Comparing Woolf And WEB Du Bois

The word choice provided in the essays written by Virginia Woolf and WEB Du Bois as well as the phrases used in Malala Yousafzai speech are all apart of creative writing that the authors use to get the reader’s attention. The wording these authors use to provide ingenious style compliments the use of abstract/concrete diction, formal/informal diction/, and/or general/ specific terms that help their readers focused and attentive throughout the passage.

When Virginia Woolf wrote “Shakespeare’s Sister”, her main goal was to make it obvious of the gender inequalities that took place in society during her era. Woolf used abstract (the concept) to demonstrate the types of opportunities women had compared to men. She starts off the essay as

if she were in a conscious mind, wondering what the level of would have been for a woman in Shakespeare’s time, saying, “…What would have happened had Shakespeare had a wonderfully gifted sister, called Judith, let us say” (2). Virginia Woolf speaks in specific terms when talking about “…how the story would run, I think, if a woman in Shakespeare’s day had had Shakespeare’s genius” (3); yet she talks in a more general manner speaking for all women. The essay is very personal and opinionated displaying Woolf’s personality:

“Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing
them, was often a woman.

It was a woman Edward Fitzgerald, I think, suggested who

made the ballads and the folk-songs, crooning them to her children, beguiling her

spinning with them, on the length of the winter's night” (3).

Making “Shakespeare’s Sister” out to have informal diction.

The main theme of “The Souls of Black Folk” written by WEB Du Bois is “double-consciousness”. Double-consciousness that WEB Du Bois refers to in the essay is being aware of the identity you have as a “Negro”; meaning you are a nuance, and the “American” identity that allows you to be a part of the “American world”. WEB Du Bois uses passive language when he speak on his racial differences and how he was treated as an African American in society, this is informal diction. In the quote “…the freedman has not yet found in freedom

his
promised land” he speaks on behalf of the African America race, but he also speaks as a man of the African American race(2).

Talking about the people as a whole (referring back to the previous stated quote from page 2) results in the essay containing concrete diction. WEB Du Bois speaks in general about the situations that took place within the society of the African American’s; however, he speaks specifically from the point of view as an African American.

The Speech of the United Nations by Malala Yousafzai is strictly about her rights and how girls should be allowed to receive an education. This form of writing is abstract diction. The clearness of the speech as well as the structure verifies the level of seriousness ensuring that is was formally written. The speech is also specific as Yousafzai speaks for the Taliban’s with the purpose to influence society by making it aware that everyone should have the right to have an education. Pages 2 and 3 (“There are hundreds of Human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for human

rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality”) summarizes the use of language Malala Yousafzai uses to clarify all three phrases that stand out to the

readers.

I personally believe these devices are key elements to providing a very creative and effective paper. In my opinion use of diction gives a sort of detail that helps me to understand the material I am reading. Virginia Woolf, WEB Du Bois, and Malala Yousafzai are all the perfect example of the “movers and shakers” that delivers a form of creative writing. These types of writing styles help me to gain interest and process the information better; with the specific use of diction.