. Small “I” is one of the “tidy beads of life” of big “I”. Actually, Virginia was suffered serious depression at that time, feeling the death looming, however, in this autumn morning, the vigor of living beings aroused her passion for life. 2.2 “I” and human being From the second paragraph, Virginia used pronoun “I” and “one” in turns to be the subjects. Analyzing closely, we can find that when Virginia used “I”, the predicates are often transitive verb. “I could fancy that a thread of vital light became visible… I forgot about him… I looked as if for the enemy against which he struggled… I looked out of doors…I lifted the pencil again” Using many transitive verb, Virginia described an objective fact that captured by her senses and her reflection towards it. When she used “one”, at most time, Virginia described the inner feeling and thinking aroused by the moth. Here, “one” refers to the entire human being, including

the author herself.Not only "I",but all human beings,cannot escape from death.In the essay,Virginia used a number of negative meaning verbs which shed light on this opinion.For example,"One could not help watching him...One was,indeed, conscious of a queer feeling of pity for him...One is apt to forget all about life...One could only watch the extraordinary efforts...one saw life,a pure bead. Here,Virginia used“one”to replace"I''is a kind of“transference”,transferring the feeling appropriate to a particular person or group to a different person or group. Also,this shift shows the social background in her time when wars,poverty and crisis were raging and people then lead a dog's life.Perplexed and agonized,the whole world has unfortunately plunged into an unfathomable abyss of terror and pain.The people then were wandering in the junction,totally at loss where their fate would lead them,Woolf tried to show her great concern and worries about the future of human beings at large.Virginia's alternate use of"I"and "one",conveys the idea that after witnessing the struggle moth made against death,she could not help but gaze at life. The fate of the little moth has some bearing on that of the human beings at large.And the moth is an epitome. 2.3 death and life In Hamlett written by Shakespeare,it put forward the thought on life:"To be,or not to be,this is a question."The discussion towards the life value is always timeless. Seeing from the title "The death of the moth",this essay seems to focus on death, however,Virginia mentioned "life"and its relevant word at least 10 times. At the beginning of the essay,words of muted tones,such as"night,shadow,fails, somber,hay-colored"create a dark,dull and dreary atmosphere.However,writing twist is followed,Virginia put an exclamation point on thriving nature:soaring rooks, wet earth,exuberant farm and so on,triggering the caprice of the life. In paragraph four and five,Virginia started to delineate the hit of death."Srillness and quiet had replaced the previous animation...the body relaxed,and instantly grew stiff...The struggle was over.The insignificant little creature now knew death."The moth's fighting till the last moment shocks Virginia,although she said "death is stronger than I am",she wanted

the author herself. Not only “I”, but all human beings, cannot escape from death. In the essay, Virginia used a number of negative meaning verbs which shed light on this opinion. For example, “One could not help watching him…One was, indeed, conscious of a queer feeling of pity for him… One is apt to forget all about life…One could only watch the extraordinary efforts…one saw life, a pure bead. ” Here, Virginia used “one” to replace “I” is a kind of “transference”, transferring the feeling appropriate to a particular person or group to a different person or group. Also, this shift shows the social background in her time when wars, poverty and crisis were raging and people then lead a dog’s life. Perplexed and agonized, the whole world has unfortunately plunged into an unfathomable abyss of terror and pain. The people then were wandering in the junction, totally at loss where their fate would lead them, Woolf tried to show her great concern and worries about the future of human beings at large. Virginia’s alternate use of “I” and “one”, conveys the idea that after witnessing the struggle moth made against death, she could not help but gaze at life. The fate of the little moth has some bearing on that of the human beings at large. And the moth is an epitome. 2.3 death and life In Hamlett written by Shakespeare, it put forward the thought on life: “To be, or not to be, this is a question.” The discussion towards the life value is always timeless. Seeing from the title “The death of the moth”, this essay seems to focus on death, however, Virginia mentioned “life” and its relevant word at least 10 times. At the beginning of the essay, words of muted tones, such as “night, shadow, fails, somber, hay-colored” create a dark, dull and dreary atmosphere. However, writing twist is followed, Virginia put an exclamation point on thriving nature: soaring rooks, wet earth, exuberant farm and so on, triggering the caprice of the life. In paragraph four and five, Virginia started to delineate the hit of death. “Stillness and quiet had replaced the previous animation… the body relaxed, and instantly grew stif … The struggle was over. The insignificant little creature now knew death.” The moth’s fighting till the last moment shocks Virginia, although she said “death is stronger than I am”, she wanted

