Monthly Archives: December 2016

Charlotte Brontë’s letters to her good friend, Ellen Nussey, are revealing of some of the life events that directly influenced the construction of Jane Eyre. Comically similar to the advertisement posted by Jane in Jane Eyre seeking employment, the advertisement … Continue reading →

On our last day of class, after discussing the emergent genre of cell phone novels and reading (and listening to) Teju Cole’s Twitter story, “Hafiz,” the students of English 145 engaged in a collective act of writing. Without knowing what we … Continue reading →

With the recent advent of the cellular novel in Japan we see that the evolution of the novel has come full circle from the period we have been examining, Britain in the 19th century. We have talked a lot about … Continue reading →

After reading Teju Cole’s Hafiz, I was struck at how far we have come in our definition of a novel. During this class, we tracked the growth of the novel from its serial beginnings to the full-fledged, bound and printed … Continue reading →

Especially after closely studying the 19th Century novel, cell phone novels, the supposed modern transmutation of the traditional novel, is frankly shocking and disturbing. I get that they could be an outlet for young women leaving seemingly meaningless lives to … Continue reading →

Reading Gaskell, as well as the introduction to Jane Eyre impressed upon me the importance of family as inspiration for Charlotte’s writing. Seeing the exhibit provided primary source evidence for this dedication to family. Charlotte wrote (and illustrated) the book above … Continue reading →

Note: this blog post is longer than 250 words–skip to the second paragraph if desired! In “I [Love] Novels,” literature professor Satoko Kan states, “as a method, [cell-phone novel writing] leads to the empowerment of girls. But, in terms of content, … Continue reading →