In class on Tuesday, you were given the entire period to prepare the assignment that is due on Thursday. See the attached file or keep reading.
For Thursday's class, you must have gathered at least six pieces of direct textual evidence about one of the topics below.
- You will construct this assignment as Cornell notes.
- The six pieces of evidence will be recorded on the left-hand side of the page. Your notes about how the evidence connects to the topic or your claims about the significance of the passage will appear on the right-hand side of the page.
- This work will be graded complete/incomplete; A or C or Zero.
- You will not be allowed to begin writing any part of your paper until you have completed this assignment.
- Collaborate with each other for goodness sake! Having identical evidence is okay.
- This work may be handwritten.
- You may be asked to participate in a Socratic Seminar on your chosen topic.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: Paper Topics
1. In the text Jane Eyre, Bertha Mason is obviously the madwoman. A rich Creole heiress from the Caribbean, Bertha comes from a family marked by mental illness. Her mother is insane; her brother is described as an “idiot.” Significantly, Bertha is not a gentle lost soul; her lunacy takes on malevolent forms. When Bertha is able to escape from her attic confinement, she roams the mansion and tries to intentionally harm Rochester and Jane. So who is the monster? Rochester is. Because the novel has such a satisfying ending (Jane is rewarded), as readers we often become far too uncritical of Rochester. Why can Rochester be described as a monster? On a very simple level think about his physical appearance at the end of the novel. What about his behavior toward women—both Bertha and Jane? Is he a good man or are his behavior and utterances monstrous?
2. Jane Eyre tells the story of an orphaned girl who, because of her resolute character, finds love and marriage. Charlotte Bronte uses Jane to put forth her very personal beliefs about the purpose of marriage. What is Bronte arguing about marriage through Jane’s experiences and utterances?
3. Class matters very much in Jane Eyre. Class determines life chances. What is Bronte arguing about class through the utterances and experiences of different characters?
4. Mirrors and Reflections. Throughout Jane Eyre there are a series of twinned or mirrored characters: St. John Eyre Rivers and Edward Fairfax Rochester or Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason or Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason and Miss Ingram. What is Bronte using these mirrored characters to argue? (In your paper you would focus on only one set.)
5. Nature Responds. A common literary device in 19th century literature is the use of Nature as an active, responsive force. Often Nature will either respond to human events or foreshadow human events. At times Nature will even sympathetically reflect human emotions. Can you make an argument about when Bronte chooses to use Nature as a responsive device?
6. Interestingly, Jane, the daughter of a poor clergyman, does not choose St. John, the ardent missionary and ascetic believer. She instead chooses a crippled man with dubious morals (Rochester did try to trick her into an illegal marriage and them tried to persuade her by amorous means to become his mistress!) And yet the novel ends with Jane’s report about St. John….and yet Edward is only rewarded when he begins to actually pray. Yet Lowood school—run by a minister, Brocklehurst, for the poor daughters of ministers—is a terrible place where the girls are so malnourished that dozens die of typhus fever. What is Bronte, herself the daughter of a poor clergyman, arguing about religion (or the purpose of religion) in this novel? (I wonder if Helen Burns is the actual prophet in this novel…..?)
