Lesson video

Welcome to our third lesson of Jane Eyre.

Well done for giving up your time to improve yourself through these lessons.

Throughout this course, I will teach you a huge amount that will benefit your education greatly.

In particular, as well as learning about the novel, I am going to teach you how to improve your writing a huge amount.

If you continue with these videos, your writing is going to get better and better and better.

And that's no small thing.

If you become an effective writer, if you're able to express yourself clearly and persuasively through writing, you will be unstoppable, once you get a job.

Writing is maybe the most powerful skill that you can master.

So without further ado, let's get on with lesson three.

In today's lesson, we are going to be introduced to the novel setting, the bleak and barren landscape of the Yorkshire Countryside.

Let's begin for today's lesson.

You will need an exercise book or a paper and a pen.

If you do not have this equipment, press the pause button on your video now, go and collect this equipment and then we will begin our lesson.

Let's begin with a recap from our last lesson.

Which option was not an inspiration for Jane Eyre? Option one, Brontë's happy life and boarding school.

Option two, the death of Brontë's sisters, Maria and Elizabeth.

Option three, Brontë's day's work as a governess or option four, Brontë's anger over our society's treatment of women.

Press the pause button on your video now and tell the screen the right answer.

I will now tell you the right answer, which is of course, option one.

Option one, is not an inspiration for Jane Eyre because Charlotte Brontë did not have a happy life in boarding school at all.

She found her school very strict and a tragedy occurred when she was in a school.

This tragedy is option two Brontë's sisters, Maria and Elizabeth both contracted tuberculosis during their time in school and tragically died.

Option three, is also an inspiration for Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë did indeed work as governess and option four is also an inspiration for Jane Eyre, Brontë was inspired by her anger over her society's unfair treatment of women.

Well done, if you got that question correct.

I will now explain our plan for today's lesson.

First of all, we are going to learn about setting.

We're then going to learn about atmosphere.

We'll then learn about the setting of Jane Eyre.

So let's first of all begin by learning about setting.

What is setting? Well, setting is the area in which a story takes place.

Let me give you a few different examples.

The setting of Harry Potter is of course Hogwarts.

The setting of Oliver Twist is Victorian London.

The setting of The Load of Rings and the Hobbit is Middle-earth.

And the setting of Jane Eyre is of course the Yorkshire Countryside.

Now the Yorkshire Countryside is covered in moorland and this moorland features a great deal across our novel.

Now the moors are a beautiful, but rather wild landscape.

They're often filled with large, vast and empty places and the moors are often used to create the gloomy dark atmosphere for many gothic and horror narratives.

Oh, here's my question.

Why does Brontë set Jane Eyre in the Yorkshire Countryside? Why did she make this decision? And I think the answer comes when we learn about atmosphere.

Now, what does this word atmosphere mean? Well, atmosphere refers to the mood of a particular place.

Let me give you some different examples of this word atmosphere.

The pupils gathered in the assembly hall before the exam.

There was a tense atmosphere.

All the pupils were very nervous.

So in this example, there's a tense atmosphere in the assembly hope before the exam.

That means that the assembly hall feels very tense.

That word atmosphere describes the mood of a particular place.

Let me give you another example.

There was a peaceful atmosphere in the park.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing and all seemed well with the world.

In this example, this word atmosphere is used to describe how the mood of the park, it's used to convey how the park feels very peaceful.

There was a sorrowful atmosphere throughout the funeral.

Many people were crying and mourning.

In this example, atmosphere's once again being used to describe the mood of a particular place.

And in this example, this word atmosphere is being used to convey the sorrowful or sad mood of a funeral.

Now I would argue that Brontë uses a Yorkshire Countryside as a setting of Jane Eyre to establish for novel's gloomy or a dark atmosphere.

Okay, let's test your memory upon what we've just learnt.

Press the pause button on your video now, go through the sentences, telling the screen the right answer, and filling the word which is in blank, off you go.

I will now tell you the right answers.

The setting is a place in which the story takes place.

This is often used to create a particular atmosphere.

The atmosphere refers to the mood of a particular place.

Well done, if you got those three sentences, correct? Let's now learn specifically, about the setting of Jane Eyre.

Here's a quotation for you, from the opening chapter of our novel.

Let's read, "There was no possibility "of taking a walk that day, the cold winter winds "had brought with it clouds so sombre "and the rain so penetrating." Press the pause button on your video now and copy out this quotation in your book.

Now leave some room around the quotation so that you can make some annotations on it.

That means annotations refers to notes that you might make around a quotation, off you go.

