ENG-393: ONE WRITER’S VISION: JANE AUSTEN Final Project Topics for Final Paper Y

ENG-393: ONE
WRITER’S VISION: JANE AUSTEN
Final Project
Topics for Final Paper
You have a choice of which topic to write
about in your final paper. Select one of the topics below and write a four to
five page, typed essay, which you should submit
to your mentor by the end of Week 12 of the semester.
Topic 1:
Discuss the ways in which Jane Austen
uses caricature to ridicule or point out the faults of a rigid class system in
characters such as Sir Walter, Mr. Woodhouse, and Mr. Collins. Extend your
explanation of these character’s personalities and goals to those of one or two
of today’s politicians. Are there parallels between Mr. Woodhouse, for example,
and members of the Congress or Legislature? Explain your answer.
Topic 2:
Austen’s use of irony in her novels
offers important insights to her characters about life. What would Anne Elliot
in Persuasion share with Harriet in Emma and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice about women, class
mobility, and marriage in lessons learned from her friendship with Mrs. Smith?
Compare and contrast their experiences and lessons “learned.” Can any
of those lessons be applied to the experiences of women today? Why or why not?
Topic 3:
The rigid class system of Jane Austen’s
world obligated women to marry if they wished to improve their status in life.
Yet the experiences of women such as Harriet Smith in Emma, Mrs. Bennet in Pride
and Prejudice, and Mrs. Smith in Persuasion,
showed that the marriage and the prospect of marriage had its downsides as
well. Who or what is really to blame in Mrs. Bennet’s and Mrs. Smith’s
marriage? Remember to find and mention appropriate chapters from the novels.