MONDAY 17th October 2010
In today’s lesson our initial activity was to complete a task 1, 2, 3. With number we had to write down three things we knew about Heathcliff. Number 2 was to write to questions about Heathcliff and number 3 would be an analogy of him e.g. - Heathcliff is like marmite; you either love him or hate him (sir’s example).
Contrary to this we read an article about Heathcliff comparing him to Lord Byron and Frankenstein. The article talked about many things such as:

• Heathcliff being a parody to an aristocrat – The article stated that Heathcliff guarded himself with a mysterious required wealth but is unable to come across as anything other than a fake. For example he is “dirty”, “ragged” and “as black as t’chimbley” yet owns a large estate.

• Heathcliff’s fairy tale beginning. Heathcliff’s entrance to the world is intriguingly enigmatic. He is introduced as another world being, as a “gift from God”. He has no separate surname, and his name is inhuman. His name describes a natural phenomenon – Heath – Cliff and like his name his behaviour doesn’t replicate one of which fits the norms of society.
  
• The article also looked at Heathcliff being this underdog, causing us to secretly root for him. Because he represents the loser and the runner up we have a desire for him to get Catherine in the end.

• Also Heathcliff’s appeal comes from his inherent beastliness. There is something innately unnatural or if anything too natural. These animalistic associations cause Heathcliff to be attractive because of the dangerous passions in which he can provide.
  

The next activity done was in groups. We got into pairs and discussed certain comments made about Heathcliff. The comments were:

Heathcliff as a social outcast & misfit
Feedback- Heathcliff has no social and domestic status, yet still remained a threat to the upper class. Some argue that Heathcliff represents the threat in which the lower class poses on the upper class. He is a revolutionist as he jumps from being a servant of Wuthering Heights to owning it.

Heathcliff as a product of circumstance
Heathcliff’s rejection during his childhood justifies his actions now. He has been “hardened to ill treatment”. However there a various reference which would make us think that his devilish characteristics are innate. For example his black eyes- as apparently the eyes are the shadow to the soul.

Heathcliff as a Romantic/Gothic hero
Heathcliff because of his mysteriousness, ruthlessness and power is this romantic hero. His mysterious beginnings amplify his ambiguity even more. However it could be argued that Heathcliff doesn’t fit the role of a Byronic hero and in fact isn’t mysterious as it is easy to explain why he behaves in the manner which does-because of his past.


Towards the latter stages of the lesson we started to look at essay writing. We learnt about thesis statements. Thesis statements are SO important in our essay writing as it gives your essays base to hang your points off. Here is a plan of an essay done in class.

ESSAY QUESTION: What contribution does Heathcliff make to our reading of ‘Wuthering Heights’ as a ‘Gothic’ novel?
THESIS STATEMENT- Heathcliff is a mysterious and unknown character – gothic genre is also mysterious and unknown – no easy judgements
Intro – outline and explain your thesis statement (also consider other views (A03)
• Heathcliff as mysterious gothic figure – fairy tale origins etc
• Byronic Hero (A04 – ‘mad bad...)
• Narrative structure = uncertainty/ambiguity in judgements of everything (reported speech etc)
• HC = radical challenge to society
• Other elements apart from HC that make it gothic OR novel is not gothic at all – MORE ROMANTIC ETC (A03)