to deliver the life beauty in loftiness—a kind of fine fighting spirit. Virginia was a contemplative essayist, feeling the wax and wine of life in view of spirit and soul. 3. Dictation and in syntax 3.1 Use of definite articles In the history of literature, there were two essays with similar names: one is called “the death of the moth”, the other is “the death of a moth” written by Annie Dillard, just one word difference. In “the death of the moth”, the moth which the title refers to is not a mundane perishable one among numerous living beings, it is a specific moth with uniqueness which attracts the author and readers. The use of such definite article can naturally create a feeling of familiarity in readers’ heart, thus shorten the distance between readers and the moth. The first paragraph contains 12 definite articles. Facilitated by the definite article, the moth seems to own certain identity and status, so it is not surprising why his death becomes thought-provoking. Many people may easily ignore function words which do not have definite meanings, however, in Virginia’s essay, these easily-overlooking words play important roles, that is, enriching connotation and deepening theme. 3.2 Use of Personal pronouns Virginia frequently used “he, his, him, himself” to refer to the moth, making it more personalized and giving it more vitality. Actually, the moth is no longer a tiny insect, but a mini figure. In the opening paragraph, Woolf referred to the moth as” the present specimen”, she deliberately chooses this wording with the mere intention of showing her indifference and even coldness towards the moth in question. Or rather, we may say that she does not care about the creature in the least, nor can this little and insignificant creature arouses any interest in her at the very beginning. As the essay develops, personal pronouns are gradually replaced by “the legs”. At that time, the moth was not a complete living being, it is on the verge of death

3.4 Syntax The whole essay has 59 sentences,including 29 simple sentences and 30 complex sentences,the distribution is relatively balanced.Virginia arranged sentence structure clearly,for instance,"The same energy which inspired the rooks,the plowmen,the horses,and even. it seemed,the lean bare backed downs,sent the moth fluttering from side to side of his square of the window-pane."Virginia put the moth and rooks,ploughman and horse in an equal position.The moth is the same important as other living creatures. In Paragraph 5,Virginia used many short sentences to show us how imminent, terrified and intimidating death can be.Death means horror,gloom and helplessness,a power of magnitude,all-mighty and invincible.Before death,nothing has any chance. Also,this shortness may imply life can be short and miserable.The author wants to express her deep gloom,depression and melancholy of her life.So that is why we can say this article is a harbinger of her imminent death. In the last paragraph,Virginia had two detail description of the battle between the moth and the death."One could only watch the extraordinary efforts made by those tiny legs against an oncoming doom which could,had it chosen,have submerged an entire city,not merely a city, but masses of human beings;nothing.I knew,had any chance against death ""Also,when there was nobody to care or to know,this gigantic effort on the part of an insignificant little moth,against a power of such magnitude,to retain what no one else valued or desired to keep,moved one strangely."Though awkward-sounding,it is this kind of sentence arrangement that implies the tough battle the moth contends with doom.Interestingly,in the second sentence,there is only a very simple verb "moved",making the sentence heavy-headed.Such structure can bring a pressing and tottering feeling. 4.My thoughts and viewpoints Virginia seems to have a special preference to moth.In many works of Virginia Woolf's,the moth is a common imagery.For example,in A Room of One's Own,the narrator is a female moth.And The Wave is first named as the moth.In the 1940 autumn morning,when this little yellow moth burst upon her scene,she has a sudden impulse to write down

