Paragraph Practice

 

 

In Henry James’ novel Washington Square, James uses run-on monologue, repetition of “you”, and stereotyping to expose Dr Sloper’s sexist point of view. First of all, in his conversation with Mrs Montgomery, Sloper hijacks the discussion and doesn’t give her the space to respond. James creates this effect by using run-on sentences which do not give Mrs Montgomery the opportunity to interrupt. He also employs many commas which create the feeling that Sloper always has something to add without questioning his perspective. The punctuation is declarative, primarily composed of periods and exclamation points, indicating that he is convinced he is right. Secondly, James has Dr Sloper repeatedly use the pronoun “you” in order to create a tone of judgement. Essentially, he accuses Mrs Montgomery of being a woman and uses “you” to blame her gender for making her a victim to Morris’ manipulation. For example, James writes: “You women are all the same! (…) you were made to be its handmaids and victims.” Here, Sloper generalizes Mrs Montgomery as a simple “woman.” His excessive use of “you” creates an incriminating image, it is meant to project

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