It's YOUR turn now: Chapters 11-19

I am not going to create long, detailed posts this weekend, as I think that it is high time that some of YOU did so instead. I have 'modelled' posts over the past couple of weeks, and I have given you lots of guidance as to how LONG they should be; HOW they should be written; and WHAT they should be about.

I would like to see what some of you can come up with this week. However, to help you, here is a selection of topics you might like to post about. So choose one of these topics (or one of your own, based on ideas in your reading journal) and remember that you need to write a minimum of approx 250 words. Then sit back and enjoy the discussion you have sparked between other members of the group in the COMMENTS. Be brave - don't leave the BLOG to other people:

• Shocking and Taboo?:
• What evidence can you find of why this book was so shocking to its contemporary audience?
• What happens during these chapters that Victorian society might have so objected to?
• What social rules do characters like Helen and Gilbert break, and how might we respond differently from the Victorian reader?
• Gilbert in Love
• How does Gilbert change and develop during these chapters?
• Why does he behave this way towards the woman he says he loves/loved?
  
• How do we respond to/feel about his behaviour towards Helen?
  
• Helen's Diary Entry:
• What is the narrative function of Helen's diary entry?
  
• Or, in other words, what effect does the use of this device have on the reader?
  
• Why does Bronte use it?
  
• What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of writing a novel in the form of LETTERS and DIARIES?
• Helen's Big Mistake:
• What do you think of Helen's refusal to follow her Aunt's choice of husband for her?
• What is your opinion of the men she turns down?
• What do you think should influence a woman's choice of husband (or, indeed, a man's choice of wife)?
• Is Helen wrong to fight against her aunt's attempts at an 'arranged marriage'?
• Mr Huntingdon
• Can you sense any foolishness or error in her attraction towards Mr Huntingdon?
  
• Is there any evidence, at this stage, of him being the sort of man Helen's aunt warned her against?
• What do you think of Mr Huntingdon? Consider:
• His behaviour with other women;
• His response to the secret drawings;
• His physical advances towards Helen;
• Anything else you notice about him...

NEXT WEEK: Please read Chapters 20-24