https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v Close Reading - Annotating Virginia Woolf's "The Death of the Moth" en-us 2016-08-30 13:57:40 UTC 2025-09-28 20:44:39 UTC hello@padlet.com dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558263 2016-08-30 13:58:09 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558263 dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558308 2016-08-30 13:58:15 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558308 dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558655 2016-08-30 13:59:03 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558655 dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558938 2016-08-30 13:59:45 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120558938 dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559086 "Moths that fly by day are not properly to be called moths; they do not excite that pleasant sense of dark autumn nights and ivy-blossom which the commonest yellow-underwing asleep in the shadow of the curtain never fails to rouse in us. ]]> 2016-08-30 14:00:07 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559086 dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559197 A day-moth isn't really a moth because it doesn't evoke any particular emotion in us. We don't care about it, whereas a nocturnal moth, flying at night, evokes this "pleasant sense" in us. ]]> 2016-08-30 14:00:25 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559197 dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559460 "hybrid creatures, neither gay like butterflies nor somber like their own species" (line 4)]]> 2016-08-30 14:00:56 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559460 dhaggerty https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559924 The use of the word "hybrid," coupled with the comparison to the butterfly and nocturnal moth, characterize the day-moth as a sort of misfit, or outcast. ]]> 2016-08-30 14:02:01 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120559924 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587049 "It was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers, had set it dancing and zigzagging to show is the true nature of life."]]> 2016-08-30 15:08:46 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587049 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587556 "One is apt to forget all about life, seeing it humped and bossed and garnished and cumbered so that it has to move with the greatest circumspection and dignity."]]> 2016-08-30 15:09:58 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587556 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587715 "It was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers, has set it dancing and zigzagging to show us the true nature of life."]]> 2016-08-30 15:10:16 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587715 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587944 2016-08-30 15:10:44 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120587944 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120588756  "Yet, because he was so small, and so simple a form of the energy that was rolling in at the open window and driving its way through so many narrow and intricate corridors in my own brain and in those of other human beings, therewas  something marvelous as well as pathetic about him."

]]> 2016-08-30 15:12:42 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120588756 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589433 "He was trying to resume his dancing, but seemed either so stiff or so awkward that he could only flutter to the bottom of the windowpane; and when he tried to fly across it, he failed."]]> 2016-08-30 15:14:16 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589433 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589717 "Yet, because he was so small, and so simple a form of the energy that was rolling in at the open window and driving its way through so many narrow and intricate corridors in my own brain and in those of other human beings, there was something marvelous as well as pathetic about him."]]> 2016-08-30 15:15:01 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589717 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589738 "Also, when there was nobody to care or to know, this gigantic effort on the part of an insignificant little moth, against power of such magnitude, to retain what no one else valued or desired to keep, moved one strangely."]]> 2016-08-30 15:15:05 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589738 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589753 The moth is a 'tiny beam' of life 'dancing' around as a symbol of the 'true nature of life.']]> 2016-08-30 15:15:07 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120589753 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120590468
She is fascinated that a creature seeming so small and insignificant can be so detailed and interesting. She is trying to make a point that there is a bigger picture to so every smaller thing.]]> 2016-08-30 15:16:50 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120590468 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120590632 "...as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life"]]> 2016-08-30 15:17:17 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120590632 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120591075 In using a simile the author contibutesthe example of the moth as a 'tiny beam of pure life' to communicate the purpose of life as 'dancing and zigzagging' as the true nature of life.]]> 2016-08-30 15:18:30 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120591075 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120591428 The moth is so small and pathetic, but it can also do tremendous and marvelous things which puzzle Virginia Woolf.]]> 2016-08-30 15:19:07 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120591428 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120592189 This imagery and personification demonstrates the value of the moth due to it being full of life, despite its seemingly insignificant stature.  ]]> 2016-08-30 15:20:54 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120592189 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120593177 "After a time, tired by his dancing apparently, he settled on the window ledge in the sun, and, the queer spectacle being at an end, I forgot about him." ]]> 2016-08-30 15:23:14 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120593177 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594112 The author changes the syntax of this excerpt by using four adjectives in row to grab the readers attention and to portray all of the acts that this ball of fluttering life is doing]]> 2016-08-30 15:25:25 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594112 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594355 "It was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers, had set it dancing and zigzagging to show us the true nature of life."]]> 2016-08-30 15:25:53 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594355 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594650 The moth tried to fly across the window, but it was too awkward and failed. This addresses the seeming futility of life, that we will all die eventually. ]]> 2016-08-30 15:26:28 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594650 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594812 "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."]]> 2016-08-30 15:26:43 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120594812 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120595719 "It was if God himself had put pure life into the tiny moth just to show what life should look like. ]]> 2016-08-30 15:28:37 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120595719 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120596345 Watching something like this ball of life fluttering around the window makes one forget about their own complicated lives and focus on this simple form of light fluttering around the wondowsill]]> 2016-08-30 15:30:07 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120596345 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120596351 The phrase "queer spectacle" portrays both the idea that moths are a sight of beauty, and that they are simple but at the same time interesting and strange creatures.]]> 2016-08-30 15:30:08 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120596351 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120596767 The fact that 'an insignificant little moth' would try and struggle against the unstoppable power of death to keep its undesired and invaluable life is quite inspiring.]]> 2016-08-30 15:31:13 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120596767 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120598013 The image Woolf gave of the moth fighting against the power of such magnitude signifies the value of life the moth has.]]> 2016-08-30 15:34:02 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120598013 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120598813 "seeing it humped and bossed and garnished and cumbered," Paragraph 3, line 4]]> 2016-08-30 15:35:59 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120598813 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120599587 "Also, when there was nobody to care or to know, this gigantic effort on the part of an insignificant little moth, against power of such magnitude, to retain what no one else valued or desired to keep, moved one strangely."]]> 2016-08-30 15:38:10 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120599587 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120599814 The use of the term "His dancing" implies that the moth is thinking about what it was doing.]]> 2016-08-30 15:38:50 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120599814 https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120600349 The use of the bolded words shows the author's use of grandeose language in order to instill in the readers mind a sense of great importance and meaning within the writers work.]]> 2016-08-30 15:40:22 UTC https://padlet.com/dhaggerty/8sdhw6nxsi7v/wish/120600349