Study Curve

sorry for the delay in getting to you. Do you still need editing help with this?

Just ype it up on microsoft word and they will automatically check all the mechanics for you and susie I have to ask you something.

Not necessarily proofing, but just a suggestion and a few comments to help you flesh out the essay to show your teacher your understanding a little better. The two hints about what the Duke thinks the Duchess did are "stoops" and "gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name". Stoops refers to "stoops to folly" (from an Oliver Goldsmith poem that has the line "when lovely woman stoops to folly"...sorry, info overload, I know), which Browning would have understood as code for "having an affair", which is why she gave others the same thing she gave him for his 900 year old name (she took his name when they got married, then had affairs). If you could just indicate this point somewhere in the essay, it would really help, but it won't change your overall point of him being jealous, controlling, and arrogant (he did still kill her and paint a picture of her that he can control...)

BTW, the other two answerers got most of the grammatical errors, so check their responses for changes. The only other one I noticed was in I think the 3rd sentence "Dukes" should be "Duke's" with an apostrophe (unless you change "Dukes" to "his" like Belle Ringer suggests...which is what I would do, too).
In the sentence towards the end "The poem shows the Duke's many characteristics through his many actions throughout the poem.", I think you can clean this up (English teachers will usually hate using the same word twice in a sentence and this one uses "many" and "poem" twice) by saying something like "Browning shows the Duke's flawed character through the many disturbing actions in the poem." On a similar note, you use "portrayed" four times in the last four sentences, so just swap one or two of them out for shown, depicted, or described. The variety will really liven up your language.

Oh, don't put "an" before arrogant in the "Throughout the poem" sentence near the beginning, it throws off the "parallel construction"...but all of the other suggestions by Belle Ringer and seven are really good.

Susie, since I have no idea how to change the text color or font to indicate where you might want to consider changes, I have put my thoughts in parentheses. I hope you can make sense of the suggestions and that they are of some help.

My last ( capitalize Last) Duchess,” a poem by Robert Browning, portrays the Duke of Ferrara’s many (perhaps and adjective to describe the type of characteristics if your not naming them here.) characteristics. Introduce the story line and the characters. Throughout the poem, Browning portrays the Duke as being a very jealous, controlling, and (an) arrogant person. In the poem, the Duke talks about how the Duchess, the Dukes (his) or (shares how his deceased wife, the Dutchess) deceased wife, thanked people, (for what did she thank them? (This may be ta good place to start a new paragraph with a transition about the Dukes jealousy.))She thanked men–good! but thanked Somehow–I know not how–as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift (31- 34) This statement reveals one of the issues the Duke has with jealousy ( What about this statement tells you this?). He thinks the Duchess gave other men the same gratitude for gifts as she did him for his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33). (Yet)Another statement that reveals an issue the Duke has with jealousy would be lines 43- 45, “she smiled, no doubt,/ Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without/ Much the same smile?” Not only was the Duke jealous that the Duchess thanked other people the same as she did him, but also he was jealous that he received the same smile as everyone else. Therefore, the Duke portrays characteristics of jealousy through these two passages from the poem. The Dukes issue with the Duchess’s smiles was not only brought about from his jealousy, but also from the fact that he could not control who she smiled at. (Another spot for a new paragraph.) (Perhaps something like, So jealous was the Duke that he gives the command in lines...) Therefore, in lines 45- 46, the Duke gives commands to have the Duchess killed, “I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together.” After the death of the Duchess, the Duke has a painting made of her, “Fra Pandolf’s hands/ Worked busily a day, and there she stands.” (3- 4). By ( delete "by") the Duke having the painting made and keeping (it) behind the curtain, he ( believes he) can control who the Duchess glances upon, “The depth and passion of its earnest glance,/ But to myself they turned (since none puts by/ The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)” (9- 11). ( new paragraph In addition to being a jealous and controlling man, the Duke is also a very arrogant man. Or something similar)) Not only was the duke (jealous and controlling, but also arrogant. In lines 35- 38,(") Even had you skill In speech-which I have not-to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this Or that in you disgusts me" ; the Duke is talking ( perhaps use the word sharing) about (delete "about") how he doesn’t have the words to say ( tell) to the Duchess that he doesn’t like her actions. The Duke also thinks ( perhaps substitute "is convinced" instead of "also thinks") that if he were to talk to the Duchess about her actions (,) then (delete the word she) she would just make an excuse ( explain why you believe this), “-and if she let/ Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set/ Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,”(39- 41). ( Might be another good spot for a transition and a new paragraph) Also, the duke thinks that if he were to ask the duchess about her actions then he would be stooping ( stooping to what? To her level, to the level of the commoner?), “E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose/ Never to stoop.” (41- 42). He is arrogant for thinking that he would be stooping to talk to his own wife about a few issues he has with her actions even if she gave him excuses. The duke is also arrogant because he thinks that the Duchess should be more grateful for his last name than any other gift, as stated in lines 31- 34. (New paragraph) ( Throughout the poem the Dukes actions show his characteristics of jealousy, control and arrogance.) ( Delete this next line>0The poem shows the Dukes many characteristics through his many actions throughout the poem. (Begin here after transition)Firstly, the Duke is portrayed as being jealous ( add "as is shown by" and delete through) through the way he reacts to delete "how" and continue with the Dutchess' smiles....)how the Duchess smiles and thanks people. Delete Secondly and add Next)Secondly, he is portrayed as being controlling ( delet, "as is seen" and pick up at "through..." as is seem in his response through his response to the situation (delete "of" and add "at")of not being able to control the Duchess’s smiles and gratefulness. Delets "thirdly" and substitue " and finally")Thirdly, he is portrayed as being arrogant through the way he talks about (delete "his" and subtitue "the")his issues that he has with the Duchess. Overall, Robert Browning portrayed the Duke of Ferrara as a jealous, controlling, and arrogant person. ( I have not read this poem, but I wonder if an arrogant person or arrogant husband would be the best way to describe this Duke?)

