Leisure can be defined as free time or even the use of freetime for enjoyment, both of which relate to the following poem by George Eliot. In this poem, Eliot described her own definition of "leisure" to her audience, and how it felt to live in her generation when "Old Leisure" still existed. It seemed as if Eliot was reminiscing on the glory days, as if that was the brightest day our world had ever seen. George Eliot makes her point by comparing and contrasting certain elements of life then and now.
A comparison made by Eliot is between the "stout gentleman" of then, and the "ingenious philosopher" of now. According to this poem, men back in her generation were contemplative, jolly, and innocent. While on the other hand, the "ingenious philosopher" is prone to cursory and even idleness. To make her point clear, the author uses vocabulary words of opposite end of the spectrum to define people of the past and present. She glorifies her generation while thinking less of the present generation.
Another comparison made between these generations are the lifestyles that were lead. To describe the lifestyles of her past, Eliot mentioned, "Sunday sermon", as if no one ever goes to church in this twenty-first century. The author continues stating that the people of this generation are "squeamish" and think of life as a "task" instead of a gift. As a result, this makes my generation seem ungrateful just because we may not praise the lord as much as we should. All and all, I think the point that was made was that people today should be grateful and show their gratitude.
In conclusion, Eliot doesn't seem too fond of this generation. She glorifies her past and does the exact opposite with the present. She feels that "back in the good ol' days" was the way to live for her. She proves this point through contrasting her idea of life then and now.
Nice job on answering the prompt correctly. You have strong opinion in the beginning but it would have been better if you could have elaborated more. Also, if you could have described more on her writing style it would have been better :)
ReplyDeleteI like your diction, and syntax. I also like how you portrayed your ideas, I agree. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I really like how your introduction is structered. It's a very organized essay.
Good job girl, very well developed essay. You had great ideas and examples.
ReplyDeleteOverall you did a good job. Few grammatical errors, things like was that should be were and other minor things. I would also suggest starting your paragraphs differently, make each one start with something out not "A comparison" or "Another comparison". Just switch it up a little bit to keep your readers attention.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job on this essay, but I have to agree with Ryunhee. This did need a little more analysis just so I could understand your thought process a little better and that way it would answer the prompt just that much more.
ReplyDeleteI really liked you intro., it tells what the rest of the essay is going to be about. Another thing i liked was the comparison you used. The diction was good. It would help a lot if you had more examples and explanations,kind of short. I actually thought that people were more religious in the past???
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