Teacher’s notes
LEVEL 3
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
Becoming Jane
Sarah Williams and Kevin Wood
also there, but Tom arrives late. Mr Austen makes a speech
about Henry’s return and Cassandra’s future visit to her
brother Edward and his wife to help them when their
child is born. Jane reads one of her stories of two young
people who had to wait for their marriage. Obviously
it’s about Cassandra and Robert. Tom thinks the story is
childish, and this upsets Jane.
Chapter 5: Tom sees Jane in the forest. Jane is still
offended about Tom’s comment on her writing. Tom
suggests she read his favourite book, The History of Tom
Jones. Tom thinks Jane is an interesting young woman.
Summary
The story, set in 1795, is about young Jane Austen, the
world-renowned English novelist, before she became
well-known. It is loosely based on the few known facts
about her life. She wishes to become a writer and dreams
of marrying for love.
Chapter 1: Jane Austen is twenty years old. She is living
with her family at a rectory in a small country village
in Hampshire. Mr Austen is a rector. Jane’s older sister
Cassandra’s future husband Robert Fowle and Jane’s
aristocratic widowed cousin Eliza de Feuillide are there
as well. One Sunday, they visit their rich aristocratic
neighbour Lady Gresham after church. Mrs Austen
thinks Mr Wisley, Lady Gresham’s favourite nephew,
is a prospective match for Jane.
Chapter 2: Tom Lefroy is boxing at a men’s club in
London. He meets up with Jane’s brother Henry Austen
and his friend John Warren there. Both Henry and John
are heading to Hampshire as Mr Austen is preparing
positions in the Church for them. Tom is a law student
in London and he depends financially on his uncle Judge
Langlois. Tom has a bad reputation, so Judge Langlois is
sending him to his other relatives in Hampshire for the
summer.
Chapter 3: At the rectory, the girls are getting ready for
the evening. Guests are invited as Henry is coming home.
Cassandra is worried that Robert may forget about her
because soon he will be going to West Indies. Mr Wisley
pays a visit, and attempts to propose marriage to Jane. Jane
avoids the topic by running to meet Henry as his coach
arrives.
Chapter 4: In the evening, family, friends and neighbours
get together. The Lefroys, the Austens’ neighbours, are
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Chapter 6: At Basingstoke Dance, Mr Wisley steps on
Jane’s foot. Jane dances with Tom three times rather than
only twice. Henry warns Jane about Tom’s reputation.
Chapter 7: Jane meets up with Tom at a country fair.
Mrs Austen doesn’t think Tom is a suitable husband for
he will not be able to provide well for the family.
Chapter 8: Mr Wisley finally has a chance to propose to
Jane, but she tells him she can’t marry without love. Jane’s
parents think love is desirable but money is indispensable.
Lady Gresham also insists that Jane should accept the
proposal at once. Jane learns that Tom’s feelings for her are
also very strong.
Chapter 9: Eliza conspires to visit Tom’s uncle in London:
The Comtesse de Feuillide and ‘her cousins’ are visiting
Jane’s brother, Edward, and planning to stop in London
on the way there. In this way, Tom can introduce Jane
to Judge Langlois in order to get his blessing for their
marriage. In London Jane starts to write a story, which
later becomes Pride and Prejudice.
Chapter 10: The Judge receives a letter saying that Jane
is from a poor family. He doesn’t want them to marry.
Jane insists that they can still marry, but Tom says he has a
family to think about. Heartbroken, Jane leaves London.
Chapter 11: Jane comes back home with her sister
Cassandra. During the dinner at Lady Gresham’s, a
messenger arrives with the news of Robert’s death. Jane
learns that Tom is now engaged to a rich young lady from
Ireland. Both girls are devastated. Jane accepts Mr Wisley’s
proposal.
Chapter 12: Tom comes to offer Jane an explanation.
He asks her to elope with him, and she agrees.
Chapter 13: After leaving Hampshire with Tom, Jane
happens to learn that Tom’s parents, brothers and sisters
depend on Tom’s allowance to survive. Jane ends her affair
with him and comes back home.
