Great Books: Wuthering Heights
Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: 9–12
Curriculum Focus: Literature
Lesson Duration: Three to four class periods
Program Description
On the cold, damp moors of England burned a love that transcended death. Emily Brontë’s novel
of thwarted passion and cruelty was considered immoral when it was first published. The central
character, Heathcliff, became an archetype for the modern anti-hero. This program compares
Heathcliff’s character to Brontë’s life of isolation and rejection.
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
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Read the novel Wuthering Heights.
•
Review a summary of the novel’s plot and major characters.
•
Analyze a theme.
•
Teach a theme-based unit to the class.
Materials
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Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (one for each student)
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Computer with Internet access
•
Poster board, markers, and other materials for creating visuals
Procedures
1. After students have read Wuthering Heights, review its plot and major characters with the class.
You may choose to ask students to summarize each chapter. Write the names of characters on
the board as they are introduced. When each chapter has been summarized, ask the class to
brainstorm words and phrases that describe the characters.
2. Divide the class into two groups and assign each one a theme (see #3). Explain that each group
must answer questions about their theme. Then each group will have one class period to
prepare a unit on their theme and another class period to teach it to the class.
Great Books: Wuthering Heights
Teacher’s Guide
2
3. Give each group its theme questions:
Theme: The Role of Social Class
•
Describe the social class of the Earnshaws, the Lintons, and Heathcliff. Which are of a
higher social class? Why is this significant?
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How does social class motivate Catherine’s actions? How does she try to change her
class?
•
How does Heathcliff’s social class influence the way he is treated and his own actions?
How does Heathcliff’s class change?
•
What is the role of class in the novel? How do tensions in the book result from class
struggles?
•
What role do the servants Nelly, Joseph, and Zillah play in the novel?
Theme: The Significance of Setting
•
Describe the setting of the Yorkshire moors.
•
Describe the houses Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Include descriptions
of architecture and the surrounding landscape.
•
How do the houses reflect their inhabitants?
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Do the houses symbolize their inhabitants? Give examples.
•
How do the settings influence the novel’s characters?
4. Have student groups develop a unit based on their theme. Each should begin with an overview
of the theme; answers to the questions above should suffice. Each unit will also include a
creative or visual presentation, such as posters or drawings, a reenactment of a scene, or a
presentation of modern parallels. The groups should prepare questions that will encourage the
class to participate in a discussion.
5. Have each group teach their theme-based unit.
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students’ work during this lesson.
•
3 points: Students were highly engaged in class discussions; gave thorough and clear
summaries of the plot and character descriptions; developed creative, thoughtful units on a
theme that answered all questions provided.
•
2 points: Students participated in class discussions; gave adequate summaries of the plot
and character descriptions; developed units on a theme that answered some of the questions
provided.
•
1 point: Students participated minimally in class discussions; gave incomplete summaries of
the plot and character descriptions; developed units on a theme that answered few or none
of the questions provided.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Great Books: Wuthering Heights
Teacher’s Guide
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Vocabulary
moor
Definition: A wide-open area of high land that is usually too wet for farming
Context: Emily, Charlotte, and Ann Brontë lived on the moors in Yorkshire, England.
plot
Definition: The pattern of events or main story in a narrative or drama
Context: As the chief narrator, Nelly recounts the many twists and turns of the novel’s plot.
setting
Definition: The environment in which a story takes place
Context: Emily Brontë’s environment of desolate, windswept expanses is the setting of
Wuthering Heights.
social class
Definition: A group of people having the same social or economic status
Context: Catherine married Edgar Linton to enter a higher social class.
wuthering
Definition: A local term describing the fierce winds that blow during storms on the moors
Context: In the novel, the house was named Wuthering Heights because it was exposed to the
moor’s harsh weather.
Academic Standards
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit link:
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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Language Arts—Reading: Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a
variety of literary texts
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Great Books: Wuthering Heights
Teacher’s Guide
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DVD Content
This program is available in an interactive DVD format. The following information and activities are
specific to the DVD version.
