Bloom's Articles Summaries

"Bertha Mason Rochester as a gothic figure"
 This article explains how Bertha Mason is revealed as a character. It says that she was the daughter of a drunkard and a madwoman. After the her fourth year of marriage to Mr. Rochester, she went mad aswell. As a result, she is locked up on the third floor of Thornfield Mansion. Near the end of the story, it says that Bertha chose to sacrifice her life in order to end her confinement.
"Bertha Mason"
The writer tells how Mr. Rochester was blindly led by his father to marry Bertha Mason, not realizing that she had a family history of relatives going mad. On one account, Bertha attacked her brother, Richard Mason, and later appears to Jane late at night and tears Jane's bridal veil. Althought this happens, Jane is unaware of Bertha Mason's existence until Richard Mason objects to her wedding to Mr. Rochester.
"Jane Eyre and Bertha Rochester"
Bertha Mason is described as an opposite of Jane Eyre and a threat to her happiness.  She is also depicted as a wicked character with a melicious laugh.

Jane Eyre Psychological Approach

A. What forces are motivating the characters?
One force which motivates the characters is Jane and Mr. Rochester's love for each other and also Jane discretion to do what she thinks is right.

B. Which behaviors of the characters are conscious ones?
A conscious behavior is Jane's leaving Thornfield because she had to think about it.

C. Which are unconscious?
An unconscious behavior is Jane and Mr. Rochester's love because it comes without consideration.

D. What conscious or unconscious conflicts exist between the characters?
A conscious conflict between Jane and Mr. Rochester is that Mr. Rochester's wife is still alive and is stopping them from getting married.

E. Given their backgrounds, how plausible is the characters' behavior?
The characters' behaviors are plausible because it is understandable that Jane would have mixed feellings about Mr. Rochester after realizing that his wife is still alive.

H. What roles do psychological disorders and dreams play in this story?
Mr. Rochester developed something along the lines of a psychological disorder when Jane left Thornfield; he was devistated by her departure and would think of her every day.

J. How might a psychological approach account for different responses is female and male readers?
When reading this novel, guys might think that Jane was being cruel by suddenly leaving Mr. Rochester, but girls would understand why Jane felt that she should leave.

K. How does the work reflect the writer's personal psychology?
The complicated love between Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester shows that Charlotte Bronte had a psychological state of mind that things can work out alright if you listen your heart.

L. What do the characters' emotions and behaviors reveal about their psychological states?
I think that Jane is seen to have a strong psychological state because she does not dwell over Mr. Rochester when she leaves but gets on with her life.

M. How does the work reflect the unconscious dimensions of the writer's mind?
The writer unconsciously showed that it is always better to think decisions over.

N. How does the reader's own psychology affect his response to the work?
Based on a person's individual psychology, the person could be able to understand how a character would feel when something happens.

I think that a possible thesis could be that life can get confusing and messed-up sometimes, but if you listen to you heart and soul you will know what to do.

Why Read the Classics- Author's authority

"Why Read the Classics" is written by Italo Carvino, who seems to be an exceptional author. By reading this essay, you can easily tell that Carvino is not only an excelent writer but also a dedicated reader. In his essay, he writes short summaries of many of his favorite books and also gives his input on them. Some of these books include: The City as Novel in Balzac (139), Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (145), Trois Contes by Gustave Flaubert (151), and Two Hussars by Leo Tolstoy (155). These are just a few examples, however, in Italo Carvino's whole book, he wrote about 35 books in total. Since he has read and written about all of the books, it shows that the author is a well-educated man with a deep respect for literature. Since he is writing about reasons why people should read the classics when he himself has read and understands many, this gives him a high authority as an author. If you look closely at the words "author" and "authority", you will probably notice that "authority" begins with the word "author". This could be thought of as- an author needs to have authority when writing a book by making sure that he or she fully understands whatever it is that the book is supposed to be about. Upon reading his essay, it is clear that Calvino did just that.

