Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Halliday and I will be your teacher for today.

Thank you so much for joining me, it's absolutely great to see so many of you here today.

I'm massively looking forward to today's lesson because we are going to be exploring Charlotte Bronte's fantastic novel, "Jane Eyre", in a lot more detail, examining her use of methods and considering their effects.

So let's get started.

So today's lesson is called "Reading an Extract from Jane Eyre." And by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to undertake close textual analysis of a short passage from "Jane Eyre".

Here are some keywords that you will need for today's lesson.

We've got battlemented, to contrast, isolated, ominous and connotation.

We're going to go through the definitions of these keywords.

So if you'd like to take a moment after we finish to pause the video and jot some of them down for later in the lesson, then please feel free to do so.

It's absolutely fine to do that.

So first of all, we have battlemented, and this means protected with battlements.

And just because it's quite difficult to explain what battlemented means without explaining what battlements are, I've put a diagram on the screen for you to see.

So battlements are these kind of parapets that are kind of square shaped openings that people could shoot through when castles were used as kind of forts and protective buildings.

So that's what battlements are.

And battlemented is just the adjective form of, to have battlements basically.

To contrast means to position two things close to one another to draw attention to their difference.

Isolated means physically or emotionally removed from other people.

So basically on one's own.

If something is ominous, it is suggested that something bad might happen.

So it's where you kind of get this idea that something quite negative might be around the corner.

And finally, a connotation is an association that we would make with a word.

So for example, a connotation of the colour white is peace.

So it's kind of what we associate with that word.

As I say, if you'd like to take time to pause the video and jot these definitions down, then please feel free to do so.

Otherwise you can move on with me.

So here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to begin by reading an extract from "Jane Eyre" before moving on to looking at some close textual analysis of setting in the extract.

But let's begin first by reading the extract.

So the extract that we are about to read is taken from chapter 12 of "Jane Eyre".

Now, prior to this extract, we have learned that Jane really likes Rochester's ward, who's called Adele.

And Jane's job is to teach Adele.

That's what her job is at Thornfield Hall.

But she has started to feel slightly restless and a bit more discontent.

So what she does is she goes on this quite long walk through the fields near Thornfield Hall to clear her head.

And on this walk she meets Rochester for the first time.

So here's our extract from chapter 12.

As I'm reading it, I need you to be following along really closely please, as I'm going to be asking you some comprehension questions in just a moment.

So I read, you follow along, let's go.

"The ground was hard, the air was still, my road was lonely.

I walked fast till I got warm and then I walked slowly to enjoy and analyse the species of pleasure brooding for me in the hour and situation.

It was three o'clock; the church bell tolled as I passed under the belfry: the charm of the hour lay in its approaching dimness, in the low gliding and pale beaming sun." Now just to clarify a bit of vocabulary before we move on, a belfry is part of a bell tower and it's actually where the bell sits.

Let's carry on reading.

"I was a mile from Thornfield in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for nuts and blackberries in autumn and even now possessing a few coral treasures in hips and haws, but whose best winter delight lay its utter solitude and leafless repose.

If a breath of air stirred, it made no sound here, for there was not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle, and the stripped hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white worn stones, which causewayed the middle of the path." What an absolutely stunning description there.

And this is a part of the reason I love Bronte's writing so much is because her descriptions of setting are just absolutely breathtaking.

So, what we're going to have a think about now is, well, how would we describe the setting here? So have a look at the setting again and think if you were describing it to somebody else, what would you say that it is like? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you either discuss that with the people around you or consider it independently if you're working on your own.

So pause the video and off you go.

Thank you very much, some absolutely fantastic ideas there and some really insightful suggestions being put forward.

Now this is quite a strange setting because actually we're given kind of two versions of the same setting because we're told that the lane that Jane is on is actually really famous for being absolutely stunning in summer when there's blackberries and there's roses all lining the way down the lane.

However, the scene that Bronte paints for us in winter is quite different.

