wuthering heights by emily bronte

by

Suggestions:

As you read, consider the topics of sibling rivalry & the ramifications of marriage.

  • How do the Earnshaw children compete for their father’s love?
  • How does this sibling competition affect Heathcliff?
  • What are the ramifications of marriage in terms of social class and property? How are the marriage outcomes different from men and women?

Directions: Complete all 3 assignments explained below. Use separate documents. You will submit 4 documents total for this assignment: 1 brainstorm list & 3 one page essays. All essays should be in MLA format.

Topic: Wuthering Heights: Sibling Rilvary

Assignment 1: Wuthering Heights is a story about the history of two families and how an outsider tries to reconstruct their history. Think about your own family history for a moment.

Step 1: Create a list or a chart of the past three generations of your own family including your siblings; parents, aunts and uncles; and grandparents. List all important details about your family members to include in this history.

Step 2: In a one-page essay free of spelling and grammar errors, address the following questions:

  • What information do you find important to include in your family history?
  • What did you leave out of your history? Why?
  • What kind of information is difficult to explain to an outsider?

Submit both the list & the one page essay.

Assignment 2: Much of the conflicts in Wuthering Heights stem from the Earnshaw children competing for their father’s love.

In a one-page essay free of spelling and grammar errors, compare Wuthering Heights to another story about sibling rivalry (e.g. Cinderella, King Leer, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harry Potter, etc…).

How are the two stories similar? How are they different? Why do the siblings in these stories quarrel? How does one’s place in a family affect behavior in positive and negative ways?


Topic: Wuthering Heights: The Ramifications of Marriage

“I’m glad, for I shall be master of the Grange after him–and Catherine always spoke of it as her house. It isn’t hers! It’s mine: papa says everything she has is mine. All her nice books are mine; she offered to give me them, and her pretty birds, and her pony Minny, if I would get the key of our room, and let her out; but I told her she had nothing to give, they were all, all mine.” (Chapter 28, pg. 257)

Assignment 3: The concept of marriage in the 18th century (as seen in Wuthering Heights) is largely based on social and economic advancement and not love. In other words, couples married to either keep their social status or advance to a new level. Love, unfortunately, had little to do with the decision to wed. This was especially detrimental to women who lost all of their rights and property to men upon marriage.

In a one-page essay, compare modern day marriage to marriage in the 18th century.

Consider the following: Would you be willing to give up all of your personal property to be married (if you were a female) or marry someone and assume all legal responsibility (if you are a male)? Why or why not.

Be sure to use evidence from the novel as support for your answer and create a paper free of grammar errors.