Is Collins a nightmare or funny?

 D.W. Harding presents his views toward writer Jane Austen. At the time Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice she includes satire in her novel because judgments were taken very seriously and Austen, being a woman, had to be cautious of how the ideas she portrayed and the characters she created because one could have said that she was too radical. Harding, however, appears to be quite harsh in his analysis of Austen and seems to discredit the presence of satire in Pride and Prejudice. Harding asserts that Austen brings, “ caricatures into direct contact with the real people” (298) and he feels like she makes it blatantly obvious. Mr. Collins then becomes a topic for discussion. Harding seems to argue that Austen, in an attempt to appease herself, portrays characters in an overly dramatic way, like with Mr. Collins in order to create character’s to laugh at and to make obvious the satire behind obnoxious characters like Mr. Collins. However, here is where I would have to disagree with Harding’s degradation of Mr. Collins a character in Pride and Prejudice and his dismal of the presence of satire. Harding says that Mr. Collins is not as funny as he may seem and that Austen is rather inadequate in portraying him as a character that reveals satire because she displays his character so plainly that she presents an amateur approach to satire. I would have to say that Harding has it wrong; I feel like Austen had a deeper meaning in all of Mr. Collins’ funniness and obnoxiousness. I fee like Austen was trying to convey a real world aspect within Mr. Collins aside form his tiresome nature in which sophisticated individuals would be able to associate with. Moreover in my opinion Harding presents himself as the amateur in that he only sees above the surface and fails to dig deeper to connect with Austen’s overall portrayal of Mr. Collins. Deeper down I see that what Austen portrays is much more profound than Harding suggests.  

Apperance VS Reality: Evaluating My Essay

After reviewing my comments from the turnitin.com essay, I realize that I need to be more clear in the way I present my ideas. I need to focus on the smaller things to make my essay come together as a whole. Small things such as awkward phrases,word choice, and passive voice. I feel like I can organize my ideas better so that I can be more specific and help guide the reader more clearly. While I attempted  to analyze my ideas, next time I will look to make my analysis flow better within the overall paragraph. I look forward to the next essay and creating multiple drafts where I can catch the errors I made this time.

What makes a strong essay

I believe that a strong and to-the-point thesis is essential to creating a strong essay. The thesis serves as a guide to the reader and helps direct the readers argument. Another important aspect that an essay has to follow is focus and clearity, the reader must be able to soak in all of the ideas presented and feel as though they are clearly layed out. Good transitions and examples are important, too.
One of the essays: C Mrs. Bennet: Austen's Punching Bag in my opinion exemplies all of the qualities a good essay needs. It presents a clear thesis and claim as well as using sophistocated diction, yet it does not loose the reader's focus. This essay stays on track and uses mainly one example, Mrs. Bennet. The use of less in this essay is definitely more. And his one example is effectively explored and broken down into more in depth examples. I also feel like this essay possess a lot of the writer's own claims; staying original is very important.

C. Mrs. Bennet: Austen's Punching Bag

1. Keeps the reader interested.
2. Very sophistocated writing and very focused.
3. Gives a great character description of Mrs. Bennet in his own words.
4. Gives good examples to back up his claims.

N for Natasha

1. The writer presents a very catchy, original topic sentence to his introduction that makes me want to find out more.
2. His writing and analysis seem to be very sophistocated, yet relatable.
3. In the introduction the writer effectively presents contrast yet he is able to also bring the two authors together and present a comparison in between them.
4. I really appreicated this writer's display of knowledge for the two topics and he is able to go in depth into the material, while staying on track, and summing everything up by the end.

H for Helga

1. He introduces complexity from the start (in the introduction)
2. Thesis- is clear and to the point and gives the reader something to look forward to
3. He provides good context information, however, maybe he goes a little overboard.
4. He describes the different techniques used by each author.
5. He is very focused in his writing, stays on topic, as in talking about town gossip.

Impressions vs. Reality

Working Thesis:

While at first it may seem that both authors allot a great deal of freedom to the reader to interpret the character’s for themselves, in actuality each author manipulates the reader by employing town gossip and dubious first impressions of characters as foils, all by means to generate within the reader an overall judgment of each character even before he can investigate characters for himself.