Calvino, Italo. Why Read the Classics. New York: Vintage, 1991. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Why Read the Classics- Reaction

My reaction to "Why Read the Classics?" by Italo Calvino was "Wow, this essay was actually a lot more interesting than I thought it would be". The first chapter had several points which caught my attention and advice which seemed to be potentially useful. This essay was particularly interesting to me because, like my classmates, I have read a few classics already and I think that helped me to understand what it was talking about. For example, Italo wrote that when someone reads a classic for a second time, they will see things in the story that they had not noticed before (4). When I would go back to re-read a few chapters of different classical books, I could get a whole different perspective of what was being said, especially since I knew how the story ends. Going back to read the book again gives people an opportunity to pay more attention to the smaller details. In addition, I agreed with Italo when he said that trying to read a book which does not appeal to you is under most cases pointless (6). When I tried reading books before which seemed boring, it felt like I was getting nowhere in the story. Finally, the author's recommendation seems to be a very good and useful idea which I had not considered before. My reaction to this essay was clearly logical since I thought that it was interesting and useful.

Calvino, Italo. Why Read the Classics. New York: Vintage, 1991. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Why Read the Classics- Organized

"Why Read the Classics?" by Italo Calvino uses good organization in order to make a point to the reader. The first chapter, "Why Read the Classics?", gives you several definitions of the word "classics". The passages begin by giving about a paragraph or so of information concerning the classics. For example, Italo Calvin wrote that you should not be embarrassed if you have not read a famous book because no one on the entire earth can read all of them (3). He also wrote that when we re-read a classic, it should surprise us as we compare what we now see in the story to what we had remembered the previous time it was read (5). After describing these and many more, the author summarized all of that information into a single sentenced definition all referring to the word "classics". The passages proceeding the fourteenth and final definition act as the concluding paragraphs by talking a little more about the classics and giving practical advice. Each following chapter is used to give a brief summary of different classics as well as Italo Calvino's input of the book. These classics were apparently some of Italo's favorites. However, I am not sure how he had organized the chapters based on the book, since they were not in alphabetical order.

Calvino, Italo. Why Read the Classics. New York: Vintage, 1991. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Why Read the Classics- Passages that capture attention

One passage which captures my attention is "The interactive prefix 're' in front of the verb 'read' can present a small act of hypocrisy on the part of people ashamed to admit they have not read a famous book" (Calvino 3). I thought that this was funny because there are too many "famous" books to be able to read all of them. Other passages which stood out were all of the definitions which Italo Calvino gave to the word "classics". It was amazing to see that someone could give that many meanings to a single word. In addition, "Of course this happens when...it establishes a personal relationship with the reader. If there is no spark, the exercise is pointless: it is no use reading classics out of a sense of duty or respect, we should only read them for love" (Calvino 6). This passage captured my attention because I have read several books which I did not really care for and I agree with Calvino: reading books solely out of a sense of duty will not do the reader any good. Finally, and other passage that seemed interesting was "All that can be done is for each one of us to invent our own ideal library of our classics; and I would say that one half of it should consist of books we have read and that have meant something for us, and the other half of books which we intend to read and which we suppose might mean something to us. We should also leave a section of empty spaces for surprises and chance discoveries" (Calvino 9). This caught my attention because it seems like good advice and I would like to try it someday.

Calvino, Italo. Why Read the Classics. New York: Vintage, 1991. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Why Read the Classics- Tone

In "Why Read the Classics?" by Italo Calvino, his tone throughout the essay was that the classics are very good and useful books which can be used to better our understanding of the world. He thinks that these books will be best understood when the reader is mature, but they can still be important for the younger generations to introduce them to some concepts which they would understand better when they grow older (6). For this reason, it would be practical to re-read these books when you become an adult. Italo Calvino also had a disposition that you should only read classics if it is something that truly interests you, otherwise there is no reason; you will not learn much, if anything from it because you may not understand it so well and it would be boring (4). Everyone has certain topics and styles of writing which appeal to them, perhaps because something from the story reminds them of themselves, a friend, or a personal experience and Italo recognized this. For whatever reason it may be the reader feels a connection between the book and this is what can arouse the interest which would allow you to understand and learn from the book.

Calvino, Italo. Why Read the Classics. New York: Vintage, 1991. Web. July-Aug. 2011.