(Recorded Course) The Brontë Sisters with Eleanor Bourg Nicholson

 

Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. Identification quizzes are graded internally.

 

 

Explore the beauty and richness of Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, the wild and emotional realm of Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and the challenging moral vision of Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, while developing critical reasoning through literary analysis, using your imagination, and exploring the fascinating historical and literary context for these three sisters. (If you have younger students, this course fits with the Homeschool Connections Grade School Unit Study Program for grades 3-6 so that your whole family can study the same era at the same time.) 

How to get the most out of The Brontë Sisters with Eleanor Bourg Nicholson:

  • First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.
  • Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each live session.
  • Read assignments before class meetings
  • Watch that week’s recording if you need to revisit information from our live session.
  • Do the assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.
  • Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.

Note: This course includes an optional writing component. 

Total classes: 12

Duration: 55 minutes per class

Prerequisite: Willingness to read the assigned materials.

Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th grade

Suggested credit: One full semester of Literature, Victorian Literature, or English

Instructor: Eleanor Bourg Nicholson

Instructor email: ebnicholson@protonmail.com

Course description: Become intimately acquainted with the mysterious and fertile imaginations of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, some of the most intriguing novelists of the mid-Victorian period. Explore the beauty and richness of Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, the wild and emotional realm of Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and the challenging moral vision of Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. To understand these sometimes-challenging authors, we will look closely at the dangers underlying Romanticism, as well as the profound spiritual and biographical context. In addition to cultivating artistic appreciation and a love of reading, this class facilitates the development of critical reasoning, the disciplined use of the imagination, and a strong knowledge of historical and literary context.

Course outline:

  • Week 1: Introduction & Jane Eyre, through Vol. 1, Chapter 7 (ending with the line "the brightness of the orb").
  • Week 2: Jane Eyre, through the end of Vol. 1 (Chapter 15 ends with the line "as soon as day dawned").
  • Week 3: Jane Eyre, through Vol. II, Chapter 8 (Chapter 8 ends with the line "and half of it split away").
  • Week 4: Jane Eyre, through Vol. III, Chapter 6 (Chapter 6 ends with the line "and soon forgot it").
  • Week 5: Jane Eyre, through to the end!
  • Week 6: Wuthering Heights, through Chapter 11 (Chapter 11 ends with the line "...between herself and him").
  • Week 7: Wuthering Heights, through Chapter 24 (Chapter 24 ends with the line "withhold even that slight consolation"
  • Week 8: Wuthering Heights, through to the end!
  • Week 9: Tenant of Wildfell Hall, through Chapter 14 (Chapter 14 ends with the line "his intention to criminate me").
  • Week 10: Tenant of Wildfell Hall, through Chapter 28 (Chapter 28 ends with the line "to disregard his promises").
  • Week 11: Tenant of Wildfell Hall, through Chapter 39 (Chapter 39 ends with the line "from such a parent").
  • Week 12: Tenant of Wildfell Hall, through to the end!

Course materials: Selections from the Brontë Juvenilia will be provided in Moodle. Required materials include: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë), Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë), and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë) (Any editions are accepted. For Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights, the Ignatius Critical Editions are strongly recommended. These are all also in the public domain and available online via Project Gutenberg.)

Homework: Expect to spend approximately 3 hours per week on homework. This will mostly be reading, weekly identification quizzes, a handful of other small assignments, a concluding quiz/assignment, and recommended participation in Moodle-based forums. Students can also sign up for an optional literary essay with 6 weeks to complete.

Note on Quizzes: There are 12 identification quizzes in this course (each worth 10 points), 3 review quizzes (each worth 100 points), and 1 “concluding thoughts” quiz (worth 100 points). Each week, before class, you are to complete the assigned reading and take the identification quiz.

Optional Paper Project: There is an optional paper project associated with this class. To complete it as a recorded course, "Instructor Access" is necessary. The project involves several stages of development and editing, including:

  • Committing to the paper
  • Brainstorming
  • Draft 1
  • Draft 2
  • Draft 3/Final Draft

For each stage, I will provide feedback, suggestions, and edits. At the project’s completion, I will provide a recommended grade.