Becoming Jane - Teacher’s notes
of 3
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 3
Becoming Jane
Chapter 14: Jane finds out that John Warren is the one
who wrote a letter to the Judge. Mr Wisley withdraws
his marriage proposal amicably. Jane’s family is very
supportive. She continues writing Pride and Prejudice.
Chapter 15: Twenty years later, Jane encounters Tom at
a social function. Henry invites him to a dinner party at
Henry and Eliza’s house (they are married). Tom is late as
ever. Tom introduces his oldest daughter, whose name is
Jane. She asks Jane to read at the party, and Jane reads the
story of Pride and Prejudice.
Background and themes
Becoming Jane is a story from a film of the same name.
The film was directed by Julian Jarrold and starred Anne
Hathaway as Jane Austen and James McAvoy as Tom
Lefroy. Although some of the things aren’t historically
correct, each character is a person who actually existed.
Jane Austen: She is a much-loved English novelist.
Born in 1775 in the Hampshire countryside, she was
the seventh child in a family of eight. Her father was a
rector. Austen started writing as a young teenager. She fell
in love with a young man (it is believed that this man is
Tom Lefroy), but as both of them were penniless, they
weren’t allowed to marry. There is, however, no evidence
that they attempted to elope or that they encountered
each other years later. At the end of this story Jane gives
a public reading, but this must have been very rare as she
was published anonymously until her death. Austen wrote
six major novels. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and
Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816)
were published during her lifetime, and Northanger Abbey
and Persuasion were published in 1818 after her death.
Tom Lefroy: Thomas Langlois Lefroy was an Irish
politician and judge. He was the eldest son of the Lefroy
family. His great uncle Benjamin Langlois was his family’s
benefactor. He became the Chief Justice of Ireland in
1852. Scholars believe that he was the one Jane Austen
fell in love with when she was young.
Pride and Prejudice: It is said that Tom Lefroy is the
inspiration for Mr Darcy in one of Austen’s most beloved
novels Pride and Prejudice. It’s a story about a young
woman called Elizabeth Bennet, who learns to love Mr
Darcy although her first impressions of Mr Darcy were
false. Pride and Prejudice is available in Penguin Readers.
Marriage with or without love: Young women in Jane
Austen’s era were searching for a wealthy husband of good
birth to secure their future social standing. Marrying a
poor man for love was unthinkable then. In this story
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
young Jane Austen pursues the idea of marriage for love,
but in the end she was never married.
Lifestyle of middle and upper-middle classes: From this
story you can get a glimpse of social life for middle and
upper-middle classes in England in the early nineteenth
century, such as formal visiting and dance parties. Women
were not supposed to talk with men if they hadn’t been
introduced. In addition, an unmarried woman couldn’t
travel alone.
Discussion activities
Chapters 1–3
Before reading
1 Discuss: Talk about the book cover. Ask students to
look at the picture on the front cover. Have students
work in pairs to ask and answer the following
questions: What can you see? Where do you think the
story takes place? Do you think the story is about the past
or present time? What do you think the story is about?
Why do you think so?
2 Research: Have students collect information on Jane
Austen and one of her novels, Pride and Prejudice.
Put students into small groups. Students can use the
Internet and library. Later in class, ask each group to
share their findings with the rest of the class.
After reading
3 Write and retell: Put students into pairs or small
groups. Assign a different chapter to each group, and
have them write a short paragraph to explain what is
happening in the chapter. When they are ready, ask
them to read out their paragraphs to recount the
story.
4 Discuss: Talk about marriage. Have students work in
small groups to discuss the followings: In Chapter 3 it
says ‘She knew she had to get married. It was her duty to
her family’. Do you think it is a duty to get married these
days? What do you think if you have to get married for
your family?
5 Role play: Put students into pairs. Have them role
play the following situation:
Student A: You are Eliza de Feuillide. You became a
rich aristocrat by marriage, but you really wanted a
marriage with love. Give Jane Austen some advice.
Student B: You are Jane Austen. Tell Eliza what Mrs
Austen says about marriage and Mr Wisley. Tell her
your true feelings on marriage. Ask her for advice.
Chapters 4–6
Before reading
6 Write: Have students work in pairs. Ask them to
think of the words for Mr Wisley’s marriage proposal.
