h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Jane Austen's "Emma" - A4260322
Author: unchartedscaper (Is everyone here very stoned?) - U1572880

I got an A+ for this assignment, thought I'd see what other people think.

Theres already an Edited Entry about Jane Austen at A1171595 so you should link your article to that. Your article is about the book itself so I don't think the 2 should overlap too much. I'm at work now but I look forward to reading this properly at the weekend

Yeah, I checked out the Jane Austen site, it only mentions Emma, I'll try and figure out how to link it.

Is your entry in Guide ML?
If not you won't be able to link to another entry.
However if you're not confident with Guide ML it isn't neccessary to use it. If picked for the front page the subeditor could add the link when editing it.

You have footnotes, it must be in Guide ML
, I'm a little slow at times.

I figured it out, thanks.

This is good, although it makes lots of assumptions about the reader (that we've read the book for instance). You introduce Emma, but all the other characters just sort of arrive with no indication of who they are, so it's a bit disorienting.

As it's already in GuideML you could add some headers and subheaders to break it up, put the quotes in italics rather than have quote marks, and you won't need what I assume are page numbers in the entry - I assume the page numbers will be different in each book.

I just copied it straight from my assignment so I figured I'd probably need to add an intro for anyone who hasn't read it.

The page nos are there in case someone wants to go look it up, the 1st mention of Emma has a footnote with the edition I used. I put them in in case H2G2 has rules about sources and stuff.

I added an intro for people who haven't read it

My favourite book (well ... sometimes ), so certainly deserves an entry imo, and you've done well with this. What was the title of the assignment though - it seems to be broadly about the change in Emma's perceptions of love and marriage, with relatively little about the novel's place in literature as arguably the first detective novel. You could perhaps bring this out in the "still with me?" summary section.

I didn't see the opening line anywhere nor Jane Austen's often quoted comment about a heroine "whom nobody but myself will much like" (or words to that effect, it's been a long time ) - either or both quotes might be useful in the introduction.

I was interested in footnote 2 but I've never heard of Susan Ferrier , who else dismissed it?

It's not often I comment on content, I usually just pick up typos or request scientific clarification, so you've inspired me tonight, thank you!



Mol

Thanks for the suggestions, I've made some more changes.

The original assignment was meant to be a reflection on Emma's self recognition in the passage "With insufferable vanity she believed herself to be in the secret of everbody's feelings; with unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange everbody's destiny. She was proved to have been universally mistaken; and she had not quite done nothing - for she had done mischief". I had to prove that Emma's self reflection here was right, that all the mistakes she made were caused by her vanity and arrogance.

I called it Emma's Flaws and Their Consequences, so I put a subheader over the assignment part, so the first part of the guide is a (very brief) history and outline of the book, and the rest is the assignment, with a few changes to make it understandable to anyone who hasn't read it. If there's still parts that are hard to understand for anyone who hasn't read it, let me know and I'll clarify them.

Might it be worth mentioning that there have been a number of film versions of Emma, the most interesting being "Clueless" starring Alicia Silverstone, set in teenage Beverly Hills of the 1980s.

OK done that now

This is harder work than I thought it'd be!

As far as I could find out, Clueless was set in the 90s (they watched a show made in 93), not the 80s, but if you know that it's set in the 80s let me know and I'll have a better look.

You're probably right. I was basing my estimate of 80's on the size of the mobile phones!

Hi unchartedscaper,

Welcome to H2G2 and well done on your first entry! Emma is my favourite Jane Austen novel, and is up there in my top ten novels list. She's the most wonderful, spirited, meaning-well-but-making-a-mess-of-everything heroine, and you can't help loving her even in her worst moments (eg. when she is unforgivably cruel to poor Miss Bates on Box Hill). My favourite TV/film version is the one with Kate Beckinsale as Emma and Sophie Thompson as Miss Bates - Kate Beckinsale IS Emma for me! And was it that one where Ewan McGregor played Frank, or was it the film ??

Anyway, back to the entry . My first thought on reading this entry was that this was a school/college assignment, and you say you've taken it directly from one. It's a good assignment, but I don't think it's quite right for H2G2 in this form.

Your arguments are good but as Mina said, you could do with giving a bit more exposition - especially at the beginning when talking about characters such as Harriet. A character list, such as the one in the Pride and Prejudice (A847505) entry, would be useful, as there are some fantastic secondary characters such as Mrs Elton (with her 'Knightley's and her 'Mr E's ) and Miss Bates that aren't really mentioned much here.

At the moment this entry seems to be an argument along a particular line, and not a discussion of the novel in general, which is what the title suggests. This is just a suggestion, but how about cutting down the argument to include the first and last paragraphs under 'Emma's Flaws and their Consequences', and between them, a briefer summary of the paragraphs in the middle?

I think part of the issue, for me, is that you're aiming this at an audience (ie. a teacher or lecturer) who knows the book very well, whereas I think an entry on H2G2 about a novel would better serve its audience by giving a brief outline, some information about the characters, and enough interesting discussion to inspire people to want to read the book themselves.

Finally, one point about your argument itself:
I don't necessarily agree that 'Almost everything she does seems to be justified at the time, even though almost all the facts are available to her (and the readers)' - Emma, and everyone else in the novel, are shocked by the revelation of the relationship between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. I'm pretty sure I was too, on first reading (though that was a long time ago!), and while Jane Austen certainly inserts a few sly clues for us to recognise when we look back after finding out the secret, unless I'm just really dim I think it comes as a surprise to the reader in general.

Hope this isn't too long and rambling a comment - I did enjoy your argument, you write well and I think this has definite potential as a Guide Entry - I just think this needs some tweaking of tone and structure to turn it from a college essay into a guide entry.

Lbclaire

OK, I'll work on that tomorrow, thanks

I avoided Austen like the plague at Uni so I'm afraid I won't be able to offer anything other than there's no point in including page numbers because each edition will be different. Other than that, well done!

You don't know what you're missing, Jim!

Lbclaire

I suppose you could say in this chapter etc etc because i dont think that changes but the page numbers definetly would

*Change*