Volume II includes Clarissa’s “Ode” (Letter 54). Keri noted that the Ode might be Richardson showing “generic versatility,” but more probably that it is an instance of Clarissa using writing both as an escape and as a way of thinking through the situation she’s been forced into. It “helps her write her way into a new identity capable of handling difficult situations while maintaining her sanity and a relatively strong sense of self.” Jessica wondered about error in Letters 59 and 60, specifically “what do we make of this silence on the distracting punctuation and spelling in Solmes’s letter?” In “a culture steeped in letter writing,” she continued, Richardson’s use of error in the letter to characterize Solmes raises questions about connections between writing and character. Rachel wondered if Clarissa’s silence wasn’t due to a sense of delicacy—would it be bad manners to point such a thing out? And, so, Clarissa’s lack of response becomes a way for Richardson to use the letter to characterize her, as well; Debra pointed out the contrast Richardson draws here between Solmes as “buffoon” and Clarissa as mannered.