TECHNIQUES AND LANGUAGE

Charles Dickens

?Great Expectations?

REPORTS:

1. Charles Dickens. Life and creative work.
2. London in the 1800s. (business and industry, living conditions, daily activities)

SUMMARY QUESTIONS

1. Evaluate Dickens?s portrayal of Pip. In your opinion, is Pip a believable character? Does he behave in ways that a real child in similar circumstances might behave? Support your opinion with evidence from the novel.
2. What is Joe Gargery like? Review the first ten chapters of the novel, taking notes on Pip?s descriptions of Joe; on Joe?s treatment of Mrs. Joe, Pip, and other people he encounters; and on the moral lessons Joe tries to teach Pip.
3. Dickens understood one of the basic principlesof ethical human behaviour, that a human being must be valued for himself and not only for