Thursday, March 26, 2015

If Jane Austen Blogged A-Z (and a GIVEAWAY)

I "borrowed" this idea from the extremely talented S. L. Hennessy over at Pensuasion. She is one of the incredible bloggers hosting the A-Z Challenge this year and to provide participants with some inspiration, she has written two Characters Who Blog posts that are just so great: Ingo Blogtoya and Blog-ementary, My Dear Watson. I am eyeball-deep in my Master's of Arts thesis right (I actually just typed "write" there initially) which is a detailed look at Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I think, speak, dream, and I would guess even bleed Jane Austen at this point so when I saw S. L.'s posts I couldn't help but consider how Jane Austen might blog A-Z. So, I am taking a break from thesising to write this post!

I'm only going to include first or last names of characters in Austen's six complete novels with a few added "extras" here and there. At the end, I'll leave a couple of fun questions for you to try and answer in relation to those "extras." As you read through, see how many characters you can place in their proper novels (Hint: The characters within each letter are listed in order of the publication date of the novels they appear in - but sometimes there is more than one character from each novel.)

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Original image: Holly Hayes
It will be a truth soon universally acknowledged that a reader in search of a fascinating blog need go no further than Little Bits of Ivory. After all, it's been over two hundred years since my first publication and I am more famous today than I was then! This new-fangled A-Z Challenge is rather intriguing so I cannot help but participate.

A - Anne
B - Brandon, Bingley, Bennet, Bertram
C - Cassandra, Collins, Charlotte, Crawford, Catherine
D - Dashwood, Darcy, de Bourgh
E - Elinor, Edward, Elizabeth, Elton, Edmund, Emma
F - Fitzwilliam, Ferrars, Fanny, Frederick
G - Georgiana, George
H - Henry, Harriet
I - Isabella
J - Jane
K - Kitty, Knightly
L - Longbourn, Lydia, Lucas
M - Marianne, Mary, Maria, Morland, Musgrove
N - Netherfield
O - officers
P - Pemberley, Price
Q - Quirk Books
R - Regency
S - Smith
T - Tilney
U - Udolpho, Mysteries of
V - Val McDermid
W - Willoughby, Wickham, Woodhouse, Wentworth
X - Xerxes
Y - "Yes" by McAlmont and Butler
Z - zombies, Zellweger (Renee)
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So, how did you do? Could you associate all of the characters with their novels?

Here's a little "extras" quiz:
1. Which novel has the most character names listed A-Z?
2. Which name is NOT one of Austen's character's? (Hint: The name is actually her sister's)
3. Place names are listed from only one novel. Which novel?
4. O, Q, R, U, V, X, Y, and Z have their own special significance. Any guesses?



If I get at least five participants via the comments in my little quiz by April 30th, 2015, I'll send a Jane Austen swag bag (includes: a copy of Pride and PrejudiceSense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Emma, and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict - so far!) to the person who gets the most answers correct!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Brandy, thanks for coming to visit me today. Well done on sorting out the share buttons it allowed me to share this great post to Twitter. Barbara

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  2. I wish we did have Jane Austen blogging from A to Z. I've only read Pride and Prejudice and that was prior to reading the zombie mash-up. I loved the Austen original so much that my wife and I then watched every film version of the story.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Wrote By Rote

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    1. The film versions just don't do the novel justice. That's actually what my Master of Arts thesis is all about!

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  3. Right, answers...
    1) It's early, so I'm going to guess Pride and Prejudice
    2) Cassandra
    3) P&P again... which makes me think my answer to 1 isn't right!
    4) No idea - but I assume it's personal to you, and I've only just met you :-)

    Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep

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    1. Awesome, Annalisa! I am hoping I will get a few more entries by the end of the month.

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