Jane Austen discussion

Story by Stephanie Shields in Dancing with Mr. Darcy

I thought this story beautiful in the simplicity and meaning of the title. I love the reconciliation with relatives, the celebration of a young's girl's progress in life. I think it shows the best of what a short story should be. Very succinct, but meaningful and emotional at the same time.

I had a hard time relating to this one as it had so many unfamiliar terms in it. I've obviously read books with English characters before, but I don't know whether it's to make them more universal or whether it's because it's often American authors (or teams of one American and one British) writing about a British character - but generally they throw in one or two fairly familiar British terms. I had no idea what O and A levels were - and I hadn't heard anyone use the term post-examination post-mortem. It sounds like something you do to a dead body. lol

I enjoyed the education.

I am in the U.S. and I also I don't know if the exams of the young girl are school completion or college entrance, but I just understood the context was they were her path to moving on.

And I think the "post-mortem" was just an expression -- pondering over the event after it is over and possibly when that event may be a failure. I heard it on a BritCom and that was the context. I enjoy the oddity of language too sometimes obviously!