INTRODUCTION TO
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
British Literature
February 3, 2015
•STUDENTS WILL LOVE WUTHERING
HEIGHTS WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR
NOT.
•Students will be prepared for
reading Wuthering Heights
independently.
•Close Reading Activity
1. What are two adjectives you would use to describe
the narrator? What is his or her name?
2. What is name of the “villain dog” at Wuthering
Heights?
3. How would you describe Mrs. Heathcliff?
4. What does Joseph think is so “wicked”?
5. Aside from Joseph, what is the name of the
hospitable housekeeper at Wuthering Heights?
BONUS: What does Mr. Lockwood notice is inscribed
on the outside of the door?
• You may work with a partner to carefully annotate an excerpt of Emily
Bronte’s Wuthering Heights from Chapter 2 (Bronte 12-15).
• As you read, annotate the following:
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Diction: Look at the connotations of words
Characterization: Look at the characterization
Narrator: Look at the narrator’s tone and bias
Reaction: Write questions and comments
Answer the questions:
1. What is the tone of the passage? (Hint: use your packet!)
2. How would you describe the characters?
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Mr. Lockwood
Mr. Heathcliff
Mrs. Heathcliff
Hareton Earnshaw
3. Why do you think that Mr. Lockwood is drawn towards Heathcliff?
4. What is the symbolism of the attack of the dogs and the weather?
5. How would you describe Wuthering Heights (where Mr. Lockwood visits
Heathcliff)?
BRITISH LITERATURE
Take out your journals and write
down what the error is in the
sentence below:
The Broncos are going to beat
the Steelers because of their
pass rush defense, Ben
Roethlisberger is hurt, and they
had a week off to recover.
•Romantic Poetry Presentations
•NEW SCHEDULE
•Period 2 – Team Adjustments
•Devices for Class on Thursday
•In your group, you will act out
a moment in chapter 3 (from
the card I provide your group)
to perform to the class.
1. Reread the pages
mentioned.
2. Form an action plan.
3. Rehearse the scene.
•You only have ten minutes to
prepare your skit!
• You may work with a partner to carefully annotate an excerpt of Emily
Bronte’s Wuthering Heights from Chapter 2 (Bronte 12-15).
• As you read, annotate the following:
•
•
•
•
Diction: Look at the connotations of words
Characterization: Look at the characterization
Narrator: Look at the narrator’s tone and bias
Reaction: Write questions and comments
Answer the questions:
1. What is the tone of the passage? (Hint: use your packet!)
2. How would you describe the characters?
•
•
•
•
Mr. Lockwood
Mr. Heathcliff
Mrs. Heathcliff
Hareton Earnshaw
3. Why do you think that Mr. Lockwood is drawn towards Heathcliff?
4. What is the symbolism of the attack of the dogs and the weather?
5. How would you describe Wuthering Heights (where Mr. Lockwood visits
Heathcliff)?
•Read and annotate chapters 4-6 of Emily
Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
•Though it is three chapters, it is only sixteen
pages. NO EXCUSES!
•The Romantic Poetry schedule has been
revised. You will receive a new presentation and
essay due date.
•Bring a device with access to the wi-fi to class
on Thursday.
•This is very important for you to learn the
literary terms!!
BRITISH LITERATURE
This is a special edition of
Thesaurus Thursday: LITERARY
ANALYSIS!
Take out your journals to take
notes on each literary term. I
suggest making Cornell notes
(two column notes) so that you
can quiz yourself, as you will be
tested over all 75 terms.
BRITISH LITERATURE
Form the desks into a
circle for a Socratic
Seminar.
Take out your Wuthering
Heights timeline and add
the events of chapter 7
and 8.
•Today, we are going to discuss chapters 18 of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
•Remember to pose meaningful questions,
use textual evidence to support your
responses, and maintain a balance of
talking and listening.
• You may work with a partner to carefully annotate an excerpt of Emily
Bronte’s Wuthering Heights from Chapter 2 (Bronte 12-15).
• As you read, annotate the following:
•
•
•
•
Diction: Look at the connotations of words
Characterization: Look at the characterization
Narrator: Look at the narrator’s tone and bias
Reaction: Write questions and comments
Answer the questions:
1. What is the tone of the passage? (Hint: use your packet!)
2. How would you describe the characters?
•
•
•
•
Mr. Lockwood
Mr. Heathcliff
Mrs. Heathcliff
Hareton Earnshaw
3. Why do you think that Mr. Lockwood is drawn towards Heathcliff?
4. What is the symbolism of the attack of the dogs and the weather?
5. How would you describe Wuthering Heights (where Mr. Lockwood visits
Heathcliff)?
•Wuthering Heights is told in medias res.
Latin for "in the middle of things.”
•It usually describes a narrative that begins,
not at the beginning of a story, but
somewhere in the middle — usually at
some crucial point in the action. The
purpose in Wuthering Heights is to add a
sense of mystery.
• Wuthering Heights was written in 1847, which was a
time when Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution
were the dominant forces of the British economy
and society.
• It was a time of rapid, often confusing, change that
led to violence. As a result of the changing
economy, the traditional relationships between
classes and the social structure began to change.
• While wealth had traditionally been measured
by land ownership, the eighteenth century had
begun a trend toward a cash-based economy.
• This created a middle class who were more
economically powerful than its landowning
superiors (gentry).
• The power of yeomen, or the respectable
farming class, as well as the traditional powerholding gentry was challenged by the newly
wealthy capitalists.
Each of these classes is represented in the
novel by various characters.
• Hareton is a member of the respectable
farming class
• The Lintons are members of the gentry
• Heathcliff makes his fortune (somewhat
mysteriously) as a capitalist
During this time period women’s
rights were changing.
Why this is relevant:
• Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights during the beginning of
the women’s rights movement in England.
• The primary concerns of the movement were the lack of
women’s right to vote and the lack of married women’s
property rights.
• This property rights issue arises in Wuthering Heights.
Wuthering Heights contains elements of Romanticism
and the Gothic novel.
Romantic elements:
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nature as a powerful spiritual force
descriptions of the countryside
elevated emotional levels and passion
a desire to rise above the limitations of ordinary human existence
a strong interest in death
a portrayal of opposites – escape and pursuit, life and death
isolation, both emotional and geographical
elements of the supernatural
Elements of the Gothic novel
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a castle, sometimes ruined or haunted
sinister, ruined buildings
extreme landscape and weather
death and madness
omens
ancestral curses
terrifying events
taboo and sensational topics
a suggestion of the supernatural
a villain or villain-hero (Byronic hero) driven by passion
a heroine wooed by both a good and a dangerous suitor
revenge
Heathcliff is regarded as a classic Byronic hero. The
Byronic hero was defined by Lord Byron’s epic narrative
poem , Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812.
Elements of the Byronic hero:
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a distaste for social institutions and social norms
conflicting emotions or moodiness
high levels of intelligence and cunning
self-criticism
mysterious origins and a troubled past
self-destructive tendencies
a loner, rejected from society
“But here’s the thing: Wuthering Heights isn’t
really about Heathcliff as a hero, or Cathy as a
heroine. Heathcliff himself cautions against
‘picturing in me a hero’. It’s about love.
Transcendent love, operatic love, excessive,
abandoned love. It’s unreasonable, this olive. It is
angst and probably immature. But tornado love
is more appealing than postmodern love.”
–Samantha Ellis