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by Jane Austen

Had this book been written today, the title might have been Sense and Sensuality, but Regency authors were much more circumspect.

The title refers to the two eldest Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, one of whom (Elinor) embraces practicality and restraint while the other (Marianne) gives her whole heart to every endeavor.

When the Dashwoods _ are sent, almost impoverished, to a small cottage in Devonshire after the death of their father and the machinations of their brother's wife, they accept their new circumstances with as much cheer as they can muster even though their brother and his wife have taken over the family estate and fortune. Their characters, albeit wildly different in their approaches to life, are impeccably honest and intelligent _ and their suitors take notice.

In an interestingly twist, the end of this novel brings into question which sister represents which part of the title.

Question from the E-mail: What is a dangling participle?

Answer: A dangling participle happens when someone gets the parts of a sentence in the wrong order.  I can dangle a participle with the best of them and once had a woman in a barn with a broken hip.  Must've been the roof.

Here are some examples:

Rushing to the catch the bus, Bob's wallet fell out of his pocket.  Well the Wallet wasn't rushing...

Flying south for the winter, I saw a huge flock of swallows... actually, I wasn't flying South, the birds were.

Falling through thin Ice, the jogger dived into the lake to save the dog.  The jogger didn't fall through the ice, he dove in.  The dog fell.

The rest are self-explanatory:

The burglar was about 30 years old, white, 5' 10", with wavy hair weighing about 150 pounds.

The family lawyer will read the will tomorrow at the residence of Mr. Hannon, who died June 19 to accommodate his relatives.

Mrs. Shirley Baxter, who went deer hunting with her husband, is very proud that she was able to shoot a fine buck as well as her husband.

Organ donations from the living reached a record high last year, outnumbering donors who are dead for the first time.

The dog was hungry and made the mistake of nipping a 2-year-old that was trying to force feed it in his ear.

~ We spent most of our time sitting on the back porch watching the cows playing Scrabble and reading.

~ Hunting can also be dangerous, as in the case of pygmies hunting elephants armed only with spears.