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**2) In some areas clauses and words could be reordered to make the prose more clear, for ex. "At the time they were published, her works received only a few positive reviews, although they were considered fashionable by members of high society." Rephrasing to "At the time they were published, Austen's works were considered fashionable by members of high society but recieved few positive reviews (from who?)" It removes any second-guessing if "they" means her works or the reviews.
**2) In some areas clauses and words could be reordered to make the prose more clear, for ex. "At the time they were published, her works received only a few positive reviews, although they were considered fashionable by members of high society." Rephrasing to "At the time they were published, Austen's works were considered fashionable by members of high society but recieved few positive reviews (from who?)" It removes any second-guessing if "they" means her works or the reviews.
**3) "The publication in 1870 of her nephew's Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public as an appealing personality—"dear, quiet aunt Jane"—" it would be nice if it were explicitly stated these were her nephew's words; I understand you're trying to spice up the writing, but it may be unnecessary.
**3) "The publication in 1870 of her nephew's Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public as an appealing personality—"dear, quiet aunt Jane"—" it would be nice if it were explicitly stated these were her nephew's words; I understand you're trying to spice up the writing, but it may be unnecessary.
**4) <s>In the lead, I feel the referencing is spotty; either ref it all or don't. I don't see how "become one of the best-known and widely read novelists in the English language.[1]" is any less controversial or wanting of a citation than the quote "but it was not until the 1940s that Austen was firmly ensconced in academia as a "great English novelist"" for example.</s>
**5) <s>"scholars often disparagingly referred to fans as "Janeites"." There are instances where it seems like a little too much effort has been put into "historicizing" the content; do scholars no longer refer to fans as "Janeites"?</s>
***That sentence has been edited out of the lead. [[User:Kaldari|Kaldari]] ([[User talk:Kaldari|talk]]) 21:16, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
***That sentence has been edited out of the lead. [[User:Kaldari|Kaldari]] ([[User talk:Kaldari|talk]]) 21:16, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
**6) Gah, I wish I had a better grasp of sentence construction so I could explain myself better, but you use words like "However" and "Yet" at the beginning of sentences quite often. It gives a sense of jumpy interruption, making the following sentence seem "more important". This has a use, but I feel you're drawing too much attention to the prose itself by repetitious use.
**6) Gah, I wish I had a better grasp of sentence construction so I could explain myself better, but you use words like "However" and "Yet" at the beginning of sentences quite often. It gives a sense of jumpy interruption, making the following sentence seem "more important". This has a use, but I feel you're drawing too much attention to the prose itself by repetitious use.
**7) "They critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the eighteenth century" Considering that her books were published in the 19th century, it would seem logical that this sensibility lingered in the nineteenth century as well, but the construction makes it seem like more abrupt a change than I'm sure it was.
**7) "They critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the eighteenth century" Considering that her books were published in the 19th century, it would seem logical that this sensibility lingered in the nineteenth century as well, but the construction makes it seem like more abrupt a change than I'm sure it was.
**8) <s>"the way women depend on" is this meant to be present? As it's talking about the time of her writing I think it would be better as past (even though, of course, many of the same constraints women face have changed little).</s>
**9) <s>I feel some of the quotes could be audited; for example, I have no clue what "They were full of it at Althrop" means, so wikilinks, editing, or parentheticals or brackets or whatnot would aid me.</s> <small>I'll point others out as I seem them.</small>
**10) Maybe it's my background writing reception sections, but I'm uncomfortable with what appear to be opinions phrased as fact, ex. "Overall, these early reviewers did not know what to make of Austen's novels—for example, they misunderstood her use of irony. Reviewers reduced Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice to didactic tales of virtue prevailing over vice.[34]" Who said that these early reviewers didn't know what to make of her novels? Who said they misunderstood?
**10) Maybe it's my background writing reception sections, but I'm uncomfortable with what appear to be opinions phrased as fact, ex. "Overall, these early reviewers did not know what to make of Austen's novels—for example, they misunderstood her use of irony. Reviewers reduced Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice to didactic tales of virtue prevailing over vice.[34]" Who said that these early reviewers didn't know what to make of her novels? Who said they misunderstood?
**11) Just a comment, is there anything more on how Austen's novel was received differently in continental Europe, because right now you have the French changes (and god, are those changes horrible) serving as the evidence for the entire continent, which I feel is a big disingenuous. A citation directly after the statement would ease my mind.
**11) Just a comment, is there anything more on how Austen's novel was received differently in continental Europe, because right now you have the French changes (and god, are those changes horrible) serving as the evidence for the entire continent, which I feel is a big disingenuous. A citation directly after the statement would ease my mind.
**12) "Readers of the Memoir were presented with the myth of the amateur novelist who wrote masterpieces:" as opposed to the true Austen, who was what?
**12) "Readers of the Memoir were presented with the myth of the amateur novelist who wrote masterpieces:" as opposed to the true Austen, who was what?
**13) <s>"sixpenny series" is that the equivalent of a pulp edition or something nicer? I don't have a clue one way or another.</s>
**14) Reading the bit about Twain's response, I wish there was a bit more substance to ''why'' he in particular argued against it: was it the lack of frontier themes as mentioned before or something different? (Love the quote, though.)
**14) Reading the bit about Twain's response, I wish there was a bit more substance to ''why'' he in particular argued against it: was it the lack of frontier themes as mentioned before or something different? (Love the quote, though.)
**15) <s>"Several important early works, glimmers of brilliant Austen scholarship, paved the way. " ok that sounds downright peacockian.</s> <small>To your deference</small>
**16) <s>It's a bit offputting that the 1930's section begins by talking about the 1940's and then jumps back to the 1910's.</s>
**17) "there can be no easy going back to any earlier view of an apolitical, or even unqualifiedly 'conservative', Austen" another quote which I'd like a stated source to.
**17) "there can be no easy going back to any earlier view of an apolitical, or even unqualifiedly 'conservative', Austen" another quote which I'd like a stated source to.
**18) "Sequels, prequels, and adaptations based on Jane Austen's work range from attempts to enlarge on the stories in Austen's own style to the soft-core pornographic novel Virtues and Vices (1981) by Grania Beckford and S. N. Dyer's fantasy novel Resolve and Resistance (1996)." That's a bit of a breathless sentence, could we break it down a bit?
**18) "Sequels, prequels, and adaptations based on Jane Austen's work range from attempts to enlarge on the stories in Austen's own style to the soft-core pornographic novel Virtues and Vices (1981) by Grania Beckford and S. N. Dyer's fantasy novel Resolve and Resistance (1996)." That's a bit of a breathless sentence, could we break it down a bit?
**19) You repeat "direct opposition" twice in a few sentences, sounds clunky
**19) You repeat "direct opposition" twice in a few sentences, sounds clunky
**20) <s>I'll admit it might not be that important of a mention, but the most recent Austen bit I can think of was [[PBS]] broadcasting "the complete Jane Austen" as part of Masterpiece Theatre-as far as I know new productions of most of the works and then the 1995 ''P&P''. (according to the site it was a first for US television, so it might merit a mention.)[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/]</s> <small>editor deference</small>
''migrated 03:48, 27 November 2008 (UTC)''
''migrated 03:48, 27 November 2008 (UTC)''

Revision as of 03:49, 27 November 2008

Comments by David Fuchs

    • 1) Given that this is an unwieldy topic, it's not surprising it has a less than optimal name, but I'm not really sure about the opening: "The reception history of Jane Austen follows a path from modest fame to wild popularity; her novels are both the subject of intense scholarly study and the centre of a diverse fan culture. Jane Austen, the author of such works as Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Emma (1815), has become one of the best-known and widely read novelists in the English language.[1]" While you rectify the main issues of who/what/when in the first sentence and following lines, just starting off anyone unfamiliar with who the dickens this "Austen" lady is would be confused. "The reception history" is unclear as it comes before novels; perhaps rephrasing to be direct: "The works of novelist Jane Austen have" or something similar. I'm sorry if I'm not lucidly explaining myself, but I just feel that it's an issue.
    • 2) In some areas clauses and words could be reordered to make the prose more clear, for ex. "At the time they were published, her works received only a few positive reviews, although they were considered fashionable by members of high society." Rephrasing to "At the time they were published, Austen's works were considered fashionable by members of high society but recieved few positive reviews (from who?)" It removes any second-guessing if "they" means her works or the reviews.
    • 3) "The publication in 1870 of her nephew's Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public as an appealing personality—"dear, quiet aunt Jane"—" it would be nice if it were explicitly stated these were her nephew's words; I understand you're trying to spice up the writing, but it may be unnecessary.
    • 6) Gah, I wish I had a better grasp of sentence construction so I could explain myself better, but you use words like "However" and "Yet" at the beginning of sentences quite often. It gives a sense of jumpy interruption, making the following sentence seem "more important". This has a use, but I feel you're drawing too much attention to the prose itself by repetitious use.
    • 7) "They critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the eighteenth century" Considering that her books were published in the 19th century, it would seem logical that this sensibility lingered in the nineteenth century as well, but the construction makes it seem like more abrupt a change than I'm sure it was.
    • 10) Maybe it's my background writing reception sections, but I'm uncomfortable with what appear to be opinions phrased as fact, ex. "Overall, these early reviewers did not know what to make of Austen's novels—for example, they misunderstood her use of irony. Reviewers reduced Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice to didactic tales of virtue prevailing over vice.[34]" Who said that these early reviewers didn't know what to make of her novels? Who said they misunderstood?
    • 11) Just a comment, is there anything more on how Austen's novel was received differently in continental Europe, because right now you have the French changes (and god, are those changes horrible) serving as the evidence for the entire continent, which I feel is a big disingenuous. A citation directly after the statement would ease my mind.
    • 12) "Readers of the Memoir were presented with the myth of the amateur novelist who wrote masterpieces:" as opposed to the true Austen, who was what?
    • 14) Reading the bit about Twain's response, I wish there was a bit more substance to why he in particular argued against it: was it the lack of frontier themes as mentioned before or something different? (Love the quote, though.)
    • 17) "there can be no easy going back to any earlier view of an apolitical, or even unqualifiedly 'conservative', Austen" another quote which I'd like a stated source to.
    • 18) "Sequels, prequels, and adaptations based on Jane Austen's work range from attempts to enlarge on the stories in Austen's own style to the soft-core pornographic novel Virtues and Vices (1981) by Grania Beckford and S. N. Dyer's fantasy novel Resolve and Resistance (1996)." That's a bit of a breathless sentence, could we break it down a bit?
    • 19) You repeat "direct opposition" twice in a few sentences, sounds clunky

migrated 03:48, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

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