It's still very beautiful because it's so serene.

However, there is this kind of almost foreboding or mysterious atmosphere that's being created here because of the utter solitude that Jane finds herself in and the fact that there is no foliage on this lane.

And actually Bronte uses this phrase here, "If a breath of air stood, it made no sound here for there was not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle." And that kind of creates the impression that this is a very, very isolated setting because of the absolute silence and lack of life in this setting.

So well done if you got this idea that the setting is very isolated.

It's also quite serene and calm, but there is this kind of slightly mysterious or eerie atmosphere because it is so lifeless.

So well done if you got that.

Let's continue reading.

"Far and wide, on each side, there were only fields, where no cattle now browsed; and the little brown birds, which stirred occasionally in the hedge looked like single russet leaves that had forgotten to drop.

This lane inclined up-hill all the way to Hay; having reached the middle, I sat down on a stile which led thence into a field.

Gathering my mantle about me and sheltering my hands in my muff, I did not feel the cold, though it froze keenly; as was attested by a sheet of ice covering the causeway, where a little brooklet, now congealed, had overflowed after a rapid thaw some days since.

From my seat I could look down on Thornfield.

The grey and battlemented hall was the principle object in the veil below me, it's woods and dark rookery rose against the west." Again, some really beautiful beautiful description there from Bronte.

And what I'd like you to consider is, well, what is the weather like in this setting and how is a gothic description of Thornfield created here? And you'll notice I have actually highlighted a section in purple for you just to kind of give your discussion some direction and to give you that little bit of help if you feel that you need it.

So pause the video and off you go to have your discussions.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Fantastic discussions.

Thank you so much for engaging so actively in those conversations.

And it's great to see so many of you justifying your opinions using quotations from the text.

That's great practise in English.

So well done.

So in terms of what the weather is like, well as we see in a lot of gothic texts, we have this really, really kind of cold atmosphere and all this ice.

And that's very typical of gothic settings, because actually, this kind of physical coldness is often reflective of a character's coldness or emotional isolation.

So in Jane's case, perhaps the cold is reflective of her emotional and physical isolation from others in this moment.

Now in terms of how Bronte creates this real gothic description of Thornfield here, which I've highlighted for you in purple, well, actually Thornfield is described as this really dark and isolated and old setting and that's very typical of gothic settings.

You know, we often see these really grand kind of mansions and halls with lots of kind of secret corners that supernatural entities or malevolence can hide.

And that's exactly the impression here that we are given of Thornfield, especially since it's described as battlemented, which again perhaps suggests that it's protecting something within.

And as we know from our key vocabulary slide, battlements are these kind of spaces from which shooters could shoot their arrows when they were defending their castles.

So perhaps in having this battlemented hall, Bronte is suggesting that Thornfield hall's walls are protecting secrets.

And actually we know that the secret that they are protecting is that Rochester is already married and has this wife called Bertha, who he has locked in his attic because she is mad.

So even the structure of Thornfield Hall kind of foreshadows the secrets and mysteries that will be kind of brought to light later in the novel.

So again, it's a really fantastic description there.

And again, perhaps in using this word dark, Bronte is suggesting that darkness or malevolence resides within Thornfield Hall.

And that is obviously Rochester's deep dark secret, that he's already married to this poor woman who he locks in his attic.

So here, Bronte's physical description of Thornfield foreshadows what we're going to discover about the setting later in the novel.

So well done if you've got those ideas, fantastic work.

So let's check for understanding before we move on.

Which word does not create an ominous impression of Thornfield Hall in the quotation, "The grey and battlemented hall?" Is it A, battlemented, B, hall, or C, grey? I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you make your answer selection.

Off you go.

And well done if you correctly identified it is in fact B, hall.

Because we've just spoken about the fact that this word grey kind of characterises it as dark and this idea of it being battlemented is suggestive that it is hiding or harbouring some kind of secret or mystery that is going to be uncovered later in the novel.

