Waller High School
AP Literature and Composition Summer Reading Assignment
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Refer to the annotation resources listed on The Poisonwood Bible assignment. While it will not be graded directly,
annotating Wuthering Heights will be essential to your success with the first assignments of the year and our class
discussion.
As you read and annotate the novel, be mindful of the following:
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Context
o As you read and study this Victorian novel, it is important for you to consider the context in which it was
written. Visit the following websites for a brief overview of the Victorian Age. While reading, take note
of social, political, and cultural issues explored in the text.
 https://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/victorian/welcom.htm
 https://faculty.unlv.edu/kirschen/handouts/victorian.html
Characterization
o Heathcliff
 How does Heathcliff develop over the course of his life?
 Does he remind you of any other character you have known in literature, film, or television?
o Catherine Earnshaw
 Consider how we come to know Catherine and to what extent we should trust that point of
view.
 What influence does Catherine Earnshaw have on the characters in the story? What role does
she play even though we never meet her?
o Take noteof the other characters in the story, paying particular attention to how they represent cycles
or patterns of behavior within the families. Do not forget about the minor characters who are not
family members. What important roles do they play in the story.
Symbolism
o Nature, Weather, and the Moors (see Setting)
o Houses
o Ghosts
o Windows, Doors, and Thresholds
Genre: Gothic Fiction
o Wuthering Heights is gothic fiction, a genre characterized by castle settings; overwrought emotion;
women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, and tyrannical man; omens, portents, and visions; women
in distress. How does Wuthering Heights reflect these characteristics?
o What roles does the “supernatural” play in the story? Consider how Heathcliff is compared to a vampire
at various points in the story. How is Heathcliff and Catherine’s romance similar to those popularized in
other supernatural fiction?
Setting
o Take note of the specific names of buildings and places. Are the names appropriate?
o How do the houses contribute to other elements of the novel, such as theme and characterization?
What do they represent to Heathcliff?
o How does the physical, natural landscape mirror the drama taking place within the houses and families?
Themes
o Nature of Love
o Issues of class and society; Heathcliff as “foreign” or “the other”
o Revenge as a driving and destructive force
o The power and influence of home and family
o The Past being Present
 Pay particular attention to how past events affect, positively or negatively, the actions,
attitudes, or values of characters in the story.
Adapted from Little Rock Christian High School