choose one from the four topics (from the files) and write a 1000 words essay base on the choosen topic.

English 153 (003):  In-class Essay

(worth 25% of your final grade)

7 October 2016

Choose ONE of the following topics and write a clear, coherent, well-supported essay in response.  Your essay will be evaluated for its argument, organization, quality of evidence, and stylistic clarity.  You are permitted to bring in this assignment description (i.e. one sheet of paper, with as much writing—on BOTH sides—asyou choose) but no other books or notes, please (this includes dictionaries.  No dictionaries).  Please double-space your essay.  You can use pen or pencil.  Research is not required for this assignment but you will be graded on spelling, grammar, and mechanics.

1.        Rochester (poor, poor Rochester) locks up his wife in the attic of his home because, of course, he has no other choice:  she is mad.  She has always been mad, and her madness is not his fault. 

Respond to this claim in an essay which addresses whether or not Rochester’s descriptions of Bertha’s madness should be believed. 

2.        At its core, Jane Eyre is a love story in which the novel’s narrator and protagonist (Jane, of course), finds true love. 

Respond to this statement in an essay which considers the ways in which the fairy-tale nature of Jane’s narrative might be interpreted, in fact, as something more complex and problematic than its “happily-ever-after” ending suggests. 

3.        The protagonist of Jane Eyre is a reliable narrator.  She is, after all, smart, perceptive, and honest.  As readers, we can trust what she observes and reports to us. 

Or can we?

In an essay which considers the inherently untrustworthy nature of first-person narrators, discuss Jane’s point of view:  does her point of view undermine the veracity of the story she tells?  Or can she, in fact, be trusted?

4.        Colonialism and imperialism play such minor parts in the events which unfold in Jane Eyre that we would be wise to dismiss the relevance of either to our interpretation of the novel.

                Respond to this claim in an essay which considers the ways in which the colonial/imperial             enterprise is (or is not) implicated in Jane’s story.  (If indeed we should dismiss the role of    colonialism and imperialism in Jane Eyre, then what other factors are central to our       understanding of the novel?  If colonialism and imperialism are crucial to the narrative, then                 explain how they shape our interpretation of it.)