Chapter One
Origins of Bronte Sisters’ Female Consciousness
Every writer belongs to a specific period of history though his/her compositions may have a much longer standing, and hence the social conditions of his/her living time have an inevitable influence on him or her. The Bronte sisters are no exceptional, they were born in an age of reforms and the tremendous changes in Victorian time rooted in these reforms.
1.1 Victorian Background
The Victorian Age in which they lived was featured with the cleavage between the wealthy and the poor. With the accomplishment of the industrialization and the development of capitalism in this era, the class antagonism between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie became acute and prominent. Even since the thirties of the 19th century, the struggle between the workers and capitalists became the contradiction in English social life. ……
It is impossible to say when women begin to write fiction. Obviously, however, women are not supposed to pursue writing as the professional activity, as reviewed in Robert Southey’s letter to Charlotte Bronte “literature can not be the business of a women life, and it ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure will she have for it, even as an accomplishment and recreation” (Beer, 1980: 330) . The Bronte sisters are insisting on their dream and career, paving a way for awakening of women.
Among the major social development of the Victorian Age, the
change of the women’s status should not be overlooked especially
when considering those women writers’ works. However, the majority of women in the Victorian Age is oppressed and discriminated against because of their sex, not because of their class. Since the Victorian women were a little educated, but not well-educated, without any property, they are much less competitive in the marriage market. The middle-class women must make a living by themselves, working as nurses, governesses, and novelists, whose activities were either based in the home or were extensions of the famine roles as teachers, helpers, and mothers of mankind.
The women of upper classes either got marriage or chose to accompany their old parents during their lifetime. With regard to the women living in the lower society, married or unmarried, they have no other choice but go out to work as servants. Victorian women are discriminated against not only in domestic life but also in the career of writing.
Mrs. Bronte died soon after the birth of their sixth child in 1820.
A year later, one of her sisters came to live at the parsonage to look
after the children. The young Bronte had their lessons to learn, under
the guidance of their father, and their household duties to perform, but
for the rest, they were thrown back upon themselves for
companionship and upon their vivid imaginations for pleasure and
excitement (xx, xx: xx).
(ibid: 页码)
2.4 Methods of Cooperative Learning
Research on specific methods of cooperative learning began in the early 1970s (Slavin, 1995). There are many methods of cooperative learning in classroom. The most commonly used methods include jigsaw activity, role-play, topic discussion, debates and group investigation.
对于引用是汉语人名的，只用作家的姓的拼音即可。

如，(Wang, 2003:31）.参考书目中，还是用汉语给出即可。

2.4.1 Jigsaw Activity
正文中引用的格式如出现：
Slavin (1995) suggests the following definition: students work together to learn and are responsi ble for their teammates’ learning as well as their own.
Liu Runqing (1999:25) said, “……………..”.
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Lv once said that, “”1
1吕佩臣.Grammar Learning Strategies Applied by Students of Senior Middle Schools in China. http://202.202.215.131:90/. 2003.。