Example of a Well-Written Thesis and Outline

Example Topic: Choose one or more aspects of Charlotte Bronte's life and discuss how she transferred these facts into fiction in Jane Eyre.

Outline

I.            Example Thesis Statement: Many aspects and experiences of Charlotte Bronte's life can be seen in Jane Eyre's life.

A.    Background of Victorian England

1.      Views on child rearing

2.      Roles for women

II.            Charlotte Bronte's Early Life

A.    Daughters of the Clergy School at Cowan Bridge

1.      Harsh Treatment

2.      Death of sisters Maria and Elizabeth

B.     Lowood School

1.      Harsh treatment

2.      Death of Helen Burns

III.            Education

A.    Charlotte’s work as a teacher and governess

Jane Eyre Essay Prompts

1. A Bildungroman is a novel that traces a character's development from a childhood to adulthood. Explain how Jane Eyre is a clear example of a Bildungsroman.

2. Consider how Bronte employs the themes of sanity and madness, sight and blindness, or fire and ice throughout the novel.

3.Compare and contrasts the religious characters that Bronte includes in the novel. Mr. Brocklehurst, Helen Burns, and St. John Rivers.

4. Jane searches for autonomy throughout the novel. How is this important for her character, the novel, and for Bronte's Victorian readers?

5. Discuss how Bronte weaves elements of the supernatural throughout the novel, especially within Rochester and Jane's relationship.

6. Bronte toys with the motifs of equality and social status throughout the novel. Analyze incidents in the novel where equality and social status are imperative.

7. Romantic literature includes human passion, belief in the supernatural, and individuality. Another philosophy altogether, the Transcendentalists found God within themselves and in nature and strived to be self-reliant. Trace the philosophy of Romanticism or Transcendentalism in the novel.

8. Discuss the role of each of the female influences in Jane's life: Mrs. Reed, Bessie, Helen Burns, Miss Temple, and Diana and Mary Rivers.

9. List and explain at least five instances in which Bronte foreshadows the revelation of Rochester's first marriage to Bertha Mason.

10. Explain how Bronte makes character appearances important to the structure of the novel to the novel as a whole. Consider the absence and reappearance of these characters: Helen Burns, Bessie Leaven, Mrs. Reed, Edward Rochester, and St. John Rivers.

11. Explain the importance of the five places Jane lives (Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institution, Thornfield, Moor House/Marsh End, and Ferndean), the significance of each place name, and how each place name represents the quality of Jane's life at each home.

12. Discuss Bronte's ideas regarding Colonialism and the introduction of the foreigners into the novel, such as Celine and Adele Varens and Richard and Bertha Mason.

13. For much of the novel, Jane Eyre holds an ambiguous role in society--not fitting in a specific social class. Discuss at least two instances where this is pertinent to Jane's development as a character.