Ode on a Grecian URL

If you want, you can write this hebdomadal collaboratively! If you do, the collaborated-upon hebdomadal will have to be a minimum of 500 words (rather than the usual 300), but other than that everything is the same. (Be sure to let me know with whom you collaborated so I know to give both of you the points.)

Use a thorough close reading of a passage in Tess to detail Hardy’s idea about society. Consider answering a question like: What is the relationship between society and the individual? …between society and culture? …between society and nature? …between society and text? Avoid easy answers.

Now look specifically at the style of Hardy’s prose in this passage – his narrator’s relationship with the reader, his tone, the quality of the words he chooses. How does his style reflect his ideas about society?

Compare Hardy’s style and his vision of society to the style and vision of society of a modern author. Working with a novel that has been published in the last sixty years, explain how the style of this recent text compares to that of Hardy’s novel. How does this difference suggest differences in the way these texts understand society?

This is a difficult topic: please don't hesitate to email me questions.