Okay, I'm not going to ask you some questions about this quotation and let's think about how Brontë, create a particular atmosphere through this description.

Let's read this opening phrase.

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

Here's a question for you.

Why is there no possibility of taking a walk that day? Press the pause button on your video and write note, a short note above that phrase in bold explaining your answer, it doesn't need to be a full sentence, just a quick note, just a quick phrase.

I'll give you the answer and a few seconds, off you go.

Now I would suggest that the reason that there's no possibility of taking a walk that day is because it is too terrible weather for being outdoors.

The weather is so hostile and cold that the outdoors are unfitting for anyone to venture into.

Press the pause button on your video now if you'd like to add to your notes around this quotation, what I've just written here.

It's too terrible weather for being outdoors.

Okay, let's now examine another part of this quotation.

I think it's very interesting that Brontë describes the clouds as sombre.

Now the word sombre means grave and sad.

What atmosphere does Brontë create through this description? Press the pause button on your video now and write a quick note beside that phrase in bold answering the question, what atmosphere does Brontë create through this description? You don't need to write it in a full answer, just a short phrase or short set of notes, off you go.

Here's my thought, I think Brontë uses this description of a sad, grave, sombre clouds to create a gloomy atmosphere.

It's interesting because Brontë is here giving human emotions to the clouds, in a sense she's personifying the clouds.

She's describing the clouds as if a very sombre, grave and sad looking.

This creates the impression that gloomy atmosphere has spread across this desolate landscape.

Now you can now press the pause button on your video and add some notes.

You can add some notes from what I've said, but make sure you definitely add that phrase, it's a gloomy atmosphere which is created through this description of the clouds being sombre, off you go.

Let's take a look at the next part of this quotation, it stands out to me.

Brontë says that the rain was so penetrating.

Now that word penetrating refers to, if something's penetrating, it means it cuts through material.

So a sword is able to penetrate all sorts of material it could go through clothes and might be able to go through armour.

Now here, Brontë is describing the rain as penetrating.

So if something is penetrating, it cuts through material.

What is Brontë suggesting about the rain through this description? Press the pause button on your video now and take some notes around that part of a quotation, answer the question, what is Brontë suggesting about the rain through this description? Off you go.

Here's my answer to this question, what does Brontë suggesting about the rain through this description? I think she's suggesting that this is really heavy rain.

It's a sort of rain that soaks through your clothes.

One can imagine that if they went into the countryside with this very heavy penetrating rain, it would all penetrate and soaked through their clothes, leaving them drenched.

I think Brontë is using this description here to create a sense that nature seems very hostile towards anyone who ventures into the outdoors.

Press the pause button on your video now and add some notes around this phrase based upon what I've just said, off you go.

Now I think this word penetrating deserves at least a bit more analysis.

Because the word penetrating is also a violent verb.

That word verb, a verb is a doing word.

Now, when we use this word penetrating, we often use it to describe quite violent activity.

That word penetrating might refer to someone being penetrated with a sword or a dagger.

So Brontë is using very violent language here to describe the rain.

What do you think Brontë is suggesting about the weather through this violent language? Press the pause button on your video now, take some quick notes around this quotation and then you can hear my thoughts, off you go.

I would suggest that this violent verb penetrating suggest that the weather is very hostile.

That word hostile, if you meet someone who's very hostile, they're nasty, they're aggressive, they're unfriendly.

Brontë is suggesting that the Yorkshire moors, the Yorkshire Countryside is no place for people at all.

The weather in this area is so hostile, it's so cold and unpleasant that it would be a bad idea for people to venture in to this countryside.

Press the pause button on your video now and take some notes around this quotation, off you go.

Okay, so your notes around your quotation should look something like this right now.

So you've got arrows pointing towards all the different phrases and these arrows then go towards the notes that you've made upon the effects of these phrases and these words.

if you're missing any of these notes and you want to add to your annotations on this quotation, press the pause button on your video now and add to your notes.

Okay, let's move on.

In a minute I would like you to answer this question.

How does Brontë present the novel setting through the quotation below? There is no possibility of taking a walk that day, the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds, so sombre and the rain so penetrating.

Now, before you begin answering this question, I want to show you a really good exemplar answer.

I'll show you how this exemplar answer does a few very good things that makes it a good piece of writing.

Here's our exemplar answer, Brontë presents the Yorkshire Countryside as a harsh landscape through this description.

Considering the biting cold winter wind, the narrator knows that there is no possibility of taking a walk that day.

In such chilly weather, the moors are no place for people.

Moreover, there seems to be a sort of sadness that hangs over this desolate landscape.

