Sense and Sensibility

Austen’s interest in the workings of the mind is one of the elements that makes her novels groundbreaking. How does introducing a psychological element into Sense and Sensibility impact the reader’s experience?

• How does her narrative style—free indirect discourse—give the reader insight into the workings of her characters’ minds? 
• How does Austen use diction, dialogue, and plot details to communicate what characters are thinking and feeling?
• Which character or characters does the audience have the most insight into? How does knowing their thoughts and feelings increase the audience’s investment in the plot? How does it make the plot more relevant to the audience’s own lives?
• How does Austen use her characters’ psychology to develop the themes of Sensibility Versus Real Feeling and The Lifelong Mission of Character Improvement?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt asks students to consider both how and why Austen communicates characters’ thoughts and feelings. The bulleted questions that follow the main prompt question are not of equal difficulty but rather represent sequential steps in reasoning through an answer to the main prompt question. Students are likely to have a ready answer for the first of these bulleted questions, but they can spend as much or as little time as you have available gathering examples for the second of these bulleted points. You may wish to offer them guidance about your expectations for this question in particular—do you want them to find an example or two of each kind of evidence (diction, dialogue, and plot details), or do you want a more comprehensive approach to this point?

Differentiation Suggestion: If you are asking students to respond to this prompt in writing, English learners and students who benefit from strategies in written expression might be allowed to simply answer each bullet point in a few sentences rather than writing a complete essay response. English learners, students with dyslexia, and those who with attentional and executive function differences may have difficulty reviewing large amounts of text in order to address the question in the second bullet point. You might point these students to a specific passage to focus on in gathering their evidence or allow them to work with a partner or in a small group.