Feb
8
Importance of Being Earnest, The
February 8, 2010 | Tagged 2002, Bensley Guy, Comedy, Drama, Everett Rupert, Firth Colin, Fox Edward, Godfrey Patrick, Kay Charles, Romance, Shaps Cyril, Wilkinson Tom |
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IMDB rating: 6.70 Plot: Two young gentlemen living in 1890’s England have taken to bending the truth in order to put some excitement into their lives. Jack Worthing (Colin Firth) has invented a brother, Earnest, whom he uses as an excuse to leave his dull country life behind to visit the ravishing Gwendolyn (Frances O’Connor). Algy Montcrieff (Rupert Everett) decided to take the name ‘Earnest’ when visiting Worthing’s young and beautiful ward, Cecily (Reese Witherspoon) at the country manor. Things start to go awry when they end up together in country and their deceptions are discovered - threatening to spoil their romantic pursuits. |
Actors: Everett Rupert,Firth Colin,Wilkinson Tom,Fox Edward,Godfrey Patrick,Kay Charles,Shaps Cyril,Bensley Guy,Comedy,Drama,Romance,
Does this sentence make sense?
Hi,
I am doing AS English Lit (UK) and I am comparing ‘Fingersmith’ by Sarah Waters to ‘The importance of being earnest’ by Oscar Wilde.
I am on my second draft and my teacher told me to write about how two main characters are ‘powerful matriarchs’ - I haven’t used the word ‘matriarchs’ before so I want to check this sentence makes sense!
"Both the characters of Lady Bracknell and Sue are also powerful matriarchs in the novel, as they both play a dominant role within their groups, and this was not expected of women in the Victorian period."
If it doesn’t, how might I go about re-wording it?
Any help will be appreciated!
Thanks!
it makes sense, u used it correctly…
Nik R | Jan 05, 2010
Get rid of "in the novel"; it’s redundant, and besides, Wilde’s work is a play. I’m not familiar with "Fingersmith," but I suspect it’s a short story (?) And of course women could be powerful in the 19th Century; their sphere was different from men’s, that’s all. Men were powerful in government and business, but social standing was where women were queens. Oh, and what about Old Queen Vic herself, what? After all, Lady Bracknell IS nobility, isn’t she? Social class and standing were very important during that period.
Instead of wasting space on redundancies, set the context in the first sentence:
Both Sue in Sarah Water’s "Fingersmith" and Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s "The Importance of Being Earnest" offer us images of powerful matriarchs, women in dominant social roles, but in important ways they are radically different from one another.
You have given the reader the following information:
1. Which character belongs in which work;
2. The titles and FULL authors’ names establish the complete context. After this point you may refer to the authors by their last names alone;
3. You have defined what a "matriarch" is for purposes of your discussion;
4. You have established that the purpose of the paper is COMPARISON, without the clumsy and inept "This paper will . . ."
5. You have established an expectation of which character you will discuss first and which you will cover second;
6. You have announced your METHOD. Instead of laboriously comparing each character, one aspect at a time (which involves constant back-and-forth renaming), you have opted for BLOCK STYLE. In that method you discuss all the aspects of your first character. Then do the same with the other character, with her characteristics in the SAME order, comparing as you go. This technique avoids wordy repetition, and lets you use phrases such as "on the other hand," "by contrast," and so forth.
7. You have set up your CONCLUSION, which will reveal the principles of social context, artistic purpose, and technique which will show two different concepts of the term "matriarch."
Whew. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that a good thesis is NOT the place where an A grade is established. The critic Kenneth Burke once defined "rhetoric" as "the arousal and satisfaction of the reader’s expectations," and I have always let that be my guide in constructing a thesis paragraph.
odzookers | Jan 06, 2010
Jack Heath