Essay I had to write for AP Lit. How is it and how could I make it better?
Thanks!
In the passage, Harriet Smith's physical features are expressed in detail and minute facets of Emma's appearance are stated. With careful reading however, Emma's character is described far more than Harriet's. Through characterization we get a good feel for both girls, but in two totally different ways. Emma is characterized through her own personal thoughts and opinions, which lead to a better overall understanding of who she is as a person. With Harriet, we are only introduced with her appearance, getting no insight into her personality. The language and condemning tone toward Emma clearly show her personality while with Harriet we only get to visualize her outer self.
In the very first paragraph, the narrator says, "Emma knew her very well by sight, and had long felt an interest in, on account of her [Harriet's] beauty." Right away, Emma is portrayed as a girl who struggles to see beyond vanity. She only knows Harriet through her physical appearanceïher interest is solely superficial. Emma is intrigued by beautiful people and has long had a fascination in them. This shallow behavior is illustrated throughout the entirety of the passage; allowing for an intense look inside Emma's mind.
In a following paragraph, Harriet is described as being a sweet-looking girl, with fair, regular features, and a kind of beauty Emma admired. Though this paragraph is mostly devoted to Harriet's splendor, still Emma's personality shines through. As readers, we should easily pick up on how the author portrays Emma as this trivial human being with no interests except beauty and self-importance. The author's greatly disapproving tone adds emphasis to Emma, resulting in a complex understanding of her ideals. The author never really has a clear tone toward Harriet, which in fact, belittles her significance in the story.
In the last paragraph, the narrator states, "She was never struck by anything remarkably clever in Miss Smith's conversation, but she found her altogether very engaging..." This quote once again reinforces Emma's morals; she judges too much on appearance and not enough on areas that actually matter. Superficiality reigns in Emma's little world and even when she doesn't realize what she is thinking is wrong, she screams shallowness. Later it goes on to say that Emma wanted to save Harriet from her friends and make something out of her. This at first seems like a perfectly kind gesture. But with a deeper understanding of Emma, we see that she only wants to do this to help herself. The thought of doing a "good deed" pleases Emma, yet her actions are most definitely not "good" in any way.
To "never judge a book by its cover" is still one of the most widely disregarded rules of life, which through lack of abiding has plagued the world from the beginning of time. That's a major theme the author was trying to teach the reader and by characterizing the two girls, we could easily learn this lesson. Although Harriet is illustrated thoroughly through appearance and I have no idea of what Emma looks like, I get a better sense of what truly matters the most in Emmaïher personality. She is a shallow, often vain girl who judges people too quickly, which exposes a fake, hard individual.
Greetings!
You've written a very good essay! The only thing I might suggest is adding to your quotes a bit. When you say, "This shallow behavior is illustrated throughout the entirety of the passage; allowing for an intense look inside Emma's mind" it would be nice to follow up with an example of this "intense look." I also felt I really didn't get much of an introduction to Harriet; a quotation about her might help in this regard.
Best of luck in your studies!
Thanks,
Sarah, EssayForum.com
