Jane Eyre

Section One: Charlotte Bronte's whakapapa

Charlotte Bronte is an English novelist who lived from 21 April 1816 until 31 March 1855. She had a short but illustrious career as an author and Jane Eyre is arguably her most widely known work.

Pick at LEAST THREE of these sources and be able to write about what motivated Charlotte Eyre to write her stories.

Section Two: Important Context for Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte lived in a very different time to what we do in 2021. In the 1800s, women were treated much differently. When Charlotte (and her sister Emily) first published their work, they used male names to be taken more seriously as women were expected to be a mother and a wife and not much more. Read the following links and find out more about the context in which Charlotte Bronte as this will help you understand her writing better.

Section Three: Close reading Jane Eyre

Read Jane Eyre for the first time. As you do, complete this task:

1. Character map - on a piece A3, write down each of the characters as you come across them. Draw arrows between the characters to denote their relationships and add in adjectives that describe each character and at least one quote for each characters.

After completing your first reading of Jane Eyre, complete these tasks to set you up for a close analysis of Jane Eyre.

1. Audience positioning. Write down five words that describe how you feel after reading this book. For example, sad, happy. These adjectives will become your tools for discussing the impact on the audience. So always keep them in front of you.

2. Figure out of the theme. What's this story about? To do this, work through these questions:

   1. Who's the main protagonist?

   2. What challenges do they face?

   3. How do they face these challenges?

   4. How do they change over the course of the narrative?

   5. What main ideas are thrown up by the adventures of the protagonist and what do you learn about these ideas?

3. Some big questions to consider about Jane Eyre. (Source: thought.co)

• 1. What is important about the title; why does Bronte choose a name for her character that has so many homonyms (heir, air). Is this intentional?

  2. What is significant about Jane's time at Lowood? How does this shape her character?

  3. Compare Bronte's descriptions of Thornfield with the descriptions of Rochester's appearance. What is she trying to convey?

  4. There are many symbols throughout Jane Eyre. What significance do they hold for the plot?

  5. How would you describe Jane as a person? Is she believable? Is she consistent?

  6. How did your opinion of Rochester change when you learned what his secret was?

  7. Does the story end the way you expected?

  8. Do you think Jane Eyre is a feminist novel? Why or why not?

  9. How does Bronte's portray other female characters besides Jane? Who is the most significant woman in the novel other than its titular character?

  10. How does Jane Eyre compare to other heroines of 19th century English literature? Of whom does she remind you?

  11. How essential is the setting for the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere else?

  12. Do you think Jane and Rochester deserved a happy ending? Do you think they got one?

4. Think about which chapter you remember best. It is now time to reread this chapter, thinking about these things as you go:

• 1. What is the title of the chapter?

  2. Who is the main protagonist of this chapter? What are they doing, thinking about, reacting to?

  3. Identify TEN main quotes from this chapter - note these and justify why you have chosen each one.

  4. Identify language features that the author employs in this chapter and explain why you think she used it.

Resources to help you analyse the story

Section Four: Some other takes on Jane Eyre - stretching your thinking

It's important to stretch your thinking on your book by reading some other people's interpretations of it. Have a read of these reviews and interpretations and then complete these questions:

• What do your reviews say about your text?

• What do the reviews say about the theme and characters?

• What do the reviews say about why the book was written?

• What questions do you start to think about as you read these reviews?

Section Five: Research

Below are the Level Two and Three research options. Work with your teacher to ensure that you are on the right pathway.

Level Two Research

Level Two research asks you to pull an issue out of your text and learn more about it so that it increases your understanding of your text. Click this link to find out what you need to do.

Level Three Unit Standard Written Texts Research

Level Three Unit Standard research asks you to use articles and book reviews to learn more about the author and what they are writing about so that it increases your understanding of your text. Click this link to find out what you need to do.

Level Three Achievement Standard Critical Texts Research

We are now going to stretch our thinking of the text by engaging in critical text research. What this means is that we read how experts have interpreted, understood and thought about the text so that we can understand better ourselves. Below are some critical texts that relate to this text and to understand what the research project is asking you to do (as well as how to do it), click here.

The following are critical texts that relate to Tu. Some will have a direct link, naming the novel directly, and others will be linked by the insight they provide about the background or motivation of the author to write her story.

In no way should you read all of these, cover to cover. You need to be more strategic; look at the titles, read the contents page to pick which sections of the book are best to read, skim and scan to identify sections of chapters that you need to read closely and take notes from - look for keywords from your questions, use subheadings to identify relevant sections.

Not all of these critical texts will answer your questions; so look for the ones that do. Pick three to four to read and take notes from.

Also, if you find that you aren't answering one of your questions, and/or your reading is taking you in a new and unexpected direction, simply change your questions and hypothesis in line with what you are reading - this is what research is; learning and changing what you think as you learn more.

• Blakemore, Erin. (2019). Sorry, but Jane Eyre isn't the romance you want it to be.

• Andersson, Angela. (2011). Identity and Independence in Jane Eyre.

• Suliman, Zeinab G.A.F. (2015). Jane Eyre searching for belonging.

• Bloom, Harold (Editor). (2007). Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations: Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre Updated Edition - be mindful to use the contents page to find essays that apply to your hypothesis

• Diniz, Gabriely. (2020). Women and the Discourse of Marriage: A Critical Analysis of Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice.