DW Harding

D.W. harding's paper on Jane Austen embellishes on the notion that Austen's novel was not a satire due to its disassociation with the normal way of satirizing in that time, but rather a more intensive look into the personal life of Austen. Throughout the entire paper Harding's perspective seems to be one of someone who's personally acquainted with Austen which is obliviously not the case. There is no factual information to defend his arguments and this is why I disagree with Harding. I believe Austin's novel was a satire, ridiculing the oh so common traits of people that each one of her characters represented through the use of overblown attitudes, false impressions, and foils. What else does Austen have to due to convince the reader that this a satire, that is poking fun at peoples fault in judgement and character.

Proofread, proofread, proofread!!!!!

Going through Dr. Formans comments on apparently lacking essay, I've realized that proofreading makes all the difference. Line after line I see proofread, grammer, spelling, and such. I just have to many mistakes. More time needs to be taken as well to reorganize and further develop my sentences so they are clear and engaging. I feel I got the idea of the essay down, but through a reorganization of thoughts, much more proofreading, and more developed sentences I could take it to a much higher level. Thanks for the input Dr. Forman and I will be sure to take you up on the offer of help.

What Makes a Good Essay

To me there are many factors that make up a good essay..  A good essay essay first off, should have a great catchy opening sentence. A good opening sentence sets the mood for the reader to want to read the rest of the essay. Another factor an essay must have is the ability to run smoothly. B for Beatrice, my favorite essay, represents this the most clearly because, while the essay follows exactly your rubric structure, it stills moves along with out a mechanical feel. The best essays state a clear, original, and complex thesis, followed by clearly stated topics that are analyzed thoroughly from multiple standpoints and presented in a organized manner. The best essays say what they needs to say without a lot of nothing to fill them up.

Ranking 3 Sample Essays from the Red Reader #3

Out of G for Griselda, H for Helga, and I for Imelda, Imelda barely ranks top dog.  While she does bring up an interesting topic with her introduction her title is completely the wrong choice because only until halfway through the essay does she begin to touch upon that subject.  Her fancy language from her thesaurus keeps us engaged in what she is saying.  The structure though is somewhat lacking complexity, just focusing on mainly one character in each.  I found this essay okay, but I'm a sucker for fancy words so I liked this essay the most.  Griselda now, starts off with a weird titled and just seems very bland from then on.  The essay as well lacks complexity and any lengthy analyzation.  It covers a pretty common subject and doesn't say anything I haven't heard before. zzzzzz.  Helga starts off pretty boring and poorly written in the beginning like Griselda, but does gain a little steam as the essay continues. Thats it. : )

Ranking 3 Sample Essays from the Red Reader #2

After going through D for Danforth, E for Eunic, and F for Foxglove I decided that I didn't really like any of them that much.  First off, Danforths essay, while bringing up a possibly interesting topic, lacks a appealing intro.  His sentences seem to lack substance in what they're saying and his thesis is very lacking.  Throughout the essay Danforth seems to be missing in depth analyzation of what he is saying.  Also, he seems to add the authors name and the title of the book in sentences when they don't need to be there as if to just fill up space and thats how the essay comes across, just filling up space.  Eunice essay thesis was to specific in my taste, not giving her enough to write on.  The whole way through all she does is say that the whiskey priest does this and thats an example of Greene misleading you over and over again. Enough said, the author pick a subject she had not enough to say about.  Finally, Foxglove essay does cover an interesting topic, but the intro didn't seem long enough or eloquent enough.  Then it goes further down hill. Foxglove abuses the privilege of quotes basically putting quote after quote making this essay about 50% quotes and barely any analysis.

Ranking 3 Sample Essays from the Red Reader

For my three sample essays, I choose to read A for Alfi, B for Beatrice, and C for Cecilia.  Out of the three was B for Beatrice was the essay that agreed the most with me.  While the essay follows a very structured format it doesn't become to mechanical.  While she didn't give quotes Beatrice choice of words help the essay running smoothly as the reader goes on.  The content within answers her thesis and at the same time shows complexity.  The essay develops as the first paragraph is about Austen, the second one about Greene, and third puts them side  by side.  In all Beatrice while writing a exact copy structured of a rubric, keeps the feeling natural and shows development, complexity,and fluidity.  Alfi had an interesting topic, but his intro and thesis, I found lacking, not setting the stage enough.  Compared to Beatrice it had none of the smoothness or complexity and just seems to repeat itself throughout.  Finally, Cecilia was my least favorite of the three.  The essay was not extremely  well structure and was very this and that, not offerring very much complexity.

Working Thesis

Jane Austen’s, introduction of main characters in pairs of contrasting foils, serves to hyperbolizes each ones personal traits while purposely deceiving the reader to come to quick conclusions about each character that later prove false. 


Example:  Elizabeth and Jane Bennet are classified, as Jane the pretty and happy daughter while Elizabeth is the smart more intellectual sister.  At first the sisters seem to fit into these respective categories, however as the reader reads on they discover Austens use of foils is meant more as a way to exaggerate one trait while covering up others.  Elizabeth for example starts off as the smart-independent sister, but we soon see that this assumption is false and she is falls victim to pre-judgment of Darcey based on what others say.