1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
Jane Eyre is an orphan living with Mrs. Reed and her three
cousins at Gateshead Hall. She has a very hard childhood because they
mistreated her, such as putting her in the "red room" which is were
her uncle died. Jane is later sent to Lowood, a school for orphans. But, she
doesn't have much luck there because she is also treated in a cruel matter. The
only nice people there is the teacher Miss Temple and Helen her best friend.
Helen dies, but soon Jane makes another friend, Mary Ann. Jane stays at Lowood
until she's 16 then becomes a teacher and remains there until she's 18. She
later accepts a job as a governess for Adele Varens at Thornfield. She soon
meets Mr. Rochester who she has an attraction to. Jane saves Mr. Rochester's
life while the sneaky Grace Poole supposedly sets his curtains on fire. After
that Janes aunt gets sick and even though she treated Jane bad Jane still helps
her. When Jane returns to Thornfield she decides to marry Mr.Rochester. On the
day of their wedding, two men come saying Mr. Rochester is already married.
They find out that his wife is Bertha Mason, the one who's been doing crazy
things at night. He tells Jane to live with him in France, but they'll have to
pretend to be married. She refuses to be another mistress and runs away. She
moves in with the River's family and becomes a teacher. Her Uncle, Mr. Eyre,
passes away and leaves his fortune to Jane. St. John tries to marry Jane, but
Jane doesn't want to . She's about to say yes to St. John's marriage proposal
when she apparently hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her. The next day, she
leaves and returns to Mr. Rochester. They rekindle their love and they marry .
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid
cliches.
I think that the novel had a lot of themes but the one that
stood out to me the most would be the theme of family. Jane never really had a
sense of what family really is because she was raised as an orphan.She lived
with her aunt but she never really felt like she was part of the family because
her aunt treated her very badly. She was always looking for a sense a
belonging, when she went to school she found a teacher who she connected with
and a best friend, but soon they were out of her life. That was the closest she
was to finding some type of family .Then, she met Mr.Rochester who she wanted
to spend the rest of her life with but once again things went wrong and she
wasn't able to have the family that she always wanted. Finally, at the end of
the novel she goes back with Mr.Rochester and they marry. She finally gets that
sense of having a family, that for so long she was striving for.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include three excerpts that
illustrate your point(s).
The author's tone is sympathetic. Through out Jane's life
she has always been faced with stuggles starting at a young age. The author
makes sure that the readers understands her struggles as a orphan. Jane grew up
being bullied by her aunt Mrs.Reed and when she went to school the teachers
also treated her badly. Janes' life was always faced with adversities and
obstacles, but at the end she finally found the happiness that she had been
looking for her whole life.
4. Describe ten literary elements/techniques you observed
that strengthen your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.
Include three excerpts (for each element) that will help your reader understand
each one.
Symbolism: The red-room because throughout the novel
she refers to it as an emotional piece. Whenever she feels insecure about
herself or a decision she's about to make, the red-room is brought up as a
reminder the struggles she'll have to face to find peace within herself.
"Let her stand half an hour longer on that
stool, and let no one speak to her during the ramainder of the day."
That's exactly how Mrs. Reed treated her when she tried to get out of the
red-room. (Mr Brocklehurst CH. 7)
Allusion: When visitor's come to Thornfield, they
talk about how cruel they've been to their own governess. It's a reminder of
what Jane's childhood was like under the watch of Mrs. Reed. The idea of higher
class being dominate to the lower class is shown as they converse.
"What tricks Theodore and I used to play on our Miss
Wilsons, and Mrs. Greys, and Madame Jouberts! Mary was always too sleep to join
in a plot with spirit." (Blanche Eshton Ch. 17)
Plot Tension: The reader could tell that Jane is
falling in love with Mr. Rochester, but Mr. Rochester pretends to be engaged to
Miss Blanche. Jane witnesses the two as a "couple" and concludes that
Jane's secrete love could never be because of their class. Tension rises as the
reader picks up the two's interest for each other.
"He said something in praise of your eyes, did he?
Blind puppy! Open their bleared lids and look on your own accursed
senselessness! It does good to no women to be flattered by their superior, who
cannot possibly intend to marry her, and it is madness in all women to let a
secrete love kindle within them..." (Jane Eyre Ch. 16)
Emotional Appeal: Jane is always expressing her attitude
towards Mrs. Reed, Mr. Rochester, Mrs. Fairfax, the upper class. Rejection
plays a huge role in this story as well as forgiveness.
"I valued what was good in Mrs. Faux and what was good
in Adele; but I believe in the existence of other and more vivid kinds of
goodness and what I believed in I wished to behold" (Jane Eyre Ch.12)
Imagery: Helps the audience go more in dept with how
Jane encounters and sees certain situations . It gives readers the ability to
be creative.
"Something creaked: it was a door ajar, and that
door was Mr. Rochester's, and the smoke rushed in a cloud from thence. I
thought no more of Mrs. Fairfax I thought no more of Grace Poole or the laugh;
in an instant, I was within the chamber. Tongues of flame darted around the
bed: the curtains were on fire. In the midst of blaze and vapour, Mr. Rochester
lay stretched motionless, in deep sleep." (Jane Eyre Ch. 15)
Foreshadowing: The novel’s main instances of
foreshadowing focus on Jane’s eventual inheritance (Chapter 33) from her uncle
John Eyre. In Chapter 3, Jane tells Mr. Lloyd that her aunt has told her of
some “poor, low relations called Eyre,” but she knows nothing more about them.
Syntax: Syntax and style of the sentences are
complex; phrases and clauses are elaborately interwoven, but still feel
balanced and exact. For example, at the very beginning of the novel Jane tells
us that she’s glad she can’t take a walk with her cousins: "I never liked
long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home
in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the
chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical
inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed"
Irony: At first Jane needed Rochester, she had no money and no family,
he was rich, but in the end Rochester was alone and blind and Jane was
independent, suddenly Rochester needed Jane- the one thing i'll always remember
about Jane Eyre.
Diction: The diction in Jane Eyre is chosen to add to the overall dark
and foreboding mood of the novel. This masterful use of diction enriches the
experience of the reader as the book progresses. When Jane first meets Mr.
Rochester, he is described using words such as "dark,"
"stern," "ireful," and "thwarted."
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of
direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does
the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting
impression of the character as a result)?
·
Examples of
direct characterization:
o "John had not much affection for his mother and
sisters, and an antipathy to me."
(Ch. 1)
o "John Reed was a schoolboy of fourteen years old;
four years older than I, for I was but ten" (Ch. 1)
2. Does the author's syntax
and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
·
The author's
diction does change when she focuses on people like Bertha and Mr. Rochester.
Through the diction the author shows their personality. For example for those
two characters through the diction is shown to be cruel and aggressive.
3. Is the protagonist static
or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
·
Jane Eyre is the
protagonist and I feel she's a dynamic character. She changes from this shy
abused girl to a strong independent young lady.
o "While arranging my hair, I looked at my face in
the glass, and felt it was no longer plain: there was hope in its aspect and
life in its color; and my eyes seems as if they had beheld the fount of
fruition, and borrowed beams from the lustrous ripple." (Chapter 24)
·
Jane Eyre is a
round character because she changed personalities within the novel. She
overcame the hardships at Gateshead Hall, Lowood and Thornfield by herself. She
faced abandonment, neglection and imprisonment her entire life, but faced her
problems and learned from her experiences.
4. After reading the book did
you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one
textual example that illustrates your reaction.
After reading the book I
learned that Jane is a very strong person because since a child she had to go
through a lot of adversities. At the end she found happiness but it never came
easy for her.
