Mr. Collins: A Comedic Character

While D.W. Harding mentions both the comedic side and nightmarish side of Mr. Collins, the reader may predominantly look at Mr. Collins as a character to laugh at. The exaggeration of his personality and the absurdities he embodies allow the reader a sense of comic relief. Though Mr. Collins is a true nightmare to some of his co-characters, such as Elizabeth, the arrogance, ignorance, and dumbness in his remarks give the reader a reason to laugh at his self-absorbed demeanor. Jane Austen uses Mr. Collins as a humorous but sadly true vision of the superficial society the novel is based in. The comedy of Mr. Collins lies in his unnecessary overconfidence in himself ; the reader accompanies Elizabeth in making fun of the character rather than taking his pompous words to heart. Mr. Collins, in his exaggerated obnoxious behavior and obliviousness to the emotions of the people that surround him tells the reader that he is meant to be a funny yet didactic character in the novel.

Essay Review #1

After reading the comments on my essay, I realized that I need to work on three major aspects: structure, idea, and topic sentences.
Firstly, to make my essay more understandable, I need to cut down on the length of my paragraphs, allowing the reader to be well focused all throughout my writing. Shorter paragraphs would have made for a better grasp of the idea being discussed, enhancing the entire essay's clarity.
Secondly, my idea should have been better developed. The depth of the essay depends upon the idea being discussed and whether it is intriguing to the reader or not. I learned that my creativity is still underway and I need to brainstorm more extensively on my essays to come up with more innovative ideas to write about.
Thirdly, I learned that a detailed topic sentence lays out an overview of the paragraph much like the thesis does of the essay. Next time, I will be sure to make my topic sentences more specific, thus reflective of a particular claim.
I am proud of my improvement in clarity on my essay and of not straying off the topic at hand.

The Most Important Aspect of a Strong Essay

The most important aspect of a strong essay for me, is clarity. Though a title may be the aspect that causes me to even begin reading an essay, clarity and flow are what keep me reading it. One essay in the Red Reader that embodied clarity for me was C2 Mrs. Bennet: Austen's Punching Bag. This essay was superbly written. Not only did the title hook me as I was flipping through the pages deciding what to read, but the simplicity of the essay allowed me to really enjoy it. As a reader, I want to be able to understand ideas thoroughly and make my own opinions based upon them. In the essay by C2, the author's writing, because of its clarity, flows like a song. Each body paragraph is clear and impacts the reader in a new way, connecting back to the thesis, much like every stanza in a song connects back to its chorus. Introducing a new and intriguing idea can be quite difficult to put into writing, however, this essay is able to use simplicity to its advantage and clearly communicate complex ideas to the reader. Overall, this essay was my most favorite piece of reading in the Red Reader because of its unique idea and above all, ability to keep the reader involved until the end due to its clear statements.

Analyzing 3 Essays (3)

This time, I read An Examination of Class and Economy: Austen's Molding of Mr. Hurst by D2, Are humans capable of change? How Austen makes cynics into believers by E2 and Bennet: Greek Chorus, Thoroughly Lovable Bully by F2.

D2's essay had a very effective idea in focusing on how Austen introduces a very minor character, Mr. Hurst. The entire essay was well structured and her ideas came through very well. Her mention of how Mr. Hurst foils Austen's more major characters substantiated her idea of what a significant role Mr. Hurst really had in the novel.

E2's essay was somewhat redundant and at times very unclear. The paragraph structure was confusing and the author would often end a paragraph with a quote, missing the analysis. I found myself wondering at various times in the essay what the author was trying to say. Eventually I found the idea, but I felt as though it could have been developed more extensively. In the end, the author simply repeated what he or she had said in their introduction, allowing the reader to come to no new conclusion.

Finally, I really enjoyed the idea of F2's essay. This was my favorite essay of the three. The author hooks the reader with the title and first sentence of his/her introductory paragraph. The succinct examples used to further support his claim of Mr. Bennet being a lovable bully was a good way to clarify the reader with the author's thoughts. However, I felt as though some of the quotes were too close together and the reader did not get a chance to read the analysis on each example.

Analyzing 3 essays (2)

The next three essays I read were: Control: How Jane Austen forces us to agree with Elizabeth's decisions by I for Imelda, The Ball's latest Gossip: Austen's use of Rumor as a Tool for Character Introduction and Development by O for Orlando, and finally Mrs. Bennet: Austen's Punching Bag by C2.

I for Imelda could have used better organization and structure in her introductory paragraph to set the reader up for what was to come. The topic sentences were a bit too sudden- which could be because the thesis was not clear enough. However, I for Imelda does not lack clarity. I was able to understand her ideas throughout the essay.

O for Orlando's introduction was a bit too wordy and a little difficult to follow. Though it was concise, he could have used much more powerful sentences to get his idea thoroughly across to the reader. Otherwise, I enjoyed reading this essay.

C2 was my favorite essay out of the three. The writing was clear, interesting, and structured well. It kept me interested throughout the entire essay.

Analyzing 3 essays

The three essays I read were: Faulty First Impressions by D for Danforth, Contradiction or Conformity: How Austen shapes our opinions of characters by F for Foxglove, and Risky Writing: Style Successes by N for Natasha.

D for Danford seemed to have a good idea to write about, however at certain points lacked clarity. The investigation into how Graham Greene surprises the reader with "faulty first impressions" is very deep, however, there seems to be a lot of redundancy. At times the writing seems to be confusing; I had to go back and read a few sentences to get a clearer idea of what point the author was trying to make.

F for Foxglove also had a problem with repetitiveness. The introduction could have been structured differently in order to give the reader a clearer understanding of what the author would want to talk about in each paragraph. After the introduction, the essay is structured very well, analyzing two characters at a time with relevant quotes. Overall this essay was my favorite out of the three.

Third, N for Natasha demonstrated very random and almost unnecessary analogy in the introduction paragraph, which, as a reader, did not appeal to me. Instead of clearly and directly stating her position and claim, her gambling analogies confuse the reader. The organization in the essay could have definitely been better. This essay was my least favorite out of the three.

Elizabeth Bennet: Into the Mind of the Protagonist

Austen uses her protagonist Elizabeth Bennet as an opposing viewpoint on the superficial attitudes of the early English society in which she lives; Elizabeth's interactions with her sister Jane, friend Charlotte, and rival Caroline demonstrate her character's sarcastic and disapproving perceptions of the ignorant and typical socioeconomically obsessed community of early England.