Revision Guide for Persuasion: -Below you will find some points for you to take into account

for you revision of Jane Austens novel. 1-Please review with special care the articles I assigned as required reading for Persuasion (Feminist-Narratological Reading, Reading and Writing, The Privilige of my Profession, Friendship in Persuasion) 2.When reviewing the articles you should bear in mind the following points: a)Highlight the most relevant ideas b)Insights offered for the reading of the novel c)Do you agree with the arguments presented by the author? Why yes/no? d)Pay attention to the passages quoted in the articles. Why does the author choose those passages? 3-Re-read Daniela Amistadis presentation 4-Read the file I sent you on Jane Austens style. 5.Review the novel paying attention to the following points: Narrator Focalization and point of view Characterization Anachrony Types of discourse presentation Themes or aspects that are explored in the novel: Find instances of the following in the text: -Economy and extravagance -Risk and caution
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-Selfishness and selflessness: Which characters exhibit selfish and selfless behaviour? -Pride: Two kinds of pride: a)Snobbishness or obsession with rank and beauty b) Concern to preserve integrity and dignity -Personal bias and point of view: No character is free from some form of bias, prejudice or obsession, and that shapes judgement. -Situation: On receiving news of the alliance between Benwick and Louisa, Anne attributes it to their situation. Austen attributes considerable importance to situation in the formation of an individuals fate Also related: Men had almost entire control over the fate of women of Annes class. -Constancy and inconstancy in love: Which characters remain constant in love?

Narrative technique and Style:

Narrative Voice: As we read Persuasion, we are addressed by a narrative voice, which does not belong to any participant in the story, but which does not lay claim to total knowledge of all details, nor assume full understanding of all underlying motives. This voice is marked by confidence that we will share a certain set of valus, and will agree with the narrators view of the world.

Satire: Austens readers today will have little trouble in sharing her broad sense of right and wrong, and so will be able to recognize easily the targets of her satirical approach.

Ambivalence: The concern of the novel with the relative merits of taking risks and exercising caution, of impetuosity and security, does not lend itself to easy resolution. The central issue in Persuasion remains ambivalent.

Free Indirect Discourse: Though Jane Austen employs a third-person narrative voice, harking back to the example of Henry Fielding, there are times when Anne Eliots Perception of events, and response to them, is rendered with a directness that makes them appear far more modern in technique. In those instances when Austen focuses on Annes inner states, the attention to nuances of perception and to the fervid operation of Annes consciousness, anticipates much later developments in psychological realism. It could be said that such sequences in Persuasion presage the stream of consciousness technique used a century later by Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf.

Parenthetical Remarks: Jane Austen makes particularly effective use of parenthetical remarks. The general effect is to ironies the meaning conveyed by the sentences in which they are set. Example: Ch. 1: Be it known then, that Sir Walter, like a good father, (having met with one or two private disappointments in very unreasonable applications) prided himself on remaining single for his dear daughters sake.
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The information contained within the brackets, that Sir Walter had in fact sought to marry women of high status who rejected him, demolishes the validity of the surrounding sentence. Far from being his central concern, his daughters merely provide a means to conceal his embarrassment. Irony: Despite Jane Austens apparent straightforwardness, appropriate interpretation of events and characters in the novel regularly poses a challenge. This is due to the pervasiveness of Jane Austens irony. It takes numerous forms, but invariably involves a disparity between the meaning that is offered, and a conflicting meaning that is perceived by us, as we read.

Theatrical elements: As well as being adept in rendering subtleties of perception, thought, and feeling, Jane Austen was a very skilful utiliser of dramatic techniques. She exhibits an accomplished use of dialogue to further the action, and to furnish insight into character, or in dramatic set-pieces, such as Louisas accident on the Cobb. Notice the care with which Jane Austen locate figures within the space of a room, and the expert way in which she handles their movement towards or away from one another, their arrival and departure. A good example occurs in Ch. 9, when Anne is attending to her injured nephew Charles. The spatial separation of the characters reflects the tensions between them. Jane Austens liking for theatrical convention may also be detected in her less sophisticated recourse to the contrivance of coincidence. The fortuitous letting of Kellynch-hall to Wentworths brother-in-law, or the chance encounter with William Elliot in Lyme seem improbable, but the inclusion of such elements heightens dramatic tension and facilitates rapid development of the plot.