“Radu Vlădescu” Theoretical High School Pătârlagele

30th November, 2007A foreign language teachers’ meeting to

promote:

• Teaching English in the language lab

Main aims of the activity:- to provide an opportunity forliterary analysis, characterdescription and criticalthinking;- to familiarize Ss with thenew language laboratory.

Jane EyreFrom the novel to the movie

and into the classroom

“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte (1816 - 1855)

The book is a classic romancenovel by Charlotte Brontë

that waspublished in 1848, being

Brontë‘ smasterpiece and one of the

mostfamous of British novels. Charlotte Brontë first

publishedthe book as “Jane Eyre : AnAutobiography” under thepseudonym Currer Bell.

The novel was an immediatecritical and popular success.

What kind of novel? Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of

theformative years of the title character, a

small,plain-faced, intelligent, and passionate

Englishorphan girl.The plot follows the form of a

Bildungsroman,a novel that tells the story of a child'smaturation and focuses on the

emotions andexperiences that lead to her maturity.

The plot The novel goes through five distinct stages:

(1) Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins;

(2) her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations;

(3) her time as governess at Thornfield Manor, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester;

(4) her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End and at Morton, where her cold clergyman- cousin St. John Rivers proposes to her; and

(5) her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester at his house of Ferndean.

Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism

and sinister Gothic elements.

THE MOVIE

Jane Eyre has been thesubject of numeroustelevision and filmadaptations. The 1996Hollywood version,directed byFranco Zeffirelli, is quitesimilar to the originalnovel.

The 1996 film adaptation of Jane Eyre(portrayed as a child by Anna Paquin and as an adult byCharlotte Gainsbourg) is the story of an independent and

strong minded young woman who eventually finds love and happiness.

Jane Eyre provides an accurate view of education in nineteenth - century England, as seen by an

1840s educator. The course of Jane's life in regard to her own education and her work in education are

largely autobiographical, mirroring Charlotte Bronte's own life.

Activity 1 : Silent viewing

By adjusting the volume control, students are asked to watch a scenefrom the movie (8:45-10:20) without sound and without the subtitle.

This is very useful. Students can focus only on the visual information as

a way of ‘previewing’ the written text. They are asked to makepredictions, supply their own dialogue, or give a simultaneousdescription of what they see.

Then, the teacher allows them to compare their predictions with theactual scene.The teacher will make sure the students receive all theinformation they need to understand it.

(Timing: 6 minutes)

New words: Stool = a simple seat

without a back or arms

Scissors = a tool used for cutting thin material which requires little force

Vanity (amour propre) =

feelings of excessive pride

New words:

cough = sudden expulsion of air from the lungs that clears the air passages

bonnet = a hat tied under the chin

Silent viewing“The stool. Place this child upon it. Yousee this girl? Her name is Jane Eyre. Beon your guard against her. Avoid hercompany. Shut her out of yourconversations. This girl, take a good lookat her, this girl is a liar. Let her stand onthat stool all day. She shall have no food.And let no one speak to her.”“Alice. Pay attention. Back to your lessons.”

Activity 2Students are asked to watch the scene (14:00-16:32).Theyare asked to answer the following questions:

- Who taught Jane to draw?- Why does Helen say Jane is lucky?- Why does Jane ask Helen to take off her bonnet?- Why is Mr. Brocklehurst offended?- Is long curly hair really a “sin”?- What do you think will happen next? (Timing: 4 minutes)

Activity 3: Fill in while listening“The girl’s hair shall be cut off.” / “No.”“Did someone speak?”“Why should you punish her for the way God made

herhair?”“Fetch the scissors. You, Jane. Did you hear whatI said? I will not ask you again.”“Your hair will grow again soon. And if it is cut offagain, it will grow again. And it will be even morebeautiful than it was before. Does it hurt you when

youcough? Come, into bed. I’m sure you feel very sorryabout yourselves. I’m sure you all envy other girls

whoseem to’ ve been blessed with happier lives. But

youhave all been blessed with intelligence. Intelligenceand a proper education will give you independence

ofspirit and that is the greatest blessing of all.”

Activity 4After the students watch the scene (16:32-18:58),in groups, they are asked to do one of the following tasks:

1. Characterize Jane’s attitude.2. Describe Miss Temple (the teacher).3. Explain the meaning and the importance of the term“independence of spirit”.4. Identify the symbol(s) in the scene.5. Speak about punishments in relation with discipline.

(Timing: 10 minutes)

Once at Lowood School, Jane finds that her life is far from idyllic. The school’s headmaster is Mr. Brocklehurst, a cruel, hypocritical, and abusive man. Brocklehurst preaches a doctrine of poverty and privation to his students while using the school’s funds to provide a wealthy and opulent lifestyle for his own family. At Lowood, Jane befriends a young girl named Helen Burns, whose strong, martyrlike attitude toward the school’s miseries is both helpful and displeasing to Jane.

AT LOWOOD SCHOOL

AT LOWOOD SCHOOL Lowood School is an accurate representation of acharity school in the 1820s: bad health conditions,

thesystem of a master teacher, under teachers,andmonitors as well as the cruel discipline implemented

byMr.Brocklehurst…All these make it a terrifying place.Jane is mortified when she must stand on a stool

and isaccused of being a liar. Most of the punishments atLowood are for minor infractions such as having

dirtynails when the wash water was frozen. Jane sees these punishments as generally just beingmean, and thinks that such mean people do notdeserve to be obeyed. Jane explains to Helen Burns her view that obeyingmean people encourages them to be mean:

“ If people were

always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way; they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should-so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.”

(89-90; ch. 6)

Victorian educationVictorian attitudes toward education differed considerablyfrom those prevalent in modern times.

The level of one's schooling was determined by social classand also by gender. At all levels of society boys and girlswere taught separately.

The children of poor or workingclass families were taught inlocal schools. Such children would rarely progressbeyond learning basic skills; most learning was by rote.

Most of these children would have left schoolby their early teen years to work on farms or in factories.

Victorian educationUpper and upper-middle-class families, on the other hand,used to enroll their sons in exclusive private schools(known paradoxically as public schools). In truth, however,conditions in these schools were often as harsh as those inschools for orphans and the poor such as LowoodInstitution in Jane Eyre. But a public school educationwould serve as an entree into good society. Women were excluded from universities until the 1870s.The first women did not graduate from an English universityuntil 1874, when four women received degrees fromCambridge University.

Evaluation1.”Jane Eyre” was written by….a. Charlotte Bronte b. Currer Bell c. Franco Zeffirelli2. The novel is….a. an autobiography b. a bildungsroman c. a historical novel 3. The main character is…a. vain b. beautiful c. dignified4. Mr. Brocklehurst (the headmaster) is…a. abusive b. sympathetic c. respectful5. Miss Temple (the teacher) is….a. patronizing b. gentle c. humble6. Helen Burns is….a. vicious b. proud c. obedient7. Lowood School is…a. a charity school b. a catholic school c. a private school8. The novel describes the educational system in…. century England.a. 17th b.18th c.19th (Timing: 5 minutes)

Emilia Frînculeasă thanks you all for being here!!!

And wishes youall a beautifulday!!!

See you next time!