Writing Sample- Natasha Wisler

This is the introduction to an essay I wrote. I chose it because I think it represents my writing well.

Sample:

Walter Scott’s Waverley, while providing a paradigm for the historical romance genre, also presents social critique and perhaps a definitive stance on the issue of sense versus sensibility. The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 provides the historical backdrop of the novel, and the context in which Scott constructs his analysis and critique of the “Cult of Sensibility.” The title character of the novel struggles with sensibility and ultimately rejects it in favor of a more constrained approach to life. In terms of the individual, and in a larger social and political context, Waverley addresses the allure of the romantic and the struggle between this and the necessity for personal and collective prudence. Waverley seems to uphold the notion that sensibility is ultimately detrimental to both the self and society.

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility also critiques the sensibility fad. The novel is similar to Waverley in its approach to sensibility, individual responsibility and maturation, and social responsibility. Sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood represent a morally dualistic society where prudence ultimately benefits the individual and the populace more than sensibility. The behaviors linked to sensibility- strong emotional response, public displays of emotion, impulsiveness- are deemed both selfish and destructive to the self.