MODERNISTS AUTHOR PROJECT

Identify:
A)

1. I am always nervous.
2. I am bipolar.
3. I am bisexual.
4. I am a victim of sexual abuse.
5. I am a victim of my parents dying.

B) The statements above was basically all that Virginia Wolf's life was about. She as sexually abused by her older brothers. And because her parents died at such a young age that caused her to have any metal issues. She became bipolar and at times would become nervous for no reason. Because of all of the things that went on in her life she tried to commit suicide but luckily she failed at doing so.
C) The reason why she wrote the way that she did was because she could really relate to the feelings of the things that she wrote because they had happened to her.
D)

1. “I will not be "famous," "great." I will go on adventuring, changing, opening my mind and my eyes, refusing to be stamped and stereotyped. The thing is to free one's self: to let it find its dimensions, not be impeded.”  
2. “My mind turned by anxiety, or other cause, from its scrutiny of blank paper, is like a lost child–wandering the house, sitting on the bottom step to cry.”  
3. “I enjoy almost everything. Yet I have some restless searcher in me. Why is there not a discovery in life? Something one can lay hands on and say “This is it”? My depression is a harassed feeling. I’m looking: but that’s not it — that’s not it. What is it? And shall I die before I find it?”

The Authors Credo:
A) "Freedom is not free."
B) Since she could barely control herself she felt as if freedom was not free. All of the things that went on in her life was more for her to handle and she couldn't look past that. Therefore she felt as if it wasn't free.
Description of genre:
A) Virginia wrote mainly novels and essays.
B)

1. "Once conform, once do what other people do because they do it, and a lethargy steals over all the finer nerves and faculties of the soul. She becomes all outer show and inward emptiness; dull, callous, and indifferent." I like this quote mainly because it really shows how the things that really impact her life really impact her writing.
2. "Why are women... so much more interesting to men than men are to women?" Again I really liked this quote because she really tied in her life in her writings.
3. "It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others." I picked this quote because it showed her thoughts on writing and the way she thought about men.
4. "My own brain is to me the most unaccountable of machinery - always buzzing, humming, soaring roaring diving, and then buried in mud. And why? What's this passion for?" This quote really tells us what is going on in her head while she is writing.
5. "It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others." I like this quote because it shows us her opinion on writing.

My Pressing Question:
How did she allow her past experiences in her life to affect the way that she wrote and how was she able to cope with what had happened to her?

As I did my research on her I found out that there had been a lot of things that had happened to her that I would have ever imagined. I was really surprised by the things that I read that had happened to her as a child. I couldn't imagine going through the things that she went through like being raped by her older brother and both of her parents dying at such a young age. As I read more I realized that her mental illnesses were direct effects of that. 
As I read some of her writings I could tell right away that her past experiences had effected the way that she wrote. If you hadn't done any research on her and just read one of her writings you probably would of thought that she was some weird psychopathic freak. 
Virginia Wolf used her work to express herself. It's sad to say that she finally did succeed in killing herself after her house was destroyed in world war 1. Having to live through all of her own experiences and through the great depression I feel like she is a great example of a modernists artist of her time.   

Art Work:


Works Cited:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/virginia_woolf.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf