Hum/En 5 Problem 3

Problem 3
Due before class on February 2

Austen often writes scenes as if she’d heard the advice that’s given to young fiction writers today: “Show us, don’t tell us.” The idea is that the writer should allow the reader to infer important things about a character or situation, but those important things should never be conveyed directly in words.

We all have nearly unlimited experience in understanding this kind of narrative. For example, think about a sequence near the middle of Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby where we see a day in Hilary Swank’s life outside the gym. She wakes up alone to an alarm clock in the dark. . .she goes running by herself on the beach. . .she goes to her waitress job and collects tiny tips. . .on her break, she sits by herself. . .back at home, she puts her tiny tips in a big glass jar.

The message is easy enough to get. But Eastwood has let us figure it out for ourselves. He hasn’t, for example, written a conversation scene between Swank and one of the guys in the gym in which she says the words “I’m working a crap job and devoting my entire life to training,” nor do other characters say any such words about her. This is what makes Eastwood such a good filmmaker, which, in turn, is what makes us run the risk of sounding otiose when we comment on his techniques.

Austen was always very good at “show us, don’t tell us,” but it’s particularly noticeable when she writes dialogue. As a result, she demands a quite active style of reading: in fact, we can assume that what’s truly important in her novels will virtually never be stated in words we could repeat.

Bearing in mind, then, that you have carte blanche to read with the probing eye of a conspiracy theorist, have a look at chapter 6 of Northanger Abbey (pp. 38-42 in our edition). As Austen helpfully points out at the beginning, this scene is an encounter between two characters at an early stage of a friendship. Write a paragraph or two in which you answer these questions:

    --Who has the upper hand in this relationship? (How do you know?)
    --What are at least two things you believe this character wants to accomplish in the course of this scene? (What are the passages where you find out, and what do they show you?)
    --Does she succeed? (How do you know?)

My criteria for evaluating this piece of writing are:

    --You find evidence for the claims you’re making. In this scene, the evidence will almost inevitably be quoted speech.
--You make an argument about what a character is doing, or aiming to do, when she says the thing that interests you.

    Examples:

    A: “Would you be free for a drink in about an hour?”
    B: “Sorry, can’t, I’m busy.”
    What are the speakers doing? A is proposing a meeting, for purposes B may or may not already know about. B declines, without saying what the other commitment is (business or pleasure?) and without proposing a meeting at a different time. (What are A’s options for continuing this conversation?)

    “I have absolutely no understanding of California politics.”
    What’s the speaker doing? Perhaps inviting the interlocutor to tell stories about California politics, or indeed the politics of other places, or on the other hand about California. Or about other places. Or inviting the interlocutor to ask where the speaker comes from. Asking a direct question might have put the interlocutor in the position of saying “I don’t know.” This is the kind of thing that might take place at a party.

    This assignment is due an hour before class, at 6 p.m., on Thursday, February 2. You can email your text (haugen@hss.caltech.edu) or bring a hard copy to my office (301d Dabney: through the double doors near the elevator).

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