So well done if you correctly selected B, hall.

Excellent work.

Let's continue reading.

"I lingered till the sun went down amongst the trees, and sank crimson and clear behind them.

I then turned eastward." And I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that the word crimson is a very, very deep shade of red.

"On the hilltop above me sat the rising moon; pale yet as a cloud, but brightening momentarily, she looked over Hay, which half lost in trees sent up a blue smoke from its few chimneys: it was yet a mile distant, but in the absolute hush I could hear plainly its thin murmurs of life.

My ear, too, felt the flow of currents; in what dales and depths I could not tell.

But there were many hills beyond Hay and doubtless many becks threading their passes.

That evening, calm betrayed alike the tinkle of the nearest streams, the sough of the most remote." Beautiful, beautiful descriptions from Bronte I'm sure that you can see.

And what I'd like you to consider now is, well, how does the writer contrast colours here? So pause the video and discuss that, either with the people around you or thinking about it independently if you're working on your own.

Off you go.

Great discussions.

And it was fantastic to hear so many of you using that word convention, because actually we know that contrasting colours is a real convention of gothic descriptions.

And in this extract we see the contrast between the striking crimson, so the bright, bright red sun, and the very, very pale moon.

And this makes the setting very gothic because actually often when gothic writers use this colour contrast, they're often kind of representing this theme of good versus evil or a character's internal conflict through the use of contrasting colours.

So here we see that really deep shade of red clashing with the very pale moon, okay? And it creates this really kind of beautiful but very striking imagery that's very typical of gothic literature.

So well done if you got the idea that the crimson contrasts right here, that's great work.

So, in a moment I'm going to set you off reading the rest of the extracts independently.

However, I would just like to run through our interactive reading strategies to make sure that you are reading actively as you continue through the rest of the extract.

So, as you are reading the extract, you need to make sure that you are circling key vocabulary.

So anything that you think, you know, is really important, words, choices from Bronte, you need to be circling.

You should be underlining really important words and phrases that you think might be significant or that you might want to return to later in the lesson.

Use square brackets to draw attention to important paragraphs.

Again, anything that you think you might want to return to or you think might be really significant.

Again, putting stars next to key ideas is a really good way to remind yourself of which ideas you thought were best at the time.

And finally, writing margin notes or annotations to help you remember key inferences and ideas can be a really smart idea.

Because it prevents you from having to reread the whole extract and annotate it for the second time if you just do it the first time as you are going through.

So as you are reading, please make sure that you are undertaking these interactive reading strategies to make your reading as purposeful as possible.

So as I said, you are going to finish reading the extract independently for your first task of the lesson, making sure that you are using those interactive reading strategies that I've just run through with you.

Once you have finished reading, you are then going to be answering the following questions in full sentences.

So first of all, what happens to the man on the horse and how does Jane respond? What injuries has the man sustained? What impression do you get of Jane in this extract and why? How does Jane describe the man? And finally, why isn't Jane nervous around the man? What is it that gives her confidence? And as I said before, please don't forget to use your interactive reading strategies because we need to be reading really purposefully.

So what I'm going to do now is invite you to pause the video while you finish reading the extract and then answer the questions in full sentences.

Enjoy your reading.

This is a fantastic passage from "Jane Eyre" and I'm really excited to see what you make of it.

So pause the video and off you go.

Brilliant reading and it was great to see so many of you reading with a pen in hand and making those annotations as you went through the extract 'cause I could see that it really sped up you answering your comprehension questions.

So well done.

What we're going to do now is go through the answers to the questions and as we're doing so I'd like you to check your answers and add anything that you think you might have missed.

So first of all, in terms of what happens to the man on the horse and how Jane responds to this, well, the man and the horse both have an accident.

We are told that they had slipped on the sheet of ice, which glazed the causeway.

Now Jane's response to this is to walk down to try and assist the man and she also asks him if he is okay.

So a very polite response there.

