Email from Christopher: Grading for Part III

Christopher passes along a list of things he was looking for in Part III of the midterm (Biblical references in Jane Eyre):

Did the student choose a biblical reference from the Notes OR a reasonable reference to the “Bible” (not the Book of Common Prayer, not some generalizable religious idea/sentiment)?

Did the student understand the reference, and did the student explain how they saw the purpose/function of that reference in the passage? (Perhaps when in the book did the reference surface?)

If the answer was basically “Brontë used this reference to add to the character,” then I saw that as rather average. Likewise, did they essentially rehash the footnote, “retell” it?

If the answer offered some insight, and here I was generous, then I looked at that as above average and thus earning more points.

I also approached the grading keeping in mind that they had time to do the exam, and that the time expectation counted.

I tried not to notice obvious gaffs like “Jane was sent to Atwood School” or “Jane never forgave Ms Reed” and the like.

And there were 12 high frequency (perhaps SparkNotes-inspired choices) that tended to be poor choices, not thought through, questionable for their similarities to other students’, and otherwise unenlightened as answers.

Midterm: part IV (Jane Eyre analytical essay)

From Clara and Danielle:

1. Must begin with a thesis (argument) that directly addresses the prompt. Thesis should identify a concern/issue/theme for the novel and tell us what the novel says about that concern/issue/theme.
2. Besides thesis, no intro needed. Please do not write a conclusion either.
3. Must support thesis with close reading that pays attention to language, imagery, etc. ALL of your points need to clearly relate to the thesis statement/main argument.
4. Please do not focus on providing just plot summary. Focus, instead, on analyzing the plot to support your thesis.
5. Must be original & not repeat lecture.
6. We’ll stop reading at the end of page 2

Midterm: part III (Biblical quotations in Jane Eyre)

From Christopher:

For Part III, after you have provided a total count for the references, please write an answer that shows how any ONE Biblical reference works to create a certain effect in a particular passage in the novel. The successful answer will “show” how this Bib. reference works by explaining the needed steps in order to make a valid argument for how this reference adds to the overall impact of this passage in the novel. As such, the student will want to provide enough of a quotation, in which the Biblical reference occurs (NO BLOCK QUOTATIONS), and then point out in particular how this specific reference creates a certain effect in the chosen passage. A passage might contain one or more of the following, but the goal is for the writer to make specific choices rather than to touch upon all of these devices: so, are there certain words? images? suggestions? connotations? figurative language (like a metaphor)?—there are many more possibilities to be sure, but you must make the choice.

As this is a half-page essay, the intro should be no more than one or two sentences that set out how this specific reference functions in this chosen passage. The body should be one or two brief paragraphs that each work to provide an idea in support of your interpretation (with evidence, i.e., a quotation, parts of quotations). The conclusion should “pull back” (not provide a simple summary) and in a brief sentence or two, explain the greater significance that this specific reference allows a reader to understand by way of the Biblical references taken as a whole in the novel.

All words should be spelled correctly, one half page, single space is fine, and please do not go over a half page, using a standard font.

Reading reading in Jane Eyre

For discussion on Thursday, please pick one of the passages below and read it with the same exacting, word-after-word attention we gave to the paragraphs on pages 131 and 132 this afternoon. Here is the main question we will try to answer:

• Why are the acts of reading and seeing important in Jane Eyre?

To answer that question, we will have to have a sense of how images of reading and seeing intersect with other images and themes in the text.

Adopt one of these passages and master its every detail:

• Pp. 58-59: from “As yet I had spoken to no one…” to “She received it quietly…”
• Pp. 82-83: the paragraph beginning “‘Hush, Jane!’”
• P. 111: the paragraph beginning “A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play…”
• P. 159: the paragraph beginning “‘All right then…’”
• Pp. 198-99, 202: the paragraph beginning “A soft sound of rising…” and the paragraph beginning “At last coffee is brought in…”
• Pp. 215-16: the paragraph beginning “There was nothing to cool or banish love…”
• Pp. 294-95: from “”Am I a liar in your eyes?’” to “‘Gratitude!’”
• P. 365: the paragraph beginning “I did.”
• P. 369: the paragraph beginning “A mile off…”
• P. 396: the paragraph beginning “Mr St John…”
• P. 427: the paragraph beginning “‘I am come to see how you are spending your holiday…’”
• P. 519: the paragraph beginning “I have now been married ten years…’”

Counting words in Jane Eyre

(Updated 7/6)

You can discern a lot of information about a novel’s themes by counting word repetitions. How many times does the word “eyes” appear in Jane Eyre? How about the word “read”?

If you download the etext of Jane Eyre and open it in your word processing program of choice, you can count the number of instances of any word in the entire novel. (In Microsoft Word, use Edit → Find… → Highlight all items found.)

Some words to look up:

• eye / look / gaze / see
• read / reads / reading / reader
• book / books
• picture / illustration

Here are the Gutenberg etexts for the other works we are reading this semester:

• Shakespeare’s Sonnets
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

A quick note on the Jane Eyre quiz

(These notes apply also to the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass quiz on 7/28.)

Monday’s quiz will ask you to identify details from Jane Eyre that you would not be able to learn from reading a summary of the novel. The questions will not be tricky in the least—e.g. What is Mr. Brocklehurst’s profession? Who is Jane’s particular friend at Lowood?

Read attentively and note interesting characters and events and you should be well prepared for Monday’s quiz.

Hearing Jane Eyre

If you have 20 hours of iPod time before the midterm in two and a half weeks (July 22), you might want to review Jane Eyre by listening to it—LibriVox (tagline: “acoustical liberation of books in the public domain”) has a free audio copy of the entire novel.

This is no substitute for reading the novel, of course, but it’s worth remembering that Brontë wrote her novel to be read out loud: before NBC and CBS decided we should spend evenings in ways more profitable for their shareholders, it was not uncommon for a family to spend the hours after supper reading a book out loud.

How to read Jane Eyre

1. Don’t read for plot

The only way to read is to reread.

The first time you read a book (or poem or short story) your eye will be on its plot. You can’t stop yourself: beginning with the first book your parents read you when you were an infant you’ve been brainwashed! As readers, we Americans tend to strain every nerve to figure out the ending of a story.

Only once you’ve figured out the ending are you able to go back to a story to see how it’s put together, to discover its metaphors, its patterns, its implications.

How do you not read Jane Eyre for plot? Easy: spoil the plot for yourself.

• Wikipedia’s plot synopsis
• SparkNotes plot overview

2. Keep lists

And include page numbers.

Lists of what?

• Symbols (the looking-glass, the arctic, secluded interior spaces)
• Metaphors and similes
• Places
• Words that seem to stand out in Jane’s mind, perhaps suggesting a key to her psychological development

3. Keep an eye on the minor characters

They’re not just there to usher Jane along on her path: the significant patterns of the text will be mirrored in the stories of the minor characters.

Calculating Jane Eyre

If you would like to calculate how many pages of Jane Eyre you should read until it’s due, you can use this Google Docs form to find out.