Read the passage from A Room of One’s Own. And one gathers from this enormous modern literature of confession and self-analysis that to write a work of genius is almost always a feat of prodigious difficulty. Everything is against the likelihood that it will come from the writer's mind whole and entire. Generally material circumstances are against it. Dogs will bark; people will interrupt; money must be made; health will break down. What is the purpose of the rhetorical device used in the underlined sentence? The parallel structure emphasizes the idea that creative work is much more challenging than other types of work. The parallel structure emphasizes the idea that the creative process is easily and often interrupted by life’s events and obligations. The understatement emphasizes the idea that creative work is more important than life’s everyday obligations. The metaphor emphasizes the idea that the creative process is easily and often interrupted by life’s events and obligations.