Final Essay for Pride and Prejudice

In the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, there are four daughters who go through experiences such as love and marriage. Not every daughter in the book has the best experience with love but somehow they do fall in love. The way Austen describes the book is by using formal English to help set the tone of the book. Austen’s creative style of writing causes people to want to read the book and want to connect to the characters in the book.

The writing of the book sounds very modern with a mix of old English. The dialogue is no work of Shakespeare but it is close by some of the grammar that is used and how some words are spelled or used differently. Back then, people use to speak in formal tones and didn't use any type of slang that were created in the 20th and 21st century. For example, on page 13, Bingley talks to Mr. Darcy about dancing with Elizabeth. He says, “You are dancing with the only handsomest girl in the room,” (Austen, 13). Instead of giving her the compliment that she is beautiful, the word used to describe a woman at the time was handsome. Other examples would be putting the letter “u” in words such as honor and humor. Today, this type of style would have some grammar and spelling mistakes.  The dialogue is sort of the same but Austen puts more depth and emotion in her character’s dialogue. In Chapter 10, Elizabeth (the main character) describes her feelings towards Darcy (the main lead character), “To yield readily – easily to the persuasion of a friend is no merit with you… you appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection,” (Austen, 50). Elizabeth is saying that Darcy is neither a friend nor a lover. He is nothing to her because she does not like his rude behavior. Austen could have written a passage of Elizabeth insulting Mr. Darcy, but she decided to word it in a way where it sounds somewhat poetic. Austen’s writing is not only to please herself but also to entertain the audience she planned to write for.

     From reading the book, the audience that Austen wrote for were hopeless romantics and young women who can relate to Elizabeth or the other female characters in the book. The book focuses more on Elizabeth, the main character, than her sisters Jane, Lydia, and Kitty.There are many women who can relate to Elizabeth by being independent, smart, but also blinded to love. There are also many women who have a Mr. Darcy in their lives- a man who is rude but charming and likes having money. Hopeless romantics who could be either men or women may love the love/hate relationship between the two characters, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. The connection between the two characters is very intriguing and romantic, “In vain, I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire you and love you,” (Austen, 323). This shows the passion that Darcy has for Elizabeth makes him change his selfish ways for her. He wants to be with her so much by considering his feelings will change her thought of avoiding love. This gives people the idea of how Austen sees love and how she tried to connect with people by emotions.

     Jane Austen’s book Pride and Prejudice is very interesting to people by being able to connect with the characters and making the dialogue very romantic and sensible. The way she writes makes people visualize how the characters look and act in the situation. This helps people understand what each character is going through, which might make them want to read more. Austen is a wonderful author of a book that became a National Bestseller with a story that many women can and will relate to.

Others

For Kyle:
Your essay is good but there a few things you should change. When you talk about how her style is magical, you should really say her writing is based on fiction and imagery. Also you should give transitions between your three prompts so then your readers won't get confused when they read your final draft.

For Alyssa:
Your essay sounds very good and is well written. However, you should end the essay stronger with a better conclusion- your last paragraph does not sound like a conclusion. Also in your second to last paragraph, there are a few grammar and spelling mistakes. Otherwise, good essay.

For Max:
God essay. There are some grammar mistakes:
"you dies" (?)
"The purpose or the reason in which I believe the author is writing about this, or telling this story is to tell history" (you're basically using words that are the same)
Also, i don't think you need to mention your blog post in final draft.
Also, don't use the word you.
You should talk more about peeta and katniss.

Book Review #2

So the book I finished reading was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The book was very interesting  to me, especially at the end. It's romantic yet sort of interesting when you realize the importance of life and love. The book was not super interesting in the middle but as Austen talks more about the main relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. The weaknesses of the book are that the language can make people confused on what might be happening. Also, it doesn't really seem interesting in the beginning until the main characters hook up. 

In my opinion, this book is for people who are hopeless romantics at any age. The way Austen describes her characters and writes her dialogue makes it seem very romantic and real. It could also be for people who like Renaissance type of books. Her type of writing isn't exactly like William Shakespeare but she is very philosophical.

Book Review

So the book I am reading right now is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The book is about four young women (Jane, Elizabeth, Kitty, and Lydia Bennett)  who are sisters but are all different by personality and looks. The second eldest daughter, Elizabeth is smart but does not interact with men the way her sisters do. Mrs. Bennett wants all of her daughters to be married but is frustrated with Elizabeth.  Mrs. Bennett arranges relationships with Elizabeth but it never works out. Mr. Darcy, the main male character is a spoiled and rich man who Elizabeth does not like but there are other sides of Mr. Darcy that she doesn't know.The language in the book is sort of different and it's much deeper, romantic, sad, etc.

The author Jane Austen is a famous writer who has written other books like Emma, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility. There have been many film adaptions of her books and many movies that have been about Jane Austen. The purpose of Jane Austen writing this book is to show the depth of romance and real problems like Shakespeare did with Romeo and Juliet, Taming With the Shrew and others. I can tell from the 12 pg. introduction she did where Carol Howard tells about Jane's purpose and how she compares that to the life she lived while writing the book.

 Another purpose that Howard states in the book is,

She became, whether she wished it or not, a professional writer in an age when the market in novels by women and for women was already well established. (xxi)

Jane Austen was modest and wrote more to relate to the audience and not to share her personal experiences or any thing about her life. She did not let her feelings come to the public and kept her life a total secret. However, her books are everywhere whether on a shelf in a library or in the hands of high school students. Jane Austen's work will always be known whether it is being read or seen in a film; she is a great writer and a great symbol for women writers.

