Smith 1

Jacob Smith

Professor Watts

ENG 110

28 November 2013

Response #4 Proposal

The novel I have chosen to write about for Response #4 is The Waves by Virginia Woolf.

The aspect of this novel that I found to be the most interesting was the role that identity played

throughout it. It seemed to me that the characters distinct personalities shifted the storys focus

away from plot of the story and towards the characters journeys of self-realization. I am very

much interested in pursuing this as the primary topic of my paper because I would like to further

analyze the ways in which the characters shifting roles as narrator influenced the way the story

is experienced. Another topic that I am very much interested in pursuing is that of Percivals

role on the novel. I thought it was strange that all of the characters, whether or not they liked

him, were pulled closer together by Percivals presence. It almost came across as though each

character partially defined themselves through Percivals character. This may have some greater

meaning as some sort of commentary on the way that people define themselves based on the

opinions of those who are around them. If possible, I would also like to include something about

the word choice that each character has during their portions of the narration. While each

character had very different opinions and lifestyles the all possessed the same sense of must.

They always acted very matter-of-factly about the things they had to do, regardless of whether

or not they actually wanted to do it. This could possibly be a commentary on the grind of daily

life or, perhaps, an allusion to the concept of fate.

 Smith 2

Annotated Bibliography

Chlo Taylor. "Kristevan Themes in Virginia Woolf's The Waves." <u>Journal of Modern

Literature</u> 29.3 (2006): 57-77. <i>Project MUSE</i>. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

&lt;http://muse.jhu.edu/&gt;. This article explores the use of characterization and identity

as a tool to communicate various themes in The Waves. The three identification topics

explored in this article are identification with paternity and symbolism, identification

with maternity and daily processes, and a refusal of both that puts characters into a

strange balanced middle ground. This article will help to explore the role that

characterization and identity played in the novel.

Hhn, Peter. "The Precarious Autopoiesis Of Modern Selves: Daniel Defoe's Mollflanders And

Virginia Woolf's The Waves." European Journal Of English Studies 5.3 (2001):

335. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. This article explores the

psychological implications of the characters definition of themselves in The Waves. For

this article, Hhn used Niklas Luhmanns systems theory to analyze the way that the

characters continually redefine themselves while staying within a vague character model.

I anticipate that this article will help to add a psychological context to the ways in which

each character searches to find themselves.

Dawson Zare, M. (2012). Noisy modernists: The sound of narrative experimentation. (Order No.

3542410, University of Southern California). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 164.

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1151828292?accountid=28991.

(1151828292). This article explores the way in which the reader experiences the world in

which the characters exist in The Waves. The primary of this articles focus is on the way

in which sounds are described through the characters conscious thoughts. While not
 Smith 3

directly related to any of my anticipated topics I expect that this article will provide a

different perspective on the experience of reading this novel, which will help to further

analyze the themes within it.