How To Use the DVD
The DVD starting screen has the following options:
Play Video—This plays the video from start to finish. There are no programmed stops, except by
using a remote control. With a computer, depending on the particular software player, a pause button
is included with the other video controls.
Video Index—Here the video is divided into sections indicated by video thumbnail icons; brief
descriptions are noted for each one. Watching all parts in sequence is similar to watching the video
from start to finish. To play a particular segment, press Enter on the remote for TV playback; on a
computer, click once to highlight a thumbnail and read the accompanying text description and click
again to start the video.
Curriculum Units—These are specially edited video segments pulled from different sections of the
video (see below). These nonlinear segments align with key ideas in the unit of instruction. They
include onscreen pre- and post-viewing questions, reproduced below in this Teacher’s Guide. To
play a particular segment, press Enter on the TV remote or click once on the Curriculum Unit title
on a computer.
Standards Link—Selecting this option displays a single screen that lists the national academic
standards the video addresses.
Teacher Resources—This screen gives the technical support number and Web site address.
Video Index
I. Welcome to Wuthering Heights (12 min.)
Learn about the extraordinary fantasy world inhabited by the four Brontë children as you are
introduced to Emily Brontë's famous novel, Wuthering Heights, and its infamous antihero,
Heathcliff.
II. Heathcliff and Cathy (9 min.)
The characters fall in love as teenagers, but Cathy marries wealthy Edgar Linton. Only when Cathy
is dying do she and Heathcliff confess their feelings for one another.
III. Rage and Isolation (13 min.)
After several attempts to leave, Brontë realizes home is where she is most comfortable and retreats
further into isolation. After Cathy dies, Heathcliff becomes a vengeful, raging madman.
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Great Books: Wuthering Heights
Teacher’s Guide
5
IV. Brontë’s Final Chapter (16 min.)
Her brother’s despair over a lost love leads to his death. In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, too, is
haunted by his own lost love. Yet, Brontë ends the book on a joyous note.
Curriculum Units
Segment 1. Wuthering Heights: An Introduction
Pre-viewing question
Q: What is an antihero?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question
Q: How did Brontë keep her audience from getting sentimental towards Heathcliff?
A: She constantly has Heathcliff saying and doing appalling things, which serves to keep the
audience from liking him too much.
Segment 2. Heathcliff's Wrath
Pre-viewing question
Q: Do you believe that love conquers all?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question
Q: Should Cathy have married Heathcliff?
A: Answers will vary.
Segment 3. The Brontë Children
Pre-viewing question
Q: Was the Industrial Revolution good for everyone?
A: No. In places like Yorkshire, the Industrial Revolution brought with it large factories that
destroyed the careers of craftspeople, who had traditionally been the backbone of the economy.
Large factories meant low wages, long hours, and six-day workweeks.
Post-viewing question
Q: Who were the Luddites?
A: This 19th-century group wrote letters to mill owners, telling them to get rid of the laborsaving
machines that were eliminating jobs or see the machines smashed. These letters were always
signed "Ned Ludd," though nobody knows for sure where the name came from. The Luddites took
sledgehammers into the factories in the middle of the night and destroyed machinery.
Segment 4. Brontë Comes of Age
Pre-viewing question
Q: Why would a person choose self-imposed isolation?
A: Answers will vary.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Great Books: Wuthering Heights
Teacher’s Guide
Post-viewing question
Q: What did Brontë learn from her brief teaching career?
A: Brontë learned that what she wanted most was to be at home.
Segment 5. Her Family's Sorrow
Pre-viewing question
Q: Why did the Brontë sisters use pseudonyms for their books?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question
Q: Why did the critics not like Wuthering Heights?
A: Brontë had not passed judgment on any of her characters; no one was punished for his or her
behavior, especially Heathcliff. The critics believed this made the book amoral.
Segment 6. An Author and Her Alter Ego
Pre-viewing question
Q: Why did Brontë not want her identity revealed to the public?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing questions:
Q: How did Brontë's identity become known?
A: Brontë's sister Charlotte accidentally revealed Brontë's name when she and Anne went to visit
their publisher.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
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