Prompt: 1974. Choose a work of literature written before 1900. Write an essay in which you present arguments for and against the work's relevance for a person in 1974. Your own position should emerge in the course of your essay. You may refer to works of literature written after 1900 for the purpose of contrast or comparison.
In every English class taken, it seems as if majority of the focus is on pieces of work that seem ancient to us. Readings from the 1500's to Shakespeare to the 1800's, the difficulty of the language seems to lead readers to the question, "Why do I have to read this?". The point of reading literature such as Pride and Prejudice seems to get past most of the readers. Work after the 1900s is familiar to us, having lived through and kept good record of it. However, pieces before then are able to take us back and give readers a glimpse into life of the time that may not be as familiar to the reader. By reading pieces of literature written before the 1900s, modern day readers are provided a historical context through the descriptions of beliefs and customs of the time in a way that cannot be done through reading modern day literature.
Written by Jane Austen in the 1800's, Pride and Prejudice is still commonly read today. Austen's satire provides the reader with a look into the lives of families that lived during the 19th century. The focus on marriage and courtship shows the reader the importance of marriage customs of the time and how they were not necessarily perfect. Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins marry without even knowing each other. Charlotte is getting old and needs to find a man sooner rather than later and Mr. Collins wants to inherit more wealth. This idea, a common practice of the time, is unusual to a modern day reader and is something that would not be found in any recent works. Through this relationship a reader is able to understand what a typical marriage of the time would look like. Austen offers a first hand account of what life was really like and how relationships were created and flourished.
Throughout the story Austen also seems to undermine the marriage customs of her time and showcases a change that she quite possibly wanted to occur. Austen indirectly inserts her opinions into this novel through the relationship between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Together because they are actually in love, defy the norm of the time and are together despite the huge difference between their social standings. Without reading this novel, modern readers would not understand Austen’s opinions of her cultures marriage beliefs and customs and her desire for them to change.
Whether is be from the 1000's to the 1800's, work before the 1900's still bears great importance on readers in our time. These works provide us with a look into the opinions of authors, historical reference, and a look into many different cultures that seem almost foreign to us. Without reading works such as Pride and Prejudice modern day readers would miss out on learning, not just what happens in the work, but about another culture as well.
I think there is a lot of extra writing in this essay that doesn't really contribute to your thesis. The whole first paragraph, for example, addresses a why it is necessary in general to read books written in the past, rather than specifically defending why "Pride and Prejudice" is still relevant today. It almost seems like your trying to justify why the question they are asking is a good question. If you started directly with the second paragraph, your main point really wouldn't be any weaker. The same thing holds for the conclusion-it's too broad. Make it more specific to the single book you are discussing. This could make what you have much more concise and allow time or space for more supporting details.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Greg's comment about the extra writing. The extra information at the start of the first paragraph seems to weaken your thesis, as does the use of the first person. It sounds more like you're trying to justify to your classmates why it is important to read classical literature, but the College Board already accepts that it's important. The prompt just asks you to explain why.
ReplyDeleteAs Greg also suggested, try focusing more on Pride and Prejudice. After all, the prompt does tell you to select one work, and it would go a long way toward making this essay more focused. You could also then expand the body of your essay to include more than a couple of examples.
The prompt says to offer arguments both for and against the work's relevance. It looks like you've tackled one of the two, but you still need to handle the other. Actually, many of your arguments could just as easily be applied to argue against the work's relevance. (The 19th-century marriage customs no longer affect us.) Given that, you might want to make sure whether you're arguing for or against the work's relevance when you discuss marriage customs.