So in terms of the man's injuries, well, the man states that he has no broken bones, only a sprain from his fall, although we do get the distinct impression that he might be a little bit embarrassed and therefore that his pride might have also been injured as well.

In terms of our impressions of Jane in this extract, well we get the impression here that Jane is very polite and mild mannered and calm.

She doesn't rush to help the man, but she actually stands back and observes him first before then heading over to ask him if he's hurt.

So it's quite a sensible approach.

She kind of assesses the situation and then goes to ask him if he's okay.

We also learned that Jane does not think highly of herself as she states that no handsome man would have sympathy with anything in her.

And that's a really important thing to understand about Jane, is that she's got a very humble opinion of herself and quite low self-esteem I would say, in this part of the text anyway.

Question four was about how Jane describes the man and we learned that Jane describes the man as having a very dark face with stern features and a heavy brow.

Now that's a very gothic description there because there's this kind of this darkness and also the fact that he has these stern or quite punishing features creates quite a gothic description of Rochester, who is the man.

And she also tells us that he was of middle height and considerable breadth of chest.

So he's got a real presence about him, okay, he's got a kind of authority and command over the setting.

And lastly, why isn't Jane nervous around the man? Well, it's quite amusing actually because Jane says that she's not nervous around him because he isn't a handsome, heroic looking young gentleman.

And she states that had he been this, she would not have dared to stand thus questioning him against his will.

So because he's not handsome and she doesn't find him attractive, Jane actually has the confidence to continue offering her services unasked to him.

It's quite funny that really isn't it? How she says, I actually just wasn't bothered about what he thinks of me because he wasn't handsome enough to like me anyway.

Fantastic work there, really great comprehension and well done for writing your answers up in full sentences.

Excellent start to the lesson.

So onto the second part of the lesson now where we're going to look at undertaking some close text analysis of setting.

So as I've just said, we are now going to perform some close textual analysis of a short passage from the extract.

Now Andeep raises a good question here and he says, well what is close textual analysis? And I'd just like to take a moment to actually thank Andeep for asking this question because I'm sure many of you are wondering the same thing.

And it's great to see that Andeep has the confidence and the bravery to admit that he doesn't know something.

Because some students can find it really, you know, difficult and challenging to say, actually, I don't understand what you mean.

So thank you very much to Andeep for asking that question.

So Izzy answers Andeep's question and Izzy says, well close text analysis is where you closely analyse the text, looking for hidden meaning.

You might pick out individual words and consider how they influence our understanding of the text.

Now I personally like to think of close text analysis as a bit of an investigation.

I almost imagine it as me getting my, you know, magnifying glass out and really focusing on very minute parts of the text and trying to find meaning within those parts of the text.

So I would look at individual words and I would think, right, well, what do I learn about the character, or the setting, or the atmosphere from this individual word? But as I said, I like to think of it as getting my magnifying glass out and having a really good look at exactly how Bronte has crafted my impression of the setting or the character.

So let's do just that now.

So, we are going to be looking at the setting with a close focus on how Bronte creates a gothic setting.

So we're almost getting our magnifying glass out to look at the methods that Bronte's used to characterise the setting as gothic.

So, in order to do that we need to have an understanding of actually what we're looking for.

So I would like you to consider, well, what are gothic settings like? So when we're analysing this extract, what kinds of conventions are we looking for that will characterise this as a gothic setting? So pause the video and discuss what gothic settings are like, either with the people around you or thinking independently if you're working on your own.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions and I'm going to pick out some of the ideas that I heard that I liked the best.

So, first of all, gothic settings are always unsettling.

They always make us feel slightly uncomfortable.

They are often remote or isolated and they often feel or are supernatural.

So we often have objects like the moon that are representative of supernatural occurrences, featuring heavily in gothic setting descriptions.

They're often old and they're often abandoned or uncared for or neglected in some way.

So we often see this idea of decay and often death as well within the settings because they are abandoned or uncared for or old.

They are often silent and usually very dark.

