By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Stephanie Adamcik has been a fan of Jane Austen since she watched “Becoming Jane,” a biographical movie about the 19th-century British author, a couple of years ago.
That’s why it was a simple decision for Stephanie to write an essay about Austen, which the 12-year-old entered in the Arrow Book Club’s “Great Women in History Contest” earlier this year.
Stephanie’s one-page essay was selected for national honors from among 4,000 essays. She is one of five winners nationwide, and earned a 25-book “Great Women in History” classroom library.
“We had to write about a woman we admired,” said Stephanie, sixth-grader at Lawrence Intermediate School. The contest was held in April, in conjunction with Women’s History Month.
Stephanie said the movie was about Jane Austen’s love affair with Thomas Lefroy. The movie also explored Austen’s relationship with another man who proposed marriage, but whose offer she declined. She never married.
“I knew about some of her life from the movie,” she said. “I know she was a good writer, and I like to write. I made a connection with her. It was easier to write about someone I had some background information on than someone I did not.”
In her essay, Stephanie described the day that “Pride and Prejudice” was released.
“The crisp fall day was as gorgeous as any. The tall oaks had been painted deep crimsons, gleaming golds and fiery oranges. A light breeze toyed teasingly with the branches of trees like a child pulling the hem of its mother’s skirt,” Stephanie wrote.
“The pungent aroma of freshly cut pumpkins permeated the air and was being blown all over the street, thanks to the wind. However, there was something different also circulating in the air, besides the smell of pumpkins.
“The source was from a large crowd, who had assembled in front of a petite book shop that looked like it would burst if the mass surrounding it decided to enter. The vibe of the group was equal parts of anxiousness and eagerness. Suddenly, the door of the shop glided open with a tinkling sound from the bell above and the throng of people rushed forward.”
“Minutes later, in huddled pairs, they emerged from the bookstore poring over books that all bore the same title. In the sunlight, the silvery script that read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ glimmered. The excited chatter proved that this was the book they had all been waiting for with bated breath.”
“It was the autumn of 1812, one that would seem quite insignificant to others in the future, but for those who lived in that moment, it was marked as the autumn when the legendary Jane Austen produced yet another world famous novel that would inspire her readers for generations to come, just like it did me,” Stephanie wrote.
Stephanie also wrote in her essay that she admired Austen because she was independent in an era when women were expected to marry. She chose not to marry a man she did not love, just for the sake of marrying.
“As Jane once said, ‘I shall have no check to my genius from beginning to end,’” she wrote. “I fully agree with her in the fact that if you think you are smart or good at something, no one has to check or confirm it for you. All that matters is what you think.”
The sixth-grader also wrote that she admired Austen “for just being herself.” Austen did not care what others thought or said, which is “an outstanding quality to have,” she wrote. The author was not afraid to speak her mind, she wrote.
“She was kind of impulsive, but she was the kind of person that people look to for inspiration,” Stephanie said last week. “She always spoke her mind. It would be really hard to live like that, the way life was back then.”
Writing the essay was not easy, Stephanie admitted. She wrote one draft, but discarded it and wrote a new essay. The second draft — the essay that she submitted — was much better than the original, she said.
Stephanie said she was surprised and happy that she won the essay contest. She said she has always loved writing, and that she really wanted to win the Arrow Book Club contest.
“I like writing just because when I write, I can say what I want, but in a way that I couldn’t if I were speaking,” Stephanie said. “I think it’s easier to express myself in writing.”
