Question

They had no money evidently; according to Professor Trevelyan they were married whether they liked it or not before they were out of the nursery, at fifteen or sixteen very likely.

–A Room of One’s Own,
Virginia Woolf

How do the authors use word choice and structure to support and develop the central ideas in the two passages?

Both authors use a problem–solution structure to create tension.
Both authors use repetition to emphasize the central idea.
Woolf uses a cause–effect structure, while Ibsen uses conflict through dialogue.
Woolf uses words with negative connotations, while Ibsen uses words that are mostly positive.

Answer 1

The best choice is:
Woolf uses a cause–effect structure, while Ibsen uses conflict through dialogue.

Why:
- Woolf’s sentence frames a causal relationship: lack of money → early, enforced marriage. Her diction is factual and causal (“They had no money evidently; … they were married whether they liked it or not”), which presents social/economic causes and their effects and builds an argument about women’s constrained lives.
- Ibsen, being a dramatist, typically develops ideas through spoken interaction: conflict emerges in the back-and-forth of dialogue, revealing character motives and clashes. His word choice and lineation in dialogue create immediate tension and dramatize opposing viewpoints.

The other options are weaker: the passages don’t both follow a problem–solution arc, don’t both rely on repetition, and it’s not accurate to say Woolf’s words are wholly negative while Ibsen’s are mostly positive.