Sorrowful looking, sombre clouds gather ominously across the skies.

Such imagery creates the gloomy atmosphere, characteristic of Brontë's novel.

The writer also describes the harsh penetrating rain falling from these darkening skies.

The violent verb penetrating creates the impression that the rain is falling very heavily and drenching the countryside.

Brontë's use of violent language also suggests that the Yorkshire weather is a hostile and dangerous force.

Now I'm going to give you one small tip to help you write like this.

When I write a paragraph, I use lots of very small quotations as evidence for my ideas.

Now look at the length of these quotations.

As you can see, they're all very short phrases or individual words.

I've got that phrase at the beginning of the second line cold winter wind.

Have copied the phrase, there was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

I've got those two words, sombre clouds.

Another two words, penetrating rain and just have one word quotation, penetrating.

I never copy out a huge amount of text into my quotations.

Instead I choose individual words or individual phrases and then analyse them.

This is one way to make your writing very, very effective.

I now want you to have a go yourself.

How does Brontë present novel setting through the quotation below.

Press the pause button on your video now and write a paragraph answer in your book or on your paper, off you go.

Let's now move on to look at our next quotation.

We descended a valley, dark with wood and long after a night had overcloud did the prospect, I heard a wild wind rushing amongst the trees.

Now let me just read that for you again and I'll explain what's happening in his quotation.

So that opening phrase, we descended a valley.

To descend into a Valley means to walk down a hill into a valley.

It's dark with woods and long after night had overclouded the prospect.

Then that phrase there that suggests the word prospect refers to the view of the countryside around them.

And night is overclouding this view.

In other words, it's getting dark and it's getting late, the sun has set.

And now Jane hears a wild wind rushing amongst the trees.

So very, very loud wind rushing across the trees and the woods beside her.

Let's zoom into a few phrases and words in this quotation because there's lots of interesting language in Brontë's description here.

Before we do that though, press the pause button on your video and copy out this quotation into your book or onto your paper and leave enough room around it, so you can write notes around this quotation, off you go.

Okay, first of all, I want to zoom into this interesting phrase.

We descended a valley dark with woods.

It would have been very easy for Brontë to write simply we descended a valley with wood, but instead she says, it's dark with wood.

I wonder why she does this.

What is our impression of this wood from Brontë's description? I want you to imagine how would this wood look? Would you be happy to go into this wood, why or why not? Press the pause button on your video now and take some quick notes around this phrase, off you go.

Okay, here's my thought.

I think this description of the wood being dark suggest that this wood looks gloomy and threatening.

The dark wood looks like a rather dangerous place.

Perhaps Brontë is been inspired by all the fairytales that she's read, about how characters encounter all sorts of dangerous or magical creatures and beasts and dark woods.

Press the pause button on your video now and add to your notes using my notes here, off you go.

Let's now move on to another quotation, another part of this quotation.

Now this is interesting.

Let's zoom into this final phrase at the end of this quotation.

I heard a wild wind rushing amongst the trees.

This is another part of the quotation that stands out to me.

Brontë describes the wind as wild.

Here's a question, why does she used the word wild rather than strong? What is she suggesting about the wind here? Press the pause button on your video and write down your thoughts and quick notes around that word, off you go.

I'm now going to share my thoughts.

I think this word wild describes the wind as if it's dangerous and cannot be tamed.

Think about other times we you might use that word wild.

You might for example, use the word wild to describe a savage animal, a lion or tiger that's dangerous, uncontrollable and cannot be tamed.

So maybe Brontë is using his word wild here to compare the wind to some sort of savage animal rushing through the trees.

Press the pause button on your video now and add to your notes based upon what I've just taught and my notes on the board, off you go.

Now I'm also really interested in the way that Brontë resonates three words, wild, wind, rushing.

Let's read that again.

I heard a wild wind rushing amongst the trees.

I'll say it again, it's sounds quite interesting, I heard a wild wind rushing amongst the trees.

Brontë is using a very interesting language technique here.

She's using a literary device.

Brontë is using alliteration.

Now alliteration refers to the repetition of a sound at the start of several words.

Let me give you a hint, so this is how Brontë uses it here.

Wild wind rushing, so you've got the repetition of the W, W, R sound.

And the R sound sounds quite similar to the W sound.

So we've got this repetition of the /r/ sound.

Now I wonder why does Brontë use alliteration here? Why does she repeat this W W R sound in her description of the wind.

Before we move on, let me give you another few examples of alliteration to show you how this literary device tends to work.

Here we have a quick poem about a snake, let's read it.

