Persuasion

One of the novel’s key themes is Constancy in True Romantic Love, and in one episode Anne and Harville debate whether men or women are more constant. What does constancy mean to the characters in the novel? How are some characters more constant than others? What are some different ways of displaying constancy?

Teaching Suggestion: This could be a good opportunity to discuss Georgian social and marital virtues, one of which was constancy. Consider encouraging students to think about how constancy is represented in the novel rather than simply superimposing their own definitions and criteria.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from assistance with abstract thinking, it might be useful to set frames or context for students to answer this question in a classroom discussion. For example, students might benefit from thinking about constancy and inconstancy on a more concrete level: What makes a person constant? What are some examples of constancy or inconstancy? Alternatively, students could enter the discussion by defining constancy before categorizing teacher-selected episodes from the novel. Graphic organizers, such as a Venn diagram or T-chart, might also be useful for a more visual approach.

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Writing an Austenian Dialogue”

In this activity, students will use creative thinking to craft a dialogue in the style of Jane Austen.

One of the most celebrated qualities of Jane Austen’s novel lies in her witty and clever dialogues. In this Activity, you will adopt Jane Austen’s writing style and write your own “Austenian” dialogue to demonstrate your understanding of the time period and the author’s techniques. Individually or in groups, choose at least two speakers (including Austen’s characters or characters of your own creation) and a topic for discussion. Consider the following as you craft your dialogue: 

• Who are the speakers, and what is their relationship to one another? For example, are they close friends, family, or professional colleagues?
• What are the respective motives of the speakers? How do they display or conceal these motives in their dialogue?
• How do the speakers feel about each other? Do they like or dislike each other? How might these feelings be represented indirectly?

Working on these dialogues should spark conversation on what makes Austen’s writing (and her dialogues) so unique and memorable. After finishing the activity, reflect on and/or discuss why dialogue is so important to storytelling and character development.

Teaching Suggestion: Before having students dive into their own dialogues, you may want to perform a close reading of one or two of Austen’s dialogues with the class. During this time, you might highlight the literary strategies and devices Austen uses in crafting her dialogues, point out her use of irony and wit, and/or discuss the role the dialogues play in the larger narrative.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with interest in performance or the performing arts may choose to perform a dialogue to the class individually or in groups as part of this assignment. After their performance, students can explain the choices they made and answer questions from their peers.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The idea of persuasion, as the title suggests, plays an important role throughout the novel.

• How is persuasion represented in the novel, and why is this significant? (topic sentence)
• Discuss the different forms that persuasion takes, making sure to cite specific examples and passages.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate what stance the novel takes on the pros and cons of persuasion.

2. Lady Russell is an important matriarchal figure in the novel, with many characters turning to her for advice.

• Who is Lady Russell, and why do the female characters of the novel esteem her opinion so highly? (topic sentence)
• Discuss Lady Russell’s character and the kind of advice she gives to other women in the novel, including Anne and the Musgrove sisters.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on Lady Russell’s social position and how this position is a product of her widowhood.

3. The novel depicts the different gender roles of men and women during the Georgian era.

• How does Austen represent gender roles in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Explore the novel through the lens of gender, making sure to consider the novel in the context of the Georgian era.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider whether any character(s) subverts normal gender roles in the novel and discuss why this is significant.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Like all of Austen’s novels, Persuasion employs a very prominent and distinctive narrative voice through the literary technique known as free indirect discourse. What is free indirect discourse, and why is this technique so suited to Austen’s subject? How does the narrator insert themselves into the story and direct the attention of the reader? Does the narrator ever interfere with how the reader perceives certain characters and/or events?

2. While most of the male characters of the novels have careers or public occupations (including political and military occupations), the chief occupations of the female characters are social and revolve around marriage. Discuss the role of marriage in the lives of the women of the novel. How do the novel’s female characters seek meaning and happiness? How do they occupy their time, both before and after marriage, and how does comment on the theme of Woman’s Occupation?

