The Common Reader-exercises page 532

>>What is missing in conventional novels?
In conventional novels the thing modernists seek misses. It means that they don't contain the centre of their quest, the truth, the reality.

>> How does Virginia Woolf describe life?

Virginia Woolf describes life "not as a series of gig-lamps symmetrically arranged, but as a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us". It means that life is not something that is symmetrical, that is it has conventions, but as something that is semi-transparent (--> it doesn't perfectly show how reality is).

>>What does Woolf mean by "the life of Monday or Tuesday"?
For V. Woolf "the life of Monday or Tuesday" is the incessant movement of atoms, that fall and shape into ordinary days. Therefore "the life of Monday or Tuesday" is the myriad of impressions that human being perceive with the passing of time, day after day.

>> What is the task of the novelist and how should be fiction written?
The task of the novelist is to convey the spirit, even if it may be difficult, mixing it with external life. Therefore their novel and fiction should not follow conventions, but novelists' feeling.

>> Can you see any similarity between Woolf's ideas about fiction and Monet's impressionist painting?
Yes, because both of them are against conventions and they would have to express or already convey impressions. It follows that reality is not well defined, but only an idea is represented. The writer/the painter has to give the imput and the reader/the observer should interpret it.