Date Posted: January 22, 2008

Tagged Under: English . essay . poetry

I made a few minor changes to your writing and put the changes in <>. I believe that the line breaks in your first quote are done differently than the rest of the quotes, so you might want to check that those are consistent throughout the essay. Also, some of your points come across as a list, so you might want to try to put some transitions in there to make it flow a little more. Overall, your points are easy to follow, even for someone who has not read the poem. If you have any questions about the other changes, please let me know.

Throughout the poem, Browning portrays the Duke as being a very jealous, controlling, and arrogant person. In the poem, the Duke talks about how the Duchess, the Dukes deceased wife, thanked people, <“>She thanked men–good! but thanked Somehow–I know not how–as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift<”> (31- 34) This statement reveals one of the issues the Duke has with jealousy. He thinks the Duchess gave other men the same gratitude for gifts <that> she <gave> him for his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33). Another statement that reveals an issue the Duke has with jealousy would be lines 43- 45, “she smiled, no doubt,/ Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without/ Much the same smile?” Not only was the Duke jealous that the Duchess thanked other people the same as she did him, but he was <also> jealous that he received the same smile as everyone else. Therefore, the Duke portrays characteristics of jealousy through these two passages from the poem. The Duke<’>s issue with the Duchess’s smiles was not only brought about from his jealousy, but also from the fact that he could not control who she smiled at. Therefore, in lines 45- 46, the Duke gives commands to have the Duchess killed, “I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together.” After the death of the Duchess, the Duke has a painting made of her, “Fra Pandolf’s hands/ Worked busily a day, and there she stands.” (3- 4). By the Duke having the painting made and keeping <it> behind <a> curtain, he can control who the Duchess glances upon, “The depth and passion of its earnest glance,/ But to myself they turned (since none puts by/ The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)” (9- 11). Not only was the <D>uke jealous and controlling, but also arrogant. In lines 35- 38, <“>Even had you skill In speech-which I have not-to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this Or that in you disgusts me<”>; the Duke is talking about how he doesn’t have the words to say to the Duchess that he doesn’t like her actions. The Duke also thinks that if he were to talk to the Duchess about her actions then she would just make an excuse, “-and if she let/ Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set/ Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,”(39- 41). Also, the <D>uke thinks that if he were to ask the duchess about her actions then he would be stooping, “E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose/ Never to stoop.” (41- 42). He is arrogant for thinking that he would be stooping to talk to his own wife about a few issues he has with her actions<,> even if she gave him excuses. The <D>uke is also arrogant because he thinks that the Duchess should be more grateful for his last name than any other gift, as stated in lines 31- 34. The poem shows the Duke<’>s many characteristics through his actions throughout the poem. First<>, the Duke is portrayed as being jealous through the way he reacts to how the Duchess smiles and thanks people. Second<>, he is portrayed as being controlling through his response to the situation of not being able to control the Duchess’s smiles and gratefulness. Third<>, he is portrayed as being arrogant through the way he talks about his issues that he has with the Duchess. Overall, Robert Browning portrayed the Duke of Ferrara as a jealous, controlling, and arrogant person.