* NOTICE: Mr. Center's Wall is on indefinite hiatus. Got something to say about it? Click HERE and type.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Jane Eyre V -- chapter 5: FIRST DAY OF INSTITUTION

Chapter five brings us out of the first scene of Jane's youth.  The chapter is fairly simply a transition--the drawing and raising of the curtains, of shifting of the lights.  Reset the stage for school and move one.  So, for a moment, disregard all the investigative and interpretative questions and, while the stage crew arranges, answer this only:

What do you think so far?

(The questions below are optional--except #2.  Answer #2.  Please.)


Reading Questions
  1. Why is Mrs. Reed at all concerned with how Jane may speak of her and Gateshead while at Lowood?
  2. Now that Jane is away from Gateshead, how do you think her behavior will change or how others think of her?
  3. What lesson is Jane to learn from the girl with the book?
  4. What do we know about Jane, combined with what we know about storytelling in general, that might help us make some predictions for her future?
  5. What of the other orphans?

10 comments:

  1. I'm going to read Chapter 5 during the halftime of this bowl game here, but

    HOLY CRAP! Did you make that? It is amazing! And it really sets the mood for the reading. I am impressed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I made it. The kids were busy, Angie was Christmas shopping, I was bored to death, and couldn't draw the necessary focus to make any headway with Dubliners. So I did a brick.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I still have to make the one you sent me. My mom didn't tell me it had come in the mail while I was in school until about two days ago.

    I found "Dubliners" a lot more enjoyable than "Ulysses", although I think my class only read "The Dead", so I can't really say on the other stories.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't know. I generally like it, but the, "Everyone is against me," attitude is starting to get to me, but I guess we are only like 50 pages in, so I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

    2. No, I don't think so. I think she will fight conformity to the end. That's a big part of her "problem" in the first place. As far as what other people are thinking of her, I hope she at least makes one friend, but I don't know.
    3. Basically, I think it says that this is a pretty depressing place. The book is more like Psalms than the books that she enjoys, and apparently, there is an attitude that one should not ask too many questions.
    4. I think I kind of touched on this in #2. But at some point, the rubber is going to hit the road between her and the faculty/other students, so I think that will be the conflict in the future. Of course, there are probably people that have read this already that are laughing at my prediction.

    Anyway, like I said, I'm enjoying the book so far. I'm just hoping we get a little more nuance in the characters surrounding Jane.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm also enjoying the book so far. And I'm finding that I need far less salt with the melodrama than I thought initially. I'm excited to see where it all goes. I'm not quite as critical of the "whoa-is-me" thing; it's not nearly as redundant as the "I'm-so-in-love-with-Edward" of the Twilight books. Jane's just ten after all, and her life actually does stink.

    Regarding Dubliners: I think the reason I'm not letting myself just jump right into it is because of the introduction in my edition. She heralds the collection as flawless and sites a number of critics and "experts" who claim that "The Dead" is likely the greatest single story in the English language. If I didn't respect the criticism and didn't already have an existing awe for Joyce, I'd brush it off and fly through. But even in just the opening story, there's evident depth and extraordinary skill. I'm eager to really take time to read and carefully.

    If you're game, I'll post my thoughts (erratically, at best) on each story. I think there's more to them than there is here with "Eyre," and this being my first time through them as well, well, don't expect more than amateurish comments and discussion. Or don't worry about it at all--I'll probably post thoughts anyway....

    (online edition: http://www.enotes.com/dubliners-text)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh -- and, yeah, I've read the Twilight books.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah, go ahead. I believe I should still have my copy of "Dubliners" downstairs, so maybe I can try to read along. I am not sure I agree with "The Dead." I thought it was truly great, but greatest story in the English language? I don't know. Sometimes it's hard for me to figure out whether scholars of a particular author are scholars because they think s/he's the best, or if they think s/he's the best because they are scholars of the author--if you can follow all of that. I tend to like a couple of Poe's stories, namely "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" better, although I don't want to sound like I'm slighting "The Dead" (that's the problem with making comparisons!) because, again, I loved it, and it really is ONE of the best at least.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've always enjoyed Poe, but I have to disagree that any of his compete with the dubious title, "Great in the English Language." I have wondered, however, the exact same thing as you--if those scholars of certain authors become so because of an overzealousness for the works. If I were to become a literary scholar, I would probably follow someone like Salinger and Hulme. In fact, I'm probably guilty of a bit of the same with the latter. Of Poe, I prefer "The Gold Bug," and "The Pit and the Pendulum," which I think is one of his best, if not the best, of his works.

    As far as "Dubliners" is concerned, we'll see if I actually get around to. I really want to finish the novel I started for nanowrimo, which I haven't touched since the third week. "Eyre" isn't too tough to keep up with, but I'd like to get a bit more in depth again with my Wednesdays and Sundays....

    We'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think you're probably right with Poe. I was merely suggesting that I considered them better than "The Dead". Personally I can't really say what the best in the English language is. Haven't read enough.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I don't know if I ever COULD read enough to make an confident and expert judgment on the best. As much as I respect these academics, honestly, they probably haven't read enough either. There's a LOT out there.

    ReplyDelete

Be sure to subscribe to the thread to receive discussion updates.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...