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Literary notes about several (AI summary)

The word "several" functions as an indefinite quantifier that brings nuance to both narrative and descriptive passages. It is often employed to indicate a non-specific plurality, suggesting a moderate number that is more than a couple but not an exhaustive group. In historical and autobiographical narratives, it subtly marks durations or customary practices, as seen when a routine is described over "several days" [1] or when an action recurs "several times" in a week [2]. In analytical or scientific texts, its use adds precision without committing to a fixed count, such as mentioning "several special conditions" [3] or referencing diverse readings in research [4]. Moreover, in literary and rhetorical contexts, the term contributes to a tone of measured ambiguity, evoking a sense of varied yet countable elements, whether outlining the diversity of characters [5] or indicating the range of contributions in historical documents [6]. Overall, "several" enriches the language by offering a flexible numerical quality that adapts to a wide range of contexts from everyday observations to complex scholarly arguments [7][8].
  1. Our work that morning was the same as it had been for several days past—drawing out and spreading manure.
    — from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
  2. After that, he often called upon us—several times in the course of a week.
    — from Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
  3. There are several special conditions, not to be overlooked.
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  4. I could give several references to the full acknowledgment of the importance of the principle in works of high antiquity.
    — from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin
  5. accept that office, or marry this fortune?—his choice really lies between one of several equally possible future Characters.
    — from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James
  6. It possesses several domes completely plated with gold and some twelve hundred spires most of which are surmounted by a golden cross.
    — from Eugene Oneguine [Onegin] by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin
  7. Several would prefer the Number 12 000 before any other, as it is the Number of the Pounds in the great Prize.
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  8. At least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.
    — from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and Alice Gerstenberg

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