3.4 Syntax The whole essay has 59 sentences, including 29 simple sentences and 30 complex sentences, the distribution is relatively balanced. Virginia arranged sentence structure clearly, for instance, “The same energy which inspired the rooks, the plowmen, the horses, and even, it seemed, the lean bare backed downs, sent the moth fluttering from side to side of his square of the window-pane. ” Virginia put the moth and rooks, ploughman and horse in an equal position. The moth is the same important as other living creatures. In Paragraph 5, Virginia used many short sentences to show us how imminent, terrified and intimidating death can be. Death means horror, gloom and helplessness, a power of magnitude, all-mighty and invincible. Before death, nothing has any chance. Also, this shortness may imply life can be short and miserable. The author wants to express her deep gloom, depression and melancholy of her life. So that is why we can say this article is a harbinger of her imminent death. In the last paragraph, Virginia had two detail description of the battle between the moth and the death. “One could only watch the extraordinary ef orts made by those tiny legs against an oncoming doom which could, had it chosen, have submerged an entire city, not merely a city, but masses of human beings; nothing, I knew, had any chance against death “ “ Also, when there was nobody to care or to know, this gigantic ef ort on the part of an insignificant little moth, against a power of such magnitude, to retain what no one else valued or desired to keep, moved one strangely. ” Though awkward-sounding, it is this kind of sentence arrangement that implies the tough battle the moth contends with doom. Interestingly, in the second sentence, there is only a very simple verb ”moved”, making the sentence heavy-headed. Such structure can bring a pressing and tottering feeling. 4. My thoughts and viewpoints Virginia seems to have a special preference to moth. In many works of Virginia Woolf’s, the moth is a common imagery. For example, in A Room of One's Own, the narrator is a female moth. And The Wave is first named as the moth. In the 1940 autumn morning, when this little yellow moth burst upon her scene, she has a sudden impulse to write down

Life and death always strike the chords in everyone's heart and blew everybody's mind.And it is timeless classic topic for writers.Not coincidentally, Katherine Mansfield's short story The Fly and Virginia Woolfs essay The Death of the Moth both through the writer's self-symbol interpret the meaning of life and expound philosophically the relationship between life and death:that is,the essence of life lies exactly in the struggle against the unfathomable lifeless abyss and resistance against the strong destructive force.The two small texts play a similar piece of music in different tunes,getting the same result in different approaches. The fate of small roles can bring the shock of the soul as the big shot.However, this shock might be different,sometimes like chalk and cheese.The protagonist in Death of a Salesman(written by American playwright Arthur Miller)Willy Loman, once had his favorite word,but found himself achieved nothing when he got old,so he became skeptical of his own value,at last,he thought death is more worthy than life,chose to commit suicide in the process of the pursuit to illusory dream.Little as the moth is,he does not resign himself to his fate.As long as he has life,he has much zeal in enjoying his transient life and struggles valiantly against death.In the poetry Stray Bird,Tagore said "Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves."Weak moths harvest the eternal beauty through its own effort in the final moments of life,how heroic and admirable it is!Even the moth has unyielding spirit and resolution to maintain his dignity,let alone our human being.Everyone should seize the opportunity and live our own.Not only to live our lives, but to be alive. The leading English art critic of the Victorian era,John Ruskin once said "It is not the fear of death,but the contemplation of death results to lofty feel, conscious contemplation to the great misfortune is the real great and noble one in sentiment."The contemplation which the moth's death and fail triggered exalts the essay to the aesthetic realm.In this noble sentiment,there are sympathy for the moth, reverence for the tough struggle as well as the contemplation for the real meaning of life. They are neither gay like butterflies nor somber like their own species,besides

