A-Z Challenge: Random Acts of Kindness beginning with "P"

Throughout the A-Z Challenge I'll be blogging through the alphabet using each letter to create a list of Random Acts of Kindness. I've been collecting RAK ideas for some time now as I gear up to the 2016 launch of a project dear to my heart: B(e) Kind 366. I'll be performing an act of kindness every day of the leap year starting January 1st, 2016 while raising funds for World University Service of Canada (WUSC), an organisation that changed my life.

I'm starting each post with a synonym (of sorts) for kindness. I added this part to my posts because of an amazing movement I am a part of 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion. We link up monthly and blog about changing the world for the better. It's magical really. We're even on Twitter! @1000Speak

A sample Pay It Forward card

P is for Peace

Paper FortuneCookies

Pay It Forward - read the book, watch the film, but most importantly do it! If someone does something kind for you do something kind for someone else. 

Pet Cloud

Photo - send an old one to a friend or family member, offer to take one for a group of strangers, take on a Photo-a-Day Challenge.

Plant - a garden, a tree, flowers, something in a mug!

Play - with a child: make faces, peekaboo.

Poetry - read some, write some! (I will write a poem for everyone who donates to B(e) Kind 366 in April 2016.)

Positive - Free Thought Sign

Positivity Challenge - For 5 days post 3 positive things that happened to you or that you are grateful for that day. At the end of each day, tag/nominate 3 people to take part in the challenge.

Purple Box of Power

I have to give a special "P" shout out to Pinterest as part of this post. Most of my ideas for my RAK lists have come from boards on Pinterest. I've been linking to most of the pins when the opportunity arises on each post, but if you're interested in finding all of the pins in one place follow my new B(e) Kind 366 board and my 365 Days of Kindness board - a board I have been collecting RAK ideas on for over a year!

A bit of a longer list for "P", but I am still always looking for more RAK ideas so if any come to mind please do post them in the comments!


"P" also happens to be for Pride and Prejudice and while P&P is not my favourite Jane Austen novel, it tends to be the favourite of most people. It is also the subject of Master's of Arts thesis so I finally took the time to include a photo of the swag up for grabs in my super fun "If Jane Austen Blogged A-Z" giveaway! The more entries I get, the more swag I'll add so go and test your Janeite knowledge or even just venture guesses!

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 Prejudice, Sense 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!

A-Z Challenge: P is for Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion

Alrighty people, it's time for 'P' and in keeping with my "All Things Grad School" theme, Jane Austen has two novels that I have to mention. I have to mention both of them because by the end of A-Z I will have discussed all of her novels so I have to include both 'P' novels here. Plus, P&P is pretty much everyone's favorite Austen novel and/or the only Austen novel they've read and Persuasion is her most unique novel in the grand scheme of all things Austen.

I'm not going to do reviews or plot summaries for you, though. If you haven't read Pride & Prejudice or watched any of the adaptations (and there are a tonne), crawl out from beneath the rock you are living under and do it! I recommend Bride & Prejudice because I dig Bollywood, but really any of them will do; just remember, Hollywood always ruins Austen's endings. Pride & Prejudice has the best characters of all of the Austen novels, but in terms of story line it ranks fourth our of six on my list Austen novels. Read Persuasion too, but you'll really only notice the difference (well, maybe you will) if you read at least two of her other novels.

Actually, P&P and Persuasion kind of toggle back and forth between fourth and fifth place on my list. Perhaps I should just say they are tied for fourth place.

So, no reviews, no plot summaries, but what I will do is give you a little itty bitty (so it's not too boring) tid bit of my undergraduate Advanced Topics paper. The basic context is that I did a feminist reading of Austen's novels and presented a thesis that argues that each of the five early heroines (Anne Elliot in Persuasion is the sixth) are convinced to give up their atypical nature and become the embodiment of the feminine ideal, one of propriety and subservience . It is only Anne, the eldest leading lady, who clearly understands who she is and what she wants out of life and is therefore not "tamed."

Ok, with that said, here's the premise for my analysis of P&P:
"In Pride and Prejudice, while there is no direct evidence of taming, the reader is left wondering whether the arrogance of the hero will inevitably provide the heroine with a life of misery rather than happiness."

...and here it is for Persuasion:
"In distinct contrast to the young and consequently naive heroines in Austen's preceding five novels, Persuasion focuses on Anne's maturity along with the success and happiness that can result when woman waits until she is fully aware of her own thoughts and emotions before uniting herself with someone else."

In short, Persuasion is really the only romantic novel of the bunch. So, what do you think of that?!

A-Z Challenge: L is for Lizzie Bennet Diaries

I'm making it just under the wire today for the A-Z Challenge. It's 11:40 p.m. and by the time I actually post this it will be quite close to midnight.

Luckily for me, 

L is for Lizzie Bennet Diaries

and therefore I am linking you lovely readers to a post that I did on one of my other blogs for a book challenge that I am taking part in. 

All I am going to add is the connection between the LBD and my "All Things Grad School" theme for A-Z. The LBD is a modern adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. I'll be studying Jane Austen in grad school. Connection = made.

A-Z: D is for Downton Abbey

So far in the A-Z Challenge I've talked about Applications, being Broke, and my Countdown. These three posts have been directly related to the upcoming start of my Master's degree in September. Today's post will be a little bit different.

First, I'll provide a little bit of context as to why Downton Abbey is related to my A-Z "All Things Grad School" Theme. I'll be doing my thesis on Jane Austen (to be extremely vague). Austen's novels are all about British aristocracy and although her novels and Downton Abbey are set approximately a century apart, the aristocracy, namely related to gender dynamics, that both encompass is relatively the same.

Downton Abbey has two major plot lines that intersect with each other. One plot centres on the lives of the Crawley family, the other plot, on their servants. Lord Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, his wife, Lady Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, and their three daughters, Lady Mary, Lady Edith, and Lady Sybil live in Downton Abbey in the county of Grantham. The Crawley family employs valets, footmen, ladies' maids, a cook, and many other servants each with their own developed story within the context of the the show. Season 1 occurs pre-World War I with Seasons 2 and 3 set post-war.

The major theme occurring throughout Downton Abbey is the necessary plight to find suitable marriages for the three Crawley daughters. As they have no son, there is also the pertinent issue of whom Downton Abbey and its associated wealth will be inherited by. Sound familiar? If you've read or watched Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, Downton Abbey's plot should ring similar.

Pride & Prejudice: 5 daughters, no son a.k.a. no male heir
Downton Abbey: 3 daughters, no son a.k.a. no male heir

Pride & Prejudice: a mother whose goal it is to marry her daughters off and marry them off well
Downton Abbey: a mother whose goal it is to marry her daughter off and marry them off well



To add a little more similarity, I will talk briefly about the distant cousin in both plots who is established as heir and meant to marry one of the daughters in each case. In Pride & Prejudice, the distant cousin is Mr. William Collins. In Downton Abbey, the distant cousin is Matthew Crawley. Both are initially disliked by the families with which they are associated, but as the plot of Downtown Abbey progresses, Matthew comes to be accepted and very much welcomed by the Crawley family. William, however, never really fits in with the Bennett family of Pride & Prejudice.

I've heard critics say that Downton Abbey is little more than a trashy soap opera set in early 20th Century England, but I think it's brilliant. The intertwining plots, the character development, the beautiful sets, it all has be completely hooked. I watched all three existing seasons of Downton Abbey back-to-back and was incredibly disappointed to learn that Season 4 doesn't start until December 2013. What does make me happy, though, is that there is going to be a fourth season!

Have you watched Downton Abbey? Are you a fan? Read/watched Pride & Prejudice? Fan?