2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
First impressions are always very important, even in a piece of literature. Often, an event in the past can shape the whole future of the book. This is the case in Pride and Prejudice. In the first few chapters of Pride and Prejudice there is a huge party held at Mr. Bingley's mansion. At this gathering, lasting impressions are made and shape the story as it progresses.
Being the first introduction to most of the characters in the play, this party goes into detail about the personality of the main characters in this novel. Here, the reader can see just how different all of the Bennet sisters are. Lydia is young and slightly wild, Elizabeth is has bit of a temper and is stubborn, and finally, Jane who is kind and overall very compassionate toward others. Their personalities shape the way in which the interact at this party and with the others there. In the case of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, this is one event that shapes their relationship for the duration of the book.
After overhearing Mr. Darcy talking about her, Elizabeth is quick to pass judgement on him. Because of this, Elizabeth sees Mr. Darcy as full of himself and not worth her time. This affects the dynamic of their relationship throughout the whole book. Mr. Darcy begins to fall for Elizabeth, however she is reluctant to let him into her life. Elizabeth associates Darcy, with the first time she met him for the majority of the book. She has trouble putting the past behind her with Darcy and denies each one of his romantic advances. After much effort is put in on Mr. Darcy's part, the painful past slowly leaves Elizabeth's mind and eventually leads to them being together.
You use nice description and do a great job of incorportating the plot without overloading the reader with information. But, I feel as if it is just too short. For the AP test this may be all you can write (if you run out of time) but for a blog post I feel like you can add more since you do have the time. Lengthening the piece and adding more detail to further prove your point just makes for a better, more effective piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteGreat job with this prompt! To start, like Sam said, I really like how you give the reader enough to understand the plot of "Pride and Prejudice" but not to much where the essay just becomes a summary of what happened. In addition, I feel that you could have added more detail to how Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's relationship grows throughout the book and then gone further to explain how the first impression affected each scene between the two. Also, mentioning the two other sisters, Lydia and Jane, at the beginning of the essay set me up to think you were going to later explain how their first impressions affected the rest of the book. Adding this would make your post much stronger.
ReplyDeleteNow for a couple of grammar mistakes. When saying, "Lydia is young and slightly wild, Elizabeth is has bit of a temper and is stubborn, and finally, Jane who is kind and overall very compassionate toward others" it should actually read "Lydia is young and slightly wild, Elizabeth has a bit of a tember and it stubborn, and finally, Jane is kind and overall ver compassionate toward others." Overall great job!