Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné”
This paper seeks to represent rhetorical presence in “Madame de Sevigne”, an essay by Virginia Woolf that reviews Sevigne’s collection of letters. In general, Woolf’s essays that appraise an author and her/his work are organised into several sections that correspond to the traditional rhetorical lev...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Charles University
2020-07-01
|
| Series: | Prague Journal of English Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2020-0004 |
| _version_ | 1797228792677138432 |
|---|---|
| author | Cuervo Margarita Esther Sánchez |
| author_facet | Cuervo Margarita Esther Sánchez |
| author_sort | Cuervo Margarita Esther Sánchez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper seeks to represent rhetorical presence in “Madame de Sevigne”, an essay by Virginia Woolf that reviews Sevigne’s collection of letters. In general, Woolf’s essays that appraise an author and her/his work are organised into several sections that correspond to the traditional rhetorical levels of inventio, dispositio and elocutio. The synergy of arguments and figures that are found at each of these levels are first-order effects which can create rhetorical presence, defined as a strategy that relies on the selection of certain elements and how they are presented to the audience. Presence of this kind involves a second-order effect which transmits the persuasive and expressive value of the essay if several conditions pertaining to the values of the audience and Woolf’s expertise in writing are attained. “Madame de Sevigne” is persuasive in that it tries to increase readers’ admiration towards the letter writer and thus affects the readers in a positive way. This admiration is achieved by means of Woolf’s specific use of language, which amplifies Sevigne’s figure and grants expressive prominence to the text. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:02:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a82a398274c84b1abd20a163cd014ebc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2336-2685 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:02:20Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Charles University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Prague Journal of English Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-a82a398274c84b1abd20a163cd014ebc2024-04-02T14:44:43ZengCharles UniversityPrague Journal of English Studies2336-26852020-07-0191658510.2478/pjes-2020-0004pjes-2020-0004Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné”Cuervo Margarita Esther Sánchez0University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,SpainThis paper seeks to represent rhetorical presence in “Madame de Sevigne”, an essay by Virginia Woolf that reviews Sevigne’s collection of letters. In general, Woolf’s essays that appraise an author and her/his work are organised into several sections that correspond to the traditional rhetorical levels of inventio, dispositio and elocutio. The synergy of arguments and figures that are found at each of these levels are first-order effects which can create rhetorical presence, defined as a strategy that relies on the selection of certain elements and how they are presented to the audience. Presence of this kind involves a second-order effect which transmits the persuasive and expressive value of the essay if several conditions pertaining to the values of the audience and Woolf’s expertise in writing are attained. “Madame de Sevigne” is persuasive in that it tries to increase readers’ admiration towards the letter writer and thus affects the readers in a positive way. This admiration is achieved by means of Woolf’s specific use of language, which amplifies Sevigne’s figure and grants expressive prominence to the text.https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2020-0004virginia woolfmadame de sevigneliterary essayrhetorical presencerhetorical figure |
| spellingShingle | Cuervo Margarita Esther Sánchez Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné” Prague Journal of English Studies virginia woolf madame de sevigne literary essay rhetorical presence rhetorical figure |
| title | Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné” |
| title_full | Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné” |
| title_fullStr | Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné” |
| title_short | Representation of Rhetorical Presence in Virginia Woolf’s “Madame de Sévigné” |
| title_sort | representation of rhetorical presence in virginia woolf s madame de sevigne |
| topic | virginia woolf madame de sevigne literary essay rhetorical presence rhetorical figure |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2020-0004 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cuervomargaritaesthersanchez representationofrhetoricalpresenceinvirginiawoolfsmadamedesevigne |