3. As Anne gets to know Mr. Elliot, she reflects that he is “rational, discreet, polished—but he was not open” (Chapter 17, Page 151). What does Anne mean by Mr. Elliot not being “open,” and why is this such an important quality? Why is Mr. Elliot’s lack of openness a character flaw in Anne’s eyes? How do other characters in the novel, especially Wentworth, display the openness that Anne desires?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Who is Sir Walter Elliot's favorite daughter?

A) Mary

B) Louisa

C) Elizabeth

D) Anne

2. Why did Elizabeth not marry Mr. Elliot?

A) Because he unexpectedly married another woman

B) Because he did not love her

C) Because he preferred Anne

D) Because her father forbade her to marry him

3. Why is Sir Elliot reluctant to let Kellynch Hall to a naval officer?

A) Because he dislikes people who lack an ancestral title

B) Because he is a pacifist

C) Because he wants to let Kellynch Hall to a blood relative

D) Because Lady Russell does not trust naval officers

4. Which of the following quotes represents the way Austen characterizes the Musgroves?

A) “[I]ll-used and unfortunate.” (Chapter 1)

B) “She felt that she could so much more depend upon the sincerity of those who sometimes looked or said a careless or a hasty thing, than of those whose presence of mind never varied, whose tongue never slipped.” (Chapter 17)

C) “You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately, and continual occupation and change soon weaken impressions.” (Chapter 23)

D) “[F]riendly and hospitable, not much educated, and not at all elegant.” (Chapter 5)

5. Why is Captain Benwick so depressed when Anne meets him?

A) Because of his unrequited love for Louisa

B) Because his fiancée has recently died

C) Because he has been demoted by the navy

D) Because he lost his fortune

6. Who stays at Lyme to nurse Louisa back to health?

A) Anne

B) Mary

C) Henrietta

D) Wentworth

7. Who renews his acquaintance with the Elliots when they move to Bath?

A) Mr. Elliot

B) Captain Benwick

C) Mrs. Smith

D) The Musgroves

8. Which of the following quotes illustrates a reason Anne is suspicious of Mr. Elliot?

A) “You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately, and continual occupation and change soon weaken impressions.” (Chapter 23)

B) “[H]is value for rank and connexion she perceived to be greater than hers.” (Chapter 15)

C) “[T]hey were neither of them able to devise any means of lessening their expenses without compromising their dignity, or relinquishing their comforts in a way not to be borne.” (Chapter 1)

D) “She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older—the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.” (Chapter 4)

9. Why does Anne start visiting Mrs. Smith?

A) Because she is in poor health

B) Because she is hoping for gossip about Mr. Elliot

C) Because of her social prestige

D) Because she is in love with her

10. Why does Anne disapprove of the way her father and sister behave around the Darlymples?

A) Because they don’t entertain them lavishly enough

B) Because they don’t spend enough time with them

C) Because they are very rude to them

D) Because she is ashamed by their blatant social climbing

11. To whom does Louisa become engaged?

A) Sir Elliot

B) Mr. Elliot

C) Wentworth

D) Benwick

12. Why does Anne think Wentworth behaves cold toward her?

A) Because of his jealousy of Mr. Elliot

B) Because he is in love with Louisa

C) Because all naval officers are cold

D) Because he does not know how to express his feelings

13. Why does Mrs. Smith say Mr. Elliot married his late wife?

A) Because he loved her

B) Because she was very beautiful

C) Because she was wealthy

D) Because of family pressure

14. Why does Anne say women are never portrayed as strong or constant in literature?

A) Because they are not strong or constant

B) Because women have not always been able to tell their own stories

C) Because fiction represents the opposite of the truth

D) Because women have only recently learned to be strong and constant

15. With whom does Mr. Elliot move in when he gets to London?

A) Elizabeth

B) Mrs. Clay

C) Wentworth

D) Mrs. Smith

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the significance of Wentworth’s saying that his “first wish” for the woman whom he marries is “that they should be firm” (Chapter 10, Page 81)?

2. How does Wentworth realize that his pride prevented him from marrying Anne sooner?