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Literary notes about sample (AI summary)

The term "sample" wears many hats in literature, serving as both a concrete specimen and a metaphorical exemplar. In the realm of poetry and playful prose, authors like Toru Dutt and Gertrude Stein manipulate the term to evoke a small but potent slice of a broader essence ([1], [2]), hinting at deeper, sometimes ironic meanings. In more technical or analytical writing, as seen in Freud’s and Ukers’s works, "sample" refers to a measured portion subjected to examination or testing ([3], [4]), underscoring its role in scientific and methodological discourse. Moreover, in narrative fiction, "sample" is often used to represent a typical instance or model—Jane Austen’s remark about the metropolis being “a pretty fair sample” encapsulates a broader social commentary ([5]), while other texts employ it to suggest a representative drawing from a larger reality ([6], [7]). In all these varied contexts, the word functions as a bridge between the part and the whole, inviting readers to consider both the significance of the minute and its reflection of a much larger system.
  1. Worried and almost in a rage, One magic shaft at last he sent, A sample of his science sage, To quiet but the noises meant.
    — from Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan by Toru Dutt
  2. A winning of all the blessings, a sample not a sample because there is no worry.
    — from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein
  3. From this weighed sample certain definite conclusions can be drawn.
    — from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
  4. Express the result as the number of cc. of N/10 alkali required to neutralize the acidity of 100 grams of the sample.
    — from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers
  5. “The metropolis, I imagine, is a pretty fair sample of the rest.”
    — from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
  6. This to him represented in part high life—a fair sample of what the whole must be.
    — from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser
  7. With his collar turned up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he was a perfect sample of the class.
    — from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

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