Essay #1: On "old Leisure"
Many people often say that
they were born in the wrong time period.
George Elliot is one of these people.
In her selection about how "leisure is gone," she explains how
new technology has caused, "a vacuum for eagerness." She gives examples of how the simple times of
riding in a buggy to church have just vanished.
In the present, almost all daily tasks are rushed which makes them hard
to enjoy. Elliot also personifies
leisure by referring to it as "he."She does this to show its
importance during the "old Leisure" time period. Elliot explains how the idea of "old
leisure" has been lost through time.
Elliot immediately opens up her selection
with the repetition of the word "gone" referring to all of the
traditions that characterize the time of ease that she is addressing. She explains how modern technology has caused
a great rush and eagerness throughout society beginning with the creation of the
steam-engine. Elliot also personifies
"old Leisure" by referring to it as "he" and capitalizing
it. This creates a higher importance of
the idea. She characterizes
"him" as a man with no worries and no time schedule that just
embraces life and isn't afraid to admit it.
This is much different from the strict time schedule and constant stress
of present day.
George Elliot effectively gets her point
across that leisure no longer has the same meaning as it once did. Through repetition and personification, she
shows her audience that as technology has improved, stress levels have
increased and the idea of true leisure has just become a part of history.
Melissa, I came up with a score of 5. Your ideas and examples were very well written, but the organization of the first paragraph was a little confusing. You mentioned personification as a technique and gave a quick sentence analyzing it "She does this...," and then you mentioned repetition in your body paragraph, without having also introduced it in the introduction paragraph with personification. In addition, the body paragraph could've have been split into two parts because your first sentence addresses repetition so it seemed as if you were designating that paragraph to be all about repetition. I really loved your last sentence, though: "the idea of true leisure has just become a part of history."
ReplyDelete