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Literary notes about Which (AI summary)

Writers employ the word “which” as a flexible relative pronoun to add detail and nuance by introducing clauses that expand on or specify preceding nouns. It is used to subtly interweave additional information about objects, actions, or concepts, as when a physical attribute is further detailed – for instance, describing a bosom which resembled the back of a hand [1] – or when a name is imbued with symbolic meaning, as in a woman named Eve, which signifies the mother of all living [2]. In other passages, “which” connects ideas and actions, clarifying relationships between thoughts or events—such as an idea that transcends ordinary perception [3] or a final triumph that need not be begrudged [4]—thus enhancing the richness and continuity of the narrative.
  1. She was very thin, very pale, and had a bosom which resembled the back of her hand.
    — from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  2. Now a woman is called in the Hebrew tongue Issa; but the name of this woman was Eve, which signifies the mother of all living.
    — from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus
  3. A conception formed from notions, which transcends the possibility of experience, is an idea, or a conception of reason.
    — from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
  4. He had one last triumph, which I think we need not grudge him.
    — from Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie

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