Class Questions from Friday 1-30

In class on Friday we were discussing 3 questions: What is Woolf's "take away" point or conclusion? Is her point still relevant today? and, Does it need to be adapted in any way? I didn't share my opinions in class, but I would like to share my thoughts now.

I think Woolf's "take away" point is that the women she is speaking to have no excuse not to succeed, to not be ground-breaking. Women before them were denied the means needed for success and now these women are given those means and must take advantage of what they have been given. Woolf wants these women to succeed for all the women before them. She explains, "but she lives; for great poets do not die; they are continuing presences; they need only the opportunity to walk among us in the flesh." (p.113).

This point is still relevant in today's world because there are many people who have been given all they need to succeed and do not use it. For example, some people have the ability to go to college, get an education, and later a job, but choose not to go. Then there are those who do not use their God-given talents and waste their gifts.

Woolf's point does need to be adapted slightly in that we don't need to focus on using our gifts for those before us, but rather that we should just take advantage of all the opportunities we have been given and use them to our full potential