Honorable Mention Essays for 2015
Essays are judged in two rounds. In the first round each essay is read and ranked independently and anonymously by three judges. Only a small fraction of those advance to the second round in which each essay is read and ranked by every judge on the entire panel. The following essays did not win one of the top three prizes in each division but were adjudged worthy of proceeding into the round of finalists. They are therefore accorded Honorable Mention.
High School Division
Madsion J. Bauer, Hilton Head Christian Academy, Hilton Head Island, SC: “Splashed in the Wake of the Regency Period: Social Frustrations Presented through the Characters of Persuasion.”
Rebecca G. Brewbaker (Tuscaloosa, AL), Pennsylvania Homeschoolers AP Online Classes, Kittanning, PA: “Mansfield Park: the Power of Pressure.” Mentor: Maya Inspektor.
Megan C. Crutcher (Lancaster, PA), Pennsylvania Homeschoolers AP Online Classes, Kittanning, PA: “Coming of Age in Mansfield Park.” Mentor: Maya Inspektor.
Matthew E. Dwelle, Fairfield Ludlowe High School, Fairfield, CT: “Knight and Day: The Chivalric Code in Austen’s Emma.” Mentor: Jenny Ingram.
Franciska Hauer, St. Louis Park High School, St. Louis Park, MN: “Elitism and Liberality: The Cultures of Persuasion.” Mentor: Abhijit Rao.
Ayano Kitano (Vienna, Austria), Emma Willard School, Troy, NY: “Redefining Values: The Meaning of Novelty and Superiority in an Ideal Companion.” Mentor: Kathleen McNamara.
Ho Jeong Kwon (Seoul, South Korea), St. Paul’s School, Concord, NH : “The Effects of Inheritance Laws on Characters in Pride and Prejudice.”
Michelle E. Larsen, Sumner High School, Sumner, WA: “Internal vs. External Influences: An Analysis of the Character Foils in Persuasion.” Mentor: Jon Nelson.
Angela Pham (Perris, CA), Pennsylvania Homeschoolers AP Online Classes, Kittanning, PA: “Developing Dignity in Mansfield Park.” Mentor: Maya Inspektor.
AnnaClaire Schmiedel, Tall Oaks Classical School, New Castle, DE: “Friend, Father, Sister, Suitor: Finding Companionship in Persuasion’s Characters.” Mentor: Stephen Rippon
Hurlink Vongsachang, San Marcos High School, San Marcos, CA: “The Inhibition of Expression.” Mentor: Heather Marlaire.
College/University Division
Monica G. Burke, Christendom College, Front Royal, VA: “‘Give a Girl an Education’: The Societal Effects of Education in Mansfield Park.”
Noah C. Chauvin, SUNY Genesco, Genesco, NY: “Companionate and submissive relationships with military officers in Jane Austen’s novels.” Mentor: Celia Easton.
Stephanie Diehl, Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA: “‘ . . . it is not merely the name of an Arbour, which charms me’: Private Spaces in Jane Austen’s Green World.” Mentor: Elizabeth Veisz.
Rachel Fobar (LaPalma, CA), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL: “Between Independence and Reliance.”
Zoe M. Ginsberg (Westport, CT), Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH: “Interior and Interiority: A Study of Space in Jane Austen’s Persuasion.”
John B. Hilman, Dalhouse University, Halifax, NS: “‘Not a man who would set the Thames on fire’: Sir Walter Elliot and the Trials of the Landed Gentry in Post-War England.” Mentor: Shannon Bridger
Christopher Volk, Whitworth University, Spokane, WA: “Sense and Sensibility and Lady Susan: Austen’s Pragmatic Approach to The Ethics of Deception.” Mentor: Laura Bloxham.
Katherine Waltar, Whitworth University, Spokane, WA: “Gratitude and Esteem: Integration of Money and Love in Pride and Prejudice.” Mentor: Laura Bloxham.
Rebecca Wojsnis, CUNY Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, Flushing, NY: “Embracing Gender: An Exploration of the Power of Femininity in Pride and Prejudice.”
Tom Zille, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany: “‘Five Dull Hours in Another Man’s House’: The Dinner Party and its Alternatives in Jane Austen’s Novels.”
Graduate Division
Lauren Howes (Lancaster, PA), University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, VA: “Mansfield Park: A World of Consequence.”
Annica Tehim, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ: “The Madwoman in the Ballroom.”