Jane Eyre: book club questions by chapter

🦉 Jane Eyre · meeting 1 of 4

Read: Gateshead; Lowood (pages 1–6, about 8 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 6, and don't read on: the next part is for next time.

1. Who have we met so far, and what does each of them want?
   Listen for: Make a list together on the board; keep it for next time and add to it.
2. Stop here. What do you think will happen next? Write or draw one guess to check next time.
   Listen for: Keep the guesses in an envelope. Don't say whether a guess is right: the next part will.

🦉 Jane Eyre · meeting 2 of 4

Read: Thornfield (pages 7–10, about 5 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 10, and don't read on: the next part is for next time.

1. Look back at last time's guesses. Which came true, and what surprised you?
   Listen for: Read the guesses out. Nobody was wrong: a guess that missed often shows what the author wanted us to expect.
2. Stop here. What do you think will happen next? Write or draw one guess to check next time.
   Listen for: Keep the guesses in an envelope. Don't say whether a guess is right: the next part will.

🦉 Jane Eyre · meeting 3 of 4

Read: The Wedding (pages 11–13, about 4 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 13, and don't read on: the next part is for next time.

1. What was the secret hidden on the third floor of Thornfield?
   The story's answer: Rochester's first wife, Bertha
2. Look back at last time's guesses. Which came true, and what surprised you?
   Listen for: Read the guesses out. Nobody was wrong: a guess that missed often shows what the author wanted us to expect.
3. Stop here. What do you think will happen next? Write or draw one guess to check next time.
   Listen for: Keep the guesses in an envelope. Don't say whether a guess is right: the next part will.

🦉 Jane Eyre · meeting 4 of 4

Read: Moor House; Ferndean (pages 14–19, about 8 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 19, the end of the story.

1. Why was Jane locked in the red-room?
   The story's answer: She had defended herself against her cousin John
2. What did Helen Burns teach Jane at Lowood?
   The story's answer: To bear unfairness patiently and forgive
3. Why did Jane leave Thornfield instead of staying with Rochester?
   The story's answer: She would not give up her principles and her self-respect, even for love
4. What does the end of the story suggest about Jane and Rochester's marriage?
   The story's answer: They could be happy together as equals once Jane was free and independent
5. Look back at last time's guesses. Which came true, and what surprised you?
   Listen for: Read the guesses out. Nobody was wrong: a guess that missed often shows what the author wanted us to expect.
6. Now that you know the ending, was it the ending you expected?
   Listen for: Ask what in the earlier parts pointed to it, or pointed the other way.

About the whole story

1. Which character changed the most from the beginning to the end?
   Listen for: Ask what changed them.
2. Which scene would you put on the poster if this were a film?
   Listen for: A way to find the scene that mattered most to each reader.
3. Is there a line or a moment you will remember? Why that one?
   Listen for: Let readers find it in the book and read it aloud.
4. Who would you give this story to, and why them?
   Listen for: A reader who can name the right person has understood what the story is like.
5. If you could ask the person who first told this story one question, what would it be?
   Listen for: Collect the questions; some have answers on the story's page in the library.