The snakes slip and slides slowly smoothly.

It scales slither over soft grass, snaking silently to scare its prey.

Now, as you can see alliteration is used across these lines.

There's a repetition of the S sound across these words.

But my big question is why is the writer using alliteration here? Why are they repeating the S sound? What does this add to the poem? And I would suggest or maybe you've guessed this, the repetition of S sound, the alliteration in this poem reflects the hiss of a snake.

As I read this poem, I can nearly hear the snake slithering past me because of a repetition of this S sound.

I'll give you another example here.

This is a bit more difficult actually to analyse.

The big, bad bully brutally beat the boy.

Now as you can see, I've what sound is repeated through the writer's use of alliteration? It is of course the B sound.

Now I want you to think to yourself, why does the writer repeat this sound over and over again? Why is the writer using alliteration here? I'll read this sentence for you once again, because it's important that you really listen to the sound of it, if you're going to analyse the writer's use of alliteration.

The big, bad bully brutally beat the boy.

What's the effects of this alliteration here? What is the writer trying to reflect about this description by repeating the B sound? Press the pause button on your video now and tell the screen your thoughts on why the writer is repeating the B sound in this quotation.

Well, I would suggest that the repetition of the harsh B sound reflects the violence of this attack.

When I read this quotation, the big, bad bully brutally beat the boy, I can nearly hear the bully punching or beating this boy over and over again.

The repetition of his harsh sound reflects the violence and ferocity of this attack.

Let's go back to our quotation now, the wild wind rushing.

Brontë uses alliteration in this phrase to repeat what sound? What sound in the forest is Brontë trying to reflect through this alliteration? Press the pause button on your video now and take some notes around this phrase, answering these questions, off you go.

I will now share with you my answers.

I think the alliteration here is being used to repeat the W and R sounds and this repetition of the W and R sounds reflects the roar of the wind.

Let me read this phrase for you once again and try to listen carefully for the way that I read it.

The way that Brontë's written this description, you can nearly hear the roar of a wind as you read these words.

I heard a wild wind rushing amongst the trees.

There's the beautiful musicality to these words, reflecting the roar of the wind.

Press the pause button on your video now and use these notes to add to the notes on your page, off you go.

Okay, so right now you should have lots of notes on your page.

This is what I've got for this quotation.

Look through these notes if you're missing anything, feel free to press the pause button on your video now and add to your notes based upon what's on the screen right now.

Okay, so now I want you to write an answer to this question.

How does Brontë present the novel setting through the quotation below? We descended a valley dark with wood and long after night at overcrowded the prospects, I heard a wild wind rushing amongst the trees.

Use the notes that you've taken around this quotation to write a paragraph, answering this question in your book or on your your page.

Press the pause button on your video now and write your answer, off you go.

Okay, let's now take a look at an exemplar answer.

Here's our exemplar answer, let's read.

Brontë creates the impression that the Yorkshire Countryside is a dangerous environment.

She describes a valley which looks dark with wood.

This description suggests that the wooded area seems gloomy and threatening.

Brontë also describes a wild wind rushing amongst trees.

The adjective wild creates the impression that this wind is dangerous and volatile, it cannot be tamed.

Brontë uses alliteration with repetition of a W sound to powerfully convey the deafening roar of this wind to her readers.

I not going to explain why this is quite good answer and there's one thing that I've done that will really improve any paragraph that you write and once again it's using very short quotations.

I've got that very short phrase, dark with wood in the second line.

I've got that short phrase, wild wind rushing amongst trees.

And that sometimes if I just use a one word quotation with that adjective wild, this will greatly improve your writing, if you use short quotations throughout your paragraph.

Now, another thing that I do to make my writing really impressive is I keep my focus upon the author over and over again, throughout my writing.

I reference what the author is doing.

I'm trying to get in Brontë's head.

So I talk about Brontë in the first line, I talk about the writer in the third line.

I mentioned Brontë again in my final sentence, I'm always trying to explain to my reader why Brontë has written this novel in the way that she has.

I keep my writing focused on the author and the author's decision-making.

If you keep your answer focused on the author, why the author has written in a particular way, that's one way to really write a very impressive piece of literature.

Well done for all of your hard work today.

Throughout the rest of the series, we will be taking more of a look at the gloomy and desolate Yorkshire Countryside.

Now join us in our next lesson, when we are introduced to the fascinating main character of our novel, Jane Eyre.

I'll see you next time.

Here's our credits for today's lesson, with all the images that we've used.

And before you go, make sure you complete the end of lesson quiz.

I'll see you next time.