Mr Wisley couldn’t finish his important talk with Jane
because Henry’s coach arrived. What if Henry didn’t
arrive then and he had time to finish? He started off by
Becoming Jane - Teacher’s notes of 3
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 3
Becoming Jane
saying, ‘Miss Austen, you are an interesting young
lady; you are exciting and so full of life.’ Work with
your partner and finish his talk. They can share their
answers with the rest of the students later in class.
After reading
7 Discuss: Have a whole-class discussion by saying,
Just imagine yourself in Cassandra’s situation and that
your boyfriend or girlfriend has to go away for a time.
What do you think you will do while you are far apart?
Think of the situations at the present time and in the
late 1700s and early 1800s.
8 Read carefully: Remind students that Jane says
dances are very important to life in the country. Put
students into small groups, and have them read the
Basingstoke Dance part of the story again. What do
people do at the dance? Why do you think dances are
very important to life in the country? Later ask groups
to share their opinions with the rest of the class.
9 Discuss: Put students into pairs. Have them discuss
the following questions:
a How does Jane feel about Tom during the special
evening?
b Why does Jane act like she does in the forest when
she sees Tom?
c What does Jane think of Tom at the beginning of
the night of the Basingstoke Dance?
d Why do you think Jane danced with Tom three
times?
e Why do you think she reads Tom’s favourite book
The History of Tom Jones?
Chapters 7–9
Before reading
10 Discuss: Write the names of the following characters
on the board: Jane Austen, Mr Austen, Mrs Austen,
Cassandra, Robert Fowle, Eliza de Feuillide, Lady
Gresham, Mr Wisley, Tom Lefroy, Henry Austen,
John Warren, Judge Langlois, Mr Lefroy, Mrs Lefroy
and Lucy Lefroy. Put students into small groups, and
have them discuss the following questions: Who are
these people? What is their relationship to each other?
Ask them to write notes, and they can compare their
answers later in class.
After reading
11 Discuss: Remind students that dances are very
important to life in the country because young people
can be close to each other and have a conversation
without being heard (activity 8). Have students think
what is equivalent for young people today. Have a
whole-class discussion.
12 Role play: Have students work in small groups in
order to act out the scene of Mr Wisley’s marriage
proposal to Jane. Give students sufficient time to
practise acting out. The remaining group members
can direct their friends’ acting. Later ask students to
act out the scene in front of the class.
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Chapters 10–12
Before reading
13 Understand and predict: Have a whole-class
discussion by asking the following questions:
a What happened between Mr Wisley and Jane?
b How does Jane feel about Tom?
c How does Tom feel about Jane?
Then ask students to guess which of the following
will happen later in the story:
d Jane will refuse Mr Wisley’s offer.
e Jane will marry Tom.
f Jane will marry Mr Wisley.
g Jane will never marry.
h Lucy will marry Tom.
i Cassandra will marry Robert.
j Eliza will marry Henry.
After reading
14 Research: Bring in a map of England and have
students find where Hampshire, London and
Scotland are. Put students into small groups.
Considering that there were no cars, trains or
aeroplanes then, have students discuss how hard the
journey could be. How do they travel? How long do you
think it takes to go to London from Hampshire? What
about from London to Scotland?
15 Retell: Have students look at the pictures on pages vi,
3, 7, 19, 29 and 36. Divide the class into five groups
or put students into small groups, and assign one
picture to each group. Have groups describe the
picture and explain what happened beforehand and
afterwards in the story.
Chapters 13–15
Before reading
16 Guess: Get students to predict what will happen at
the end of the story. Have students work in pairs to
discuss the following questions: Do you think Jane will
run away with Tom successfully? Will her family ever
find her again? Will Jane be happy? What do you think?
Ask them to write notes on what they think will
happen, and have them keep their notes for later.
After reading
17 Check: Have students go back to their notes from
Activity 16 and check if they were right or not. If not,
ask them to report how differently the story ends.
18 Discuss: Have a whole class discussion by asking the
following questions: Do you think the last chapter is
important? Do you think the story can end without the
last chapter? In history, there is no clear evidence that
Jane and Tom met twenty years later. Does that matter
to you?
Vocabulary activities
For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to
www.penguinreaders.com.
Becoming Jane - Teacher’s notes of 3