Due Friday, December 14th - Austen Literary Analysis Essay

Overview: We engage in regular blog writing and discussion, and wrote and shared two pieces of creative writing. Now that your are scholars of Jane Austen it is time to put your intellect to the test.

Directions: Please choose one prompt below and compose an essay, using the work of Jane Austen. You must choose one of the two novels as the centerpiece of your discussion and use the other materials as supplementary works in your exploration. You must have a works cited with at least four pieces. Please consider the following in your study:

Major Works and Links to Full Text

• Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Full Text:  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-h/1342-h.htm

• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Full Text:  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/105/105-h/105-h.htm 

• Jane Austen Society 
• Website: http://jasna.org/

• Becoming Jane (2007) 
• Full Script: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.phpmovie=becoming-jane 

• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
• Full Script: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies 

• Pride & Prejudice (1995) 
• Persuasion (1995) 

Prompts

Prompt 1. In many novels, a character has a misconception of himself or his world. Destroying or perpetuating this illusion contributes to a central theme of the novel. Choose a novel with a major character to whom this statement applies and write an essay in which you consider the following points: what the character’s illusion is and how it differs from reality as presented in the novel and how the destruction or perpetuation of the illusion develops a theme of the novel.

Prompt 2. A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.

Prompt 3. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Prompt 4. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or another novel or play of literary merit.

Prompt 5. In a novel or play, a confidant (male) or a confidante (female) is a character, often a friend or relative of the hero or heroine, whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result is, as Henry James remarked, that the confidant or confidante can be as much "the reader's friend as the protagonist's." However, the author sometimes uses this character for other purposes as well. Choose a confidant or confidante from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you discuss the various ways this character functions in the work. You may write your essay on one of the following novels or plays or on another of comparable quality. Do not write on a poem or short story.

Prompt 6. Many works of literature contain a character who intentionally deceives others. The character’s dishonesty may be intended either to help or to hurt. Such a character, for example, may choose to mislead others for personal safety, to spare someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. Choose a novel or play in which a character deceives others. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the motives for that character’s deception and discuss how the deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.