So well done if you got any of those conventions that we would expect of a gothic setting.

That's exactly what we're looking for in our extract from "Jane Eyre".

So again, a reminder of our question, how does Bronte create a gothic setting here? And here is the extract that I would like you to closely analyse.

"If a breath of air stirred, it made no sound here; for there was not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle and the stripped hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white, worn stones, which causewayed the middle of the path." So Izzy thought it'd be a nice idea to help Andeep closely analyse this setting so that we can see the process behind closed text analysis.

So she asks, first of all, what impression of the setting are you given? How would you describe it? And I'm going to throw this question out to you because I would like you to discuss this before we hear from Andeep.

So I would like you now to pause the video while you reread that short passage and consider what impression of the setting you are given, how would you describe it and think about how you would describe it to somebody else and that might help you to form your impression.

So pause the video and discuss your impressions with the people around you or make notes if you're working independently.

Off you go.

Fantastic work.

And it was great to hear such a variety of impressions.

Here was Andeep's impression of the setting.

He said it's an isolated cold and lifeless setting that is typical of gothic fiction.

And I couldn't agree more with Andeep.

So well done to Andeep for forming that fantastic impression of the setting.

So Izzy says, yeah, great, but now which words show you that specifically? So how do you know that the setting is isolated, cold and lifeless? And she's actually asked you to have a go at this before again we hear from Andeep.

So I'm now going to invite you to pause the video and consider how you know that this setting is isolated, how you know it's cold and how you know that it is lifeless.

So pick specific individual words that show you that.

So pause the video and have a go at that activity, again, either with people around you or working independently if you'd prefer.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

So let's see what Andeep came up with and you can see whether you identified the same methods.

So first of all, Andeep picked out this phrase, "It made no sound here." Now, the fact that there is no sound shows that the setting is lifeless because it's unnaturally quiet.

Okay, remember that we are outdoors in this setting.

We would expect usually to hear some kind of sound, birds perhaps.

But we hear nothing in the setting and that is quite unsettling in itself, okay? It kind of gives us this almost eerie impression of the setting because we should really be able to hear something.

Again, this word stripped shows us that the setting is lifeless because the bushes are really bare and almost skeletal.

They've been stripped of their beauty, they've been stripped of their produce and therefore we get the impression that the setting is lifeless because it's been reduced down to the bare bones of the bushes.

This word still here is really significant and it really jumped out to Andeep.

And he says that actually, the fact that all the bushes were still shows us the utter lack of movement in this setting, okay? And therefore the lack of life.

Again, we would expect there to be a very mild breeze and that the bushes might move in the breeze.

But the fact that there is no movement characterises this as a very lifeless and isolated setting.

And again, it kind of gives us that uncomfortable feeling 'cause it's almost too silent and too still for our liking.

And again, this colour white is significant and jumped out to Andeep because actually we know that the colour white is a gothic colour and it brings a real coldness to the setting.

But it also could represent Jane's innocence in her first encounter with Rochester.

The colour white also contrasts with Rochester's dark face later in the extract.

So again, we see this use of real colour contrast that is very, very typical of gothic genre.

So well done if you identified that colour contrast within the extract.

Great work.

Let's check for understanding.

Which of the following is not an explanation for Bronte using the colour white in the setting.

Is it A, to reflect Jane's innocence, B, to reflect the warmth of Jane and Rochester's first encounter, C, to characterise the setting as cold and lifeless, or D, to contrast with her later description of Rochester? Pause the video while you make your answer selection.

And well done if you correctly selected B.

Rochester and Jane's first encounter is definitely not warm and therefore Bronte does not use the colour white to reflect the warmth of their encounter because it simply isn't warm.

And also white is not a warm colour, it's a very cold colour and therefore it wouldn't make sense for Bronte to be using it to characterise the setting as warm.

So well done if you got that, fantastic work.

So onto our last task of the lesson now.

And you're going to take what you've just learned about close text analysis and apply it to a different extract.

