Character comparisons

Characteristics of characters differ depending on the genre of novel. In a fictional novel there is a protagonist and an antagonist who conflict with each other in the novel to illuminate characteristics of the two characters. There can be a narrator to also reveal characteristics as well. Furthermore, there can also be external or internal conflicts. Main characters commonly change or grow as the story moves along- these stories are referred to as coming-of-age stories. For example, in Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennett serves as a coming-of-age character because of her maturity grows and simply because she is only 20-21 years old. In a dramatic novel there are also components to illuminate characteristics of characters by having the characters speak dialogue since there is no narrator. There are three major components of dramatic novels that reveal character: (1) the content  of the dialogue (2) the delivery of the lines and stage directions (3) and the response and reaction from other characters. For example, in Hamlet, dialogue between Hamlet and Claudius reveal how the delivery of the different characters lines reflect their characteristics as characters. Hamlet uses short sentences to answer Claudius while Claudius uses long and elaborate answers.

Hamlet compare/contrast essay

I would use the element by element style to structure an essay to compare/contrast Hamlet's and Claudius's language. I would set up the essay with two body paragraphs comparing and contrasting both character's diction and then the other paragraph comparing/contrasting the character's delivery of lines. It's interesting to see how different the two character's delivery of lines reflects the diction used. Even though both character's have long speeches, Hamlet replies to Claudius with shorter responses that get right to the point whereas Claudius has more of an elaborate response. Furthermore, Claudius comes across more sophisticated than Hamlet when he delivers his lines because Claudius takes a longer time to respond to Hamlet.

Compare/Contrast Essay Structures

Two different styles of writing a compare and contrast essay are: topic by topic or element by element. These different styles alter how the paragraphs are divided within the essay. For the topic by topic option, one paragraph would deal with a piece of poetry (for example, Woodchucks by Maxine Kumin) and the another separate paragraph would deal with a different piece of poetry (for example, Traveling through the Dark by William Stafford). After these two paragraphs there would be another paragraph that would compare and contrast the two pieces together. The other style is an element by element compare and contrast essay. This style of essay is separated by topics of both pieces (of both poems in this case). The writer would compare and contrast both pieces having to do with the topic of each paragraph. Like for example; comparing and contrasting the imagery of the poems within one paragraph and then the different tones of the poems within another separate paragraph. I think the element by element style is more effective if you want the essay to be more specific with information.

Pride & Prejudice and Death of a Salesman

Exposition: Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have five daughters. Mrs. Bennett believes her duty as a mother is to marry off her five daughters to wealthy men; however, the second older daughter, Elizabeth, believes that marriage is not about money but rather about love regardless of societal circumstances. When Mr. Collins, a wealthy acquaintance of the Bennetts', proposes to Elizabeth, Elizabeth unexpectedly refuses the proposal; thus, exemplifying her individual perspective about marriage.
Rising action: Later in the novel when Mr. Darcy, a wealthier man, proposes to Elizabeth after calling Elizabeth 'intolerable' is also denied but for a different reason. Mrs. Bennett doesn't approve of his attitude either. Elizabeth claims that Mr. Darcy's attitude is 'horrid' and wealth is not worth the misery within the marriage.
Climax: After Elizabeth receives a letter from Mr. Darcy which explains his attitude towards Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth's attitude and emotional feelings towards Mr. Darcy change.Elizabeth realizes that Mr. Darcy's attitude towards her wasn't sincere.
Falling action: Elizabeth begins to feel compassion for Mr. Darcy and hopes that he still feels the same way about her, even after the refusal to his proposal. She begins to fall in love with him.
Denouement: Once Elizabeth admits her feelings to Mr. Darcy, he proposes again and they get married. Mrs. Bennett's attitude towards Mr. Darcy changes as well because since Elizabeth is getting married to one of the wealthiest known men he is now tolerable.

Exposition: Willy and his wife live at a house in Brooklyn. They have two sons, Biff and Happy. Biff was an idolized football player in high school and Willy associated him with being 'Godly.' However, Biff and Happy are essentially unemployed at the moment so they live at their parents house for awhile until they find a job in the city. When the two boys were young they idolized their father and Willy always thought the best of his sons and believed that they couldn't fail in life, like he eventually did. Willy, a lot of times, day dreams about the past and how good it was to see Biff being a success in high school and inaccurately tries to relate it to the present; thus, Willy's mental state begins to fail worse and worse as the book progresses
Rising Action: Biff goes to see his father in Boston to tell him about college. Biff catches Willy cheating on his wife, which shattered Biff's hopes and dreams of being a success.
Climax: Biff realizes that his father let him down with a lie that tore his family apart and ruined his own life of going to college.
Falling Action: Biff then aspires to confront Willy about this let down and confront him that his problems in life were caused by him. Willy can not overcome this realization and quickly begins to go mentally insane while remembering the past and the present day.
Denouement: Willy decides the only way to repay his forgiveness is to surrender his life insurance money to his family, because he feels that's all he is worth at the moment. Willy then commits suicide in the end.

Woodchucks and Deer

In the two poems nature is illustrated in two different perspectives. While Kumin describes the killings in great detail, Stafford describes the aftermath of the killing. Kumin almost 'enjoys' the killings by making the sentences long and detailed. Stafford on the other hand uses short sentences which grieves more remorse for the dead deer. Also, Kumin kills the animals in his poem while Stafford aids the deer whom he sees on the road. Their views of nature and animals differ and are exemplified with how they deal with death of animals. The Kumin poem has the a violent tone because it creates graphic images that reflect his reflection about nature.  Stafford has a more delicate and caring tone that reflects his aid to nature and how he takes care of the deer he finds on the side of the road.

DW Harding Agree/Disagree

I think Harding makes some positive arguments about how Mrs. Bennett is portrayed through Austen’s hatred toward society but also some wrong arguments having to do with certain vocabulary represented as characteristics. I do agree with Harding when she states “Caricature served Jane Austen’s purpose perfectly.” Since Austen presents the idea of an independent woman, Elizabeth, and having her reject Mr. Collins portrays Austen’s radical view of individualism through a view that was not commonly acceptable. Basically, in order to prove Austen’s point Harding expresses that the exaggeration of characters allows Austen to convey her strong hatred in actuality. Moreover, laughing at an exaggerated character distracts the reader from criticizing the truth behind the exaggeration illustrated. Even though I do believe that Austen demonstrates Mrs. Bennett as somebody to ‘laugh out of fear’ at, I disagree with Harding’s statement “exaggerated figures of fun people whom she herself detests and fears.” The word ‘detest’ is not an accurate representation of what Austen believes Mrs. Bennett as. Austen doesn’t hate Mrs. Bennett; instead she creates Mrs. Bennett as a laughable and exaggerated character- thus a positive character that is over-the-top instead of a negative character to criticize. The fact that Mrs. Bennett is hard to take seriously represents Austen’s view that society is more or less a joke in itself.

Revision

In order to revise my essay as a whole, I need to specify more of my ideas and expands the ideas to come across more clearly. I need to eliminate wordiness in my introduction and first paragraphs, I will either take out some words or combine ideas in separate sentences. I need to eliminate some uses of passive voice in my introduction paragraph by just changing the tense of the verbs. In the introduction I use the word 'you' a lot so I have to rearrange my sentences to avoid being too personal. I need to use different words to justify the meaning of my ideas. I generalize my ideas too much, in my second paragraph especially, so I need to delete sentences and/or be more specific with the point I want to make. I need to work on my introduction as a whole more and make it flow a little more being towards the end it's really rough. I need to eliminate any confusion on my conclusion as well and make it more specific.