Life and death always strike the chords in everyone’s heart and blew everybody's mind. And it is timeless classic topic for writers. Not coincidentally, Katherine Mansfield’s short story The Fly and Virginia Woolf’s essay The Death of the Moth both through the writer’s self-symbol interpret the meaning of life and expound philosophically the relationship between life and death: that is, the essence of life lies exactly in the struggle against the unfathomable lifeless abyss and resistance against the strong destructive force. The two small texts play a similar piece of music in different tunes, getting the same result in different approaches. The fate of small roles can bring the shock of the soul as the big shot. However, this shock might be different, sometimes like chalk and cheese. The protagonist in Death of a Salesman (written by American playwright Arthur Miller) Willy Loman, once had his favorite word, but found himself achieved nothing when he got old, so he became skeptical of his own value, at last, he thought death is more worthy than life, chose to commit suicide in the process of the pursuit to illusory dream. Little as the moth is, he does not resign himself to his fate. As long as he has life, he has much zeal in enjoying his transient life and struggles valiantly against death. In the poetry Stray Bird, Tagore said “Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves.” Weak moths harvest the eternal beauty through its own effort in the final moments of life, how heroic and admirable it is! Even the moth has unyielding spirit and resolution to maintain his dignity, let alone our human being. Everyone should seize the opportunity and live our own. Not only to live our lives, but to be alive. The leading English art critic of the Victorian era, John Ruskin once said “It is not the fear of death, but the contemplation of death results to lofty feel, conscious contemplation to the great misfortune is the real great and noble one in sentiment.” The contemplation which the moth’s death and fail triggered exalts the essay to the aesthetic realm. In this noble sentiment, there are sympathy for the moth, reverence for the tough struggle as well as the contemplation for the real meaning of life.They are neither gay like butterflies nor somber like their own species, besides

fluttering from side to side of his square of the window-pane is all he could do which seems meaningless.But it is content with life,live very hard."That was all he could do.What he could do he did."After reading this sentence,a famous remark from Soviet writer Nicola Ostrovsky suddenly springs into mind:"When you look back at your life,you will have no regrets over any time you wasted.Nor will you feel ashamed of not accomplishing anything. In Virginia's eye,the flying moth seems to contain enormous power from the universe,fibre but pure.Just as the idea of "over soul"preached by Ralph Waldo Emerson,the human soul is immortal,and immensely vast and beautiful at some level, the souls of all people are connected,though the precise manner and degree of this connection is not spelled out.Virginia"seeing it humped and bossed and garnished and cumbered so that it has to move with the greatest circumspection and dignity", forget everything around.The thread of vital light can be seen distinctly.It seems all have disappeared,only precipitation of the pure life---life is never on end. Comparing to the poor moth,we human beings are much luckier,death seems a long way off,so there are more reason to squander time and life.Indeed,life process needs to be tasted carefully,but life itself should let death be your warning.If there would be no death,many people will just let years and months slip by,and achieve nothing in the end.Just as Emerson mentioned In Nature that "if the stars should appear ne night in a thousand years,how would men believe and adore,and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!"But every night come out these envoys of beauty,and light the universe with their admonishing smile,so many people would regard it normal and plain,not knowing cherishing it. 5.Conclusion The charm of The Death of the Moth does not only lie in the fresh and elegant style of writing about a touching story,but also lies in providing readers with a vast contemplation space.This kind of thinking on life and death is a soul-stirring aesthetic experience,not only for Virginia herself,but also for the readers.Seeing the

fluttering from side to side of his square of the window-pane is all he could do which seems meaningless. But it is content with life, live very hard. “That was all he could do. What he could do he did.” After reading this sentence, a famous remark from Soviet writer Nicola Ostrovsky suddenly springs into mind: “When you look back at your life, you will have no regrets over any time you wasted. Nor will you feel ashamed of not accomplishing anything. In Virginia’s eye, the flying moth seems to contain enormous power from the universe, fibre but pure. Just as the idea of “over soul” preached by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the human soul is immortal, and immensely vast and beautiful at some level, the souls of all people are connected, though the precise manner and degree of this connection is not spelled out. Virginia “seeing it humped and bossed and garnished and cumbered so that it has to move with the greatest circumspection and dignity”, forget everything around. The thread of vital light can be seen distinctly. It seems all have disappeared, only precipitation of the pure life ---life is never on end. Comparing to the poor moth, we human beings are much luckier, death seems a long way off, so there are more reason to squander time and life. Indeed, life process needs to be tasted carefully, but life itself should let death be your warning. If there would be no death, many people will just let years and months slip by, and achieve nothing in the end. Just as Emerson mentioned In Nature that “if the stars should appear ne night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!” But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile, so many people would regard it normal and plain, not knowing cherishing it. 5. Conclusion The charm of The Death of the Moth does not only lie in the fresh and elegant style of writing about a touching story, but also lies in providing readers with a vast contemplation space. This kind of thinking on life and death is a soul-stirring aesthetic experience, not only for Virginia herself, but also for the readers. Seeing the