ENG 322-800: The Nineteenth-Century English Novel

Scene Analysis (20%): due October 5-9

Choose a scene fromJane Eyre, and build an argument about the significance of that scene for the novel as a whole by analyzing the technical workingsof the scene. For the purposes of this analysis, a scene can be as short as a paragraph or as long as three pages. This is a close reading assignment: a successful response will focus on specific language and will quote directly and judiciously from the scene in order to provide evidence for your argumentative claim. The significance of the scene will lie in the way that it intersects with one of the novel’s themes in order to establish, amplify, illustrate, or complicate the novel’s attitude towards that theme.

The effectiveness of your paragraph structure will be one of the elements evaluated in this assignment, so keep Hayot’s five types of sentences in mind as you draft and revise your analysis. This does not mean that all of your paragraphs must demonstrate Hayot’s “uneven U” structure. This does mean that all of your paragraphs should demonstrate your careful attention to the relationship between paragraph structure and argumentative development.

Details of the scene you might discuss include (but are not limited to):

• the effects of a particular stylistic element, figure of speech, or rhetorical device
• the relationship between the setting and the tone of the scene
• the effects of a repetition of sounds, words, or images
• the function of sensory information: color, sound, cold/heat, taste, etc.
• the effects of a particular combination of words
• narratorial perspective

Themes that will become important as we work through Jane Eyreinclude (but are not limited to):

• the significance of reading
• the nature of human relationships, whether familial, romantic, economic, or otherwise
• the function of psychological interiority: imagination, judgment, self-reflection, dreams
• the significance of physical and/or architectural space
• the difficulty of narration
• the gothic mode

Formatting details:

• 1000-1200 words; include a word count at the end of the analysis

• double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins
• no title page needed, but do come up with a punchy and descriptive title

Assignment rationale:This assignment is designed to allow you to dig deeply into a specific part of Jane Eyrein order to practice your close reading skills. In so doing, you’ll get a sense of where your analytical interests lie with respect to the nineteenth-century novel generally, which will be very useful as you plan for your final paper. This assignment will build on the work you did to explain the significance of a single word in the Word Biography Assignment.

ENG 322: Scene Analysis feedback