Lives
of the Writers (II): Charlotte and Emily Brontë
(This listening passage can be found on side
A of your tape
after the poems, three popular songs, and passage on Jane Austen)
For more on the Brontë sisters, visit the Brontë
sisters Web
Vocabulary:
| Yorkshire Jane Eyre Wuthering Heights Currer and Ellis Bell imaginary kingdoms unique invention Glass Town to people s.t. with descendants Branwell wooden soldiers constitution literature tiny print scrap booklet to compile volume obsession Gondal ruler to surround steep moor heather to whistle damp bleak to brood graveyard well to channel coffin to murmur at the thought of eccentric clergyman loaded pistol to fire to refuse curtains wallpaper carpets to be rumored potatoes to destroy to encourage vanity study horrific ghost stories appalling conditions boarding school sense of duty to put one's one wishes first nearsighted goody-goody |
habit to wheel around to avert one's eyes governess career open to painfully to be away from parsonage to admit buried away from fat-headed oaf constantly to grit one's teeth at wretched bondage essentially servant brilliant mysterious rarely restless secretive to dart into to fetch failure to loath to nickname 'The Major' to dominate geese Keeper Flossy oatmeal porridge headstrong opinionated unreasonable to cauterize poker rabid dog to heal to punish beating bedspread a head taller than faded homemade narrow Sunday School village needlework samplers to clean house to roam to read out loud private dining room to persuade privacy |
critics to be prejudiced against slim to inspire alcohol tuberculosis stubborn disoriented heather treatment to howl publication to indulge oneself lining neatly blank opium unpopular to cast a chill over pronouncements admirer to propose assistant Nichols to approve of literary ambition complicated by pregnancy to live on to nurse s.o. through in pain toothache to be depressed controversial heroine unconventional notorious wicked offensive unmoved line to model s.o. on romantic haunted central character location stormy firelight to complain reviewer outspoken demonic sickening shocking unfavorably version rock musician Sinéad O'Connor to play the part of |
Listening
comprehension questions:
1. How long
did each of the two sisters live?
2. Who were the residents of Glass Town, and what language did they speak?
3. What became Emily's obsession?
4. What are some of the reasons that the Brontës'
life at home was relatively 'bleak'?
5. In what year did the Brontë sisters' mother die?
6. Name five odd things about the Brontë sisters'
father.
7. Why did the two eldest sisters die?
8. Describe a few aspects of Charlotte's personality.
9. Why did Charlotte try being a governess if she disliked the job so much?
10. What kind of relationship did Charlotte and Emily have?
11. Describe some aspects of Emily's personality.
12. What was Charlotte like physically?
13. Name three of the sisters' amusements.
14. Who were Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell?
15. Give one example of Emily's 'stubbornness'.
16. What improvements did Charlotte make in the family house after all her siblings
had died?
17. How did Charlotte come to be able to write about things she had not herself
experienced?
18. Why did Charlotte not marry until very late in life? Why did she finally
marry after all?
19. What was the public reaction to Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre? How
did Charlotte respond to this reaction?
20. List two clues in the passage that reveal something about the personality
of Branwell Brontë.