The Coldest Winter Ever Book Post 3

In the third and final book post of the Coldest Winter Ever, many events happen in Winter's life. My partners did not summarize or discuss every detail but we talked about a few things. First thing, we summarized what happened in the beginning. So Winter is now living with Sister Souljah after Rashida, an inmate who is trying to help her life, talks to Sister Souljah and tells about Winter's troubles. Winter tries to keep her negative opinions about Sister Souljah to herself but then learns things about Souljah. We also discussed when Winter ditches Sister Souljah and has sex with G.S. but then she learns that it was G.S.'s bodyguard, Tony who she had sex with.

A question that was mentioned was why Winter is not focused on her family and why is she only focused on herself. We discussed that she is focused on herself because she is by herself and figures that she can make it on her own. Plus, Winter has her own spoiled reasons for not helping her mother, who is now a crackhead andn gets her crack from Bullet, with her extra money and trying to find her sisters.

We also summarized Winter and her journey with Bullet. She runs into Bullet while trying to find Midnight and travels with him to Florida. Bullet treats her like a queen and spoils her because he has feelings for her. They have sex later that night but then the next day Bullet tells her how he wants to be her man. Winter is drawn in and they live in an apartment with each other. Winter does not like the business Bullet is in, but still decides to stay with him. One day, Winter feels sick and takes a pregnancy test. The pregnancy test result was positive. Winter then gets an abortion but has sex with Bullet afterwards which is what the doctor wanted her to avoid. Bullet is one of the reasons why her life will never be the same.

At the end of the book, Winter is in jail a couple years later with a huge gash in her face from Simone who cut and gets a visit from all the people that she has hurt and abandoned such as Santiaga, Midnight with his wife and new adopted children (Lexy and Mercedes) and Porsche, who is prettier than Winter and now has the life she lost.

The Coldest Winter Ever is a good story with a lot of deep meaning and reality.

How The Garcia Girls Lost their Accents Part 3

Now, we are at the end of the book. In the third section, it takes place when all daughters are young. The whole book is placed in a structure where the whole story goes backwards. In my opinion, I think Julia Alvarez had a strong reason to do this. She probably put the story this way because she wants to show how the girls grew up and what conflicts or things they dealt with while growing up.

I thought that it was interesting in the last vignette how the kitten is put in the story. Somehow the kitten Schwartz is put in there and at first I thought it was just a regular kitten and I was a little bit confused. Then the second time reading it, I had an A-Ha moment! Supposedly, the kitten is supposed to symbolize the daughters but I still am not completely sure what the drum is supposed to represent. Anyway, I believe that the kitten may also represent events that are going to happen or that the kitten represents Yolanda. For instance, Yolanda feels that when the kitten is stuffed in the drum, it relates to the stress she will feel with her family and her culture, Domincan Republic. As a young girl, Yolanda deals with culture in a way adults or young adults would be worried about.

I find it interesting how the last vignette ties everything together and helps us understand everything that happened in the beginning of the book. Even though I still don't like the structure of the book, it is easier to understand once I get to the end of the book.

How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Part 2

In the second part of the book, we now read their lives as young ladies growing up to become women. I find it interesting that the book is in the structure the way it is. In the beginning, we get to find out how they are as older Dominican women dealing with their own  problems whether it is about reputation or their culture. I think the first vignette really related to the purpose of the book and was one of the most important ones.

In Regular Revolution, each of the four young girls have experiences that change their lives.  When they first go to school, they feel like outsiders because the kids are rich and do not respect their culture. The girls are taken out of this school and are sent to American boarding school. To the mother and father, this will help the girls not be involved with those type of issues.The innocence that the mother and father hope the girls keep while being in America does not last very long. The girls decide that they want freedom and to experience things they wouldn't in Dominican Republic. Not every experience gives good results for theses sisters. The girls start kissing boys and smoking marijuana - which is what the mother found out about. Youngest daughter Sofia takes the blame and is sent back to the Dominican Republic.

This does not change the way she acted in America. When Sofia goes to Dominican Republic, she meets Manuel ,who is not a good influence on her. He is sexist and possessive and is practically related to her. When Sofia has sex with Manuel , this upsets Yolanda, Carla, and Sandra. They set her up only to make her realize the bad choices that she has made. Sofia returns to the United States, learning how she upsetted her family and what a scandal is.

There are other vignettes that do talk about their culture and how their loss of innocence impacted them and the people around them. However, I felt that the girls start to lose their innocence and  culutre when they are introduced to new culutres that do not make them feel like outsiders.

The Garcia Girls: Purpose

I think the author's purpose is to show how when people travel to different places, they can adapt new lifestyles and possibly lose their culture. The four sisters Yolanda, Carla, Sandra, and Sofia all have different experiences while living in America. Her purpose is to also relate to the title "How the Garcia Girls lose their accents".

I can tell what her purpose is when she describes each other's experiences in the different vignettes. The reader Can understand the emotions of the character and what the story may be about. I can also tell what her purpose is in the story by the details that she puts in the vignettes. A example would be Yolanda and
Sofia with their problems such as Sofia marrying a German man. Yolanda, on the other hand likes to be called by her nicknames like Joe and Yo yo most of the time and has an experience where she speaks English rather than speak Spanish back.

I think the purpose is achieved very well because her purpose really helps make the story clear and let readers know what it really is about. By her quotes and details, they help relate to the title and tell us more about the character. For example, we know Yolanda's complicated love life, the way she feels when she is around her family,and  her experience at college. I also think the purpose was well achieved becasue it talks about history of Domincans and events that happened in that decade.