Charlotte Bronte Group: Ethan, Rebecca, Nick, Cora, Elyse
Anne and Emily Bronte Group: Mr. P.
Austen Group 1: Allison, Sydney, Talah, Sophie, Izzy, Felix
Austen Group 2: James, Monique, Eliza, Colby, Jonathan, Haywood
Austen Group 3: Chloe, Rachel, Caroline, Emily, Bill, Duc
Austen Group 4: Matt, Cole, Nikita, Tony, Will
Directions for Bronte and Austen Groups
NOTE: The five bullet points below must be composed in a google doc and posted to Turnitin.com by Tuesday, May 21st. This is worth a substantial part of the debate grade. You will not merely choose a scene and "wing it."
1) Create a thesis. Why is your work/author of choice superior? Use your two written research essays as a basis for your arguments. Revisit the texts as a group. When you develop a group thesis, remember: Be precise. Focus on form and nuances! It cannot be just plot based. As a group, compose an opening statement to be read to the class.
2) Select a brief scene from your novel of choice to prove your thesis. Select a definite beginning, middle, and end to your passage. Print out copies of your selection. Select "actors" to read parts aloud, with feeling. Check in with other groups to ensure we are not repeating scenes.
3) Create a commentary of the aforementioned scene, citing specifics. Be analytical. Be bold. Be brilliant. Be persuasive! Produce a refined written copy to present to the class.
4) Repeat steps 2 & 3 with at least one other example from your selection of choice. You could also select a scene from the opposing side and show how it does not quite add up when coupled with your example. Be prepared to make edits when we are actually sharing out work.
5) Make your final summation. Prepare a written statement. A conclusion. Be formal, but personal. Confident, but classy.
Directions for Owen Williams as Moderator
1) Introduction: Welcome us to the debate. Tell us what you expect from Mr. P and your classmates in terms of the non-aggression pact. We must be civil. Compose a brief introductory speech.
2) Create a thesis. Why should we view these two authors as equals? Use your two written research essays as a basis for your argument. When you develop a thesis, remember: Be precise. Focus on form and nuances! It cannot be just plot based. Compose an opening statement to be read to the class.
3) Select one brief scene from one Pride & Prejudice and Jane Eyre. Tell us about the scenes and why you think they are important. This need not be written. Just share your insights.
3) Make your final summation. Prepare a brief written statement about why each author should be celebrated as equals. A conclusion. Be formal, but personal. Confident, but classy.
4) Who "won?" Though both are of equal importance, based on the arguments of your classmates, which author wins this debate: Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters? At the end of the debates, you will be asked to give us your opinion.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Austen-Bronte show. Since we have so little time and so much to say, I'll proceed with the terms and conditions. Because Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters are all among the Allies now, this debate exercise is grounded in sports and games. This means no bigotry, ill sportsmanship, contradiction, declaration of war, insults, or aggression of any other sort. Any violation along these lines will be reported. This is a work of fiction. Names, entities, services, places, and products are directly from my imagination, unlicensed references to someone else's imagination, or real stuff used fictitiously. Any resemblance to reality is a mere coincidence, but have faith, or at least have fun. If you paid attention to the terms and conditions, good for you. If you did not pay attention to the terms and conditions, go and read them to yourself.
ReplyDeleteSo what do Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters have in common anyway? Well, they had a tendency to raise awareness of various issues with society. For example, in Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen pointed out the tedious, commercial, sexist, outdated misconceptions concerning inheritance and marriage; And Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre was an in-depth analysis of the use of religion as a means of cruelty. These are all very important matters to attend to. The authors each used their own methods, and I get that. But their importance doesn't differ.
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DeleteAnother thing they had in common was a tendency to mention the main point immediately. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, when Mrs. Bennet tells Mr. Bennet that Mr. Bingley has moved into Netherfield Park, she goes on and on about his potential as a son-in-law. Now, I just need a Mr. and Mrs. Bennet...start with “Is he married or single?”...Action!
Delete“Is he married or single?”
“Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”
“How so? How can it affect them?”
“My dear Mr. Bennet,” replied his wife, “how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.”
“Is that his design in settling here?”
“Design! Nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.”
“I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley may like you the best of the party.”
“My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be anything extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty.”
“In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of.”
“But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood.”
“It is more than I engage for, I assure you.”
“But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know, they visit no newcomers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him if you do not.”
“You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.”“I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.”
“They have none of them much to recommend them,” replied he; “they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.”
“Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such a way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion for my poor nerves.” Cut! Mrs. Bennet is very obsessed with getting her daughters married, and it’s all for the money. Indeed, that’s a very commercial, sexist way to make transactions.
Likewise, in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, we see a demonstration of religious cruelty in a matter of pages. After Jane Eyre roasts her cousin, John Reed, Bessie and Abbot place her in her uncle’s bedroom, and order her to pray for forgiveness. On “‘She never did so before.’”...Positions...Action!
Delete“She never did so before,” at last said Bessie, turning to the Abigail.
“But it was always in her,” was the reply. “I’ve told missis often my opinion about the child, and missis agreed with me. She’s an underhand little thing: I never saw a girl of her age with so much cover.”
Bessie answered not; but ere long, addressing me, she said: “You ought to be aware, miss, that you are under obligations to Mrs. Reed: she keeps you: if she were to turn you off you would have to go to the poorhouse.”
I had nothing to say to these words: they were not new to me: my very first recollections of existence included hints of the same kind. This reproach of my dependence had become a vague singsong in my ear; very painful and crushing, but only half intelligible. Miss Abbot joined in:
“And you ought not to think of yourself on an equality with the misses Reed and Master Reed, because missis kindly allows you to be brought up with them. They will have a great deal of money and you will have none: it is your place to be humble, and to try to make yourself agreeable to them.”
“What we tell you is for your own good,” added Bessie, in no harsh voice: “you should try to be useful and pleasant, then, perhaps, you would have a home here; but if you become passionate and rude, missis will send you away, I am sure.”
“Besides,” said Miss Abbot, “God will punish her: He might strike her dead in the midst of her tantrums, and then where would she go? Come, Bessie, we will leave her: I wouldn’t have her heart for anything. Say your prayers, Miss Eyre, when you are by yourself; for if you don’t repent, something bad might be permitted to come down the chimney and fetch you away.” Cut! All Jane was doing was defending herself for the umpteenth time, and they suspect her of sin, and leave her by herself! What a Puritan protocol, I hate it! Anyway, Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters all had important messages to spread.
Commercialism, sexism, and religious dictatorship are no laughing matters. Jane Austen broke ground and the Bronte Sisters also broke ground. There is no valid reason to turn ground-breakers against ground-breakers. We should praise all groundbreakers evenly, these ones included. Therefore, it’s an automatic tie, I don’t see why we should debate this anyway.
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