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Literary notes about really (AI summary)

The word “really” serves as a flexible intensifier in literature, operating both to underline sincerity and to modify tone across varying contexts. For example, in Turgenev’s work ([1]) it is employed to impart an almost ritualistic earnestness, while in Dostoyevsky’s and Dickens’s dialogues ([2], [3]) it often punctuates moments of genuine confusion or incredulity. Authors such as Oscar Wilde ([4]) and Henry David Thoreau ([5]) also use “really” as a tool to question appearances and invite readers to look beyond the superficial. Moreover, in more modern narratives like those of L. M. Montgomery ([6], [7], [8]), “really” can capture a nuanced shift in mood or attitude, lending both authenticity and emphasis to character interactions. Overall, this small adverb plays multiple roles—from bolstering a statement to softening or intensifying a sentiment—demonstrating its enduring importance as a stylistic device in literature.
  1. "Really and truly, Thenichka?" (never before had he addressed her thus).
    — from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
  2. “I don’t know really what to say.
    — from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  3. ‘Do you really mean that?’ said I. He was so composed, that I fancied he must have some other meaning.
    — from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  4. For the Greek gods, in spite of the white and red of their fair fleet limbs, were not really what they appeared to be.
    — from De Profundis by Oscar Wilde
  5. That time which we really improve, or which is improvable, is neither past, present, nor future.
    — from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
  6. I just love him—though I don't really care much for children.
    — from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery
  7. Then they found me and carted me off and before long I discovered that there wasn't really anything wrong with me.
    — from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery
  8. But really, Marilla, one can’t stay sad very long in such an interesting world, can one?” CHAPTER XVIII.
    — from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

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