So you're going to analyse the following passage closely with this question in mind.

How does Bronte create a gothic setting here? So it's the exact same question that we've just used to examine the other passage.

So remember all of your gothic conventions that we would expect in settings, you know, abandoned, remote, old, decay, unnerving or unsettling, silence and darkness.

So those are the kinds of things that you are looking to pick out within this passage.

So here's your extract.

"On the hilltop above me sat the rising moon, pale yet as a cloud, but brightening momentarily, she looked over Hay, which, half lost in trees, sent up a blue smoke from its few chimneys.

It was yet a mile distant, but in the absolute hush I could hear plainly, it's thin murmurs of life." So here, what you can do is you can either use your own impression of the setting or, if you are struggling to form your own impression of the setting, you're absolutely welcome to use Andeep's impression of this setting, which is that the setting is isolated and feels almost supernatural.

So what I'd like you to do now is either using your own impression or using Andeep's impression, closely analyse the passage, looking at how Bronte characterises the setting as gothic.

So thinking about those gothic conventions.

And you are annotating the passage, you don't need to write paragraphs, you are just annotating it with your brief thoughts and ideas, looking at which words are significant.

So pause the video and off you go.

I massively look forward to seeing what you come up with and sharing annotations together.

Off you go.

Fantastic work.

And it's great to see so many annotations on these passages.

That shows me that you've really understood what close text analysis is and you're feeling more confident with it.

So that's great.

So here are some of the annotations you might have come up with.

So first of all, you might have identified the personification of the moon because we're told that she looked over Hay.

Now, this personification of the moon gives the scene a really supernatural quality that is really typical of gothic descriptions.

Now lots of people associate the moon rather superstitiously with supernatural occurrences.

You know, we think of werewolves, they come out in the full moon.

So the moon is kind of a symbol of the supernatural.

And Bronte uses the moon here to really play on the reader's superstition here, because especially by characterising it as pale, it's almost gives it that kind of threatening luminescence that creates this really eerie and unnerving atmosphere.

We also see the village being concealed by the trees.

And again, that gives the setting a real element of mystery and secrecy.

And it reflects this idea that perhaps Rochester, who Jane is about to meet, has secrets to hide.

So even here the setting is reflective of the plot and the characters.

But the fact that Hay is half lost in trees, again, it kind of creates this atmosphere of something being trapped or smothered or concealed.

And these are very typical gothic ideas.

So well done if you picked that out as well.

We also see this phrase, "It was yet a mile distant, but in the absolute hush I could hear plainly its thin murmurs of life." And here we see the setting as isolated.

Though Jane can hear the hush of the nearby village, she is removed from it and it is very quiet anyway.

And this kind of reflects Jane's position in society because she kind of skirts around the edges of society because of her emotional isolation.

This word hush is also onomatopoeic and it has connotations of real secrecy and that contributes to the ominous nature of the setting.

Again, that word hush means keeping things quiet, keeping things secret.

And it again, it kind of reflects the fact that Jane is going to uncover all of these secrets later in the novel.

But it also in this moment contributes to that really kind of secretive and suspenseful atmosphere that Bronte creates that is so typic of gothic literature.

So well done for completing the activity because close text analysis can be quite challenging, but it's great to see how much your confidence has come on since the beginning of the lesson.

So really well done, great effort this lesson.

So to summarise the learning from today, well, Jane meets Rochester while she's out walking and Jane is characterised as a polite, calm, and helpful character.

In this section of the text, Bronte creates a gothic setting using classic gothic conventions because Bronte's setting is isolated, lifeless, and has a supernatural feel to it.

Bronte uses contrasting colours to make her settings gothic, and she uses the setting to reflect Jane's isolation and her innocence in this part of the novel.

Thank you so much for coming to today's lesson.

It's been an absolute pleasure to teach you and I'm really looking forward to seeing you next time.

Thank you and have a lovely rest of your day.

Bye.