DW Harding- Is Collins Funny or a Nightmare?

In Pride and Prejudice, the character of Mr. Collins is a nightmare if he were a part of real life, however in the context of the novel, he a comedic character. DW Harding states that Jane Austen utilizes the situation of Mr. Collins' proposal to Elizabeth to espouse how "economic and social institutions have such a power over the value of personal relationship." Jane Austen satirizes her society by commenting on the importance of financial status with regards to marriage. According to DW Harding, Mr. Collins is portrayed as a "caricature" in the novel in order to provide the reader with comedic relief. Everything that Mr. Collins says is exaggerated and intended to be humorous to the readers in order the attack society without upsetting the reader. If the proposal had taken place in real life and Elizabeth had to go through with the marriage this would without a doubt be a nightmare. Jane Austen effectively twists the situation to make the circumstances comedic in the eyes of the reader.

What I need to work on for essays...

What I definitely need to work on for my essays is proofreading. There were a lot of grammatical issues in my essay that some more revisions would have fixed. I had a couple run on sentences as well as some sentence fragments. That was the major issue with my essay.

Best Essay

In my opinion what the most important aspect of an essay is originality. Obviously the essay has to be well written, however an essay that starts off with an original idea has far more potential then an essay that has a overused idea. With that in mind, my favorite essay would have to be D2, An Examination of Class and Economy: Austen's Molding of Mr. Hurst. By the student choosing such a minor character, originality is basically guaranteed. Furthermore the student offers complexity in the essay and is able to stay on topic through the entirety of the essay. The thesis statement alone, specifically the part "Hurst is the epitome of triviality of Austen's society's conscious aristocracy, so showing that one's wealth should not be the sole indicator of one's worth in society." I as a reader never considered this point and the fact the student is able to make the point so firmly and clearly support the point with examples is a testament to why in my opinion this is the best essay.

Sample Essays 3

I read C for Cecil, D for Danforth, and E for Eunice. My favorite was D for Danforth because I like the topic the student chose. The student is able to contrast the two novels withoug making the essay without making it sound too convolunted. The student's introduction gives the reader focus on what the essay is going to be about without going into all the individual details. I really like the title of the essay because it is short and catchy, "Faulty First Impressions." Contrastingly, C for Cecilia's title is rather long for a title and maybe gives away too much of the point of the essay. In my opinion the title of the essay should be focused yet intrigue the reader to find out more about the topic my reading the essay.

Sample Essays 2

This time I read essays A1, F1, and I1 and my favorite was F1, F for Foxglove. I felt that I1 especially jumped between too many different ideas especially because it talked about too many different characters. The student who wrote F1 really was on focus throughout the essay and made a very interesting point. In class we discussed how Jane Austen allows the reader to judge, however the student states that even though the narrator isn't the one to introduce the characters, the way the foils are set up, Jane Austin is "developing prejudice" for the reader. Without just regurgitating the discussion in class about foils, he/she developed their own opinion. In addition, the essay was very well written. However, the MLA format is incorrect because only the first quote requires Austen in the parenthesis.

Sample Essays

I read sample essays B2, C2, and D2. My favorite essay would have to be D2 because of its complexity and originality. It was very clever for the student to chose such a minor character because it pretty much guaranteed originality. The student was well spoken and used sophisticated language without making the essay seem convoluted. The student stays focused on the subject and continually brings the reader back to the main point of the essay. The student also introduces interesting ideas regarding the intentions of Jane Austin.

Your Turn to Judge

Jane Austin successfully makes her character introductions realistic in that she lessens the role of the narrator, and allwos the reader to make judgment based on their experience with the character as well as through the perception of the other characters.

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