A Sketch of the Past

Having not been exposed to much Virginia Woolf for some time, “A Sketch of the Past” was for me a reawakening to her thoughts and life and it allowed me to prepare myself for a more advanced study of her work.  I was immediately drawn by the language of the memoir, and especially how at the beginning Woolf herself acknowledges that much of the writing is spur of the moment with little planning and revising.  While I am sure that Woolf spent years organizing thoughts and memories of her early life prior to the writing of these memoirs, “A Sketch of the Past” feels as if Woolf simply wrote down her ideas more for herself than anyone else. 
    Woolf begins by describing early childhood memories, which are mostly flashes of images that she lists as they come to her.  Woolf writes that these memories are less recollections of events than sensations that she felt during these particular moments.  Woolf writes that “one only remembers what is exceptional,” meaning that each image or sensation she experiences means that it was originally an outstanding moment for her.  Ironically, for as much detail as Woolf may use to describe a day in the garden in St. Ives, she is rather bland when she writes of her own mother’s death.  She mentions offhandedly multiple times that her mother died when she was thirteen, rarely going in any greater detail.  Instead she describes related or surrounding situations, such as her own realization of closure over her mother’s death later in her life.  My theory is that she had already coped and dealt with the emotional consequences of these deaths, and instead is attempting to take a step back from her life and make a chronology of the events of her life.

About myself

Hi everyone, my name is Michael FitzMaurice and I am a senior studying English and Spanish.  Over the past few years I have explored various aspects of the English major, and right now I am most interested in the writing and publication process.  I am also a film enthusiast and I have a strong passion for travel.  I recently spent six months studying and traveling in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru where I took an interest in the Spanish language and also learned a good bit about culture and international relations.  I don't know too much about Virginia Woolf, but I feel like she is an author that I would like to know, and one that would help me mature as both a reader and a writer.  I am most interested in her writing style, but I am also excited to learn more about her life and what influenced her writing and how her writing changed over her lifetime.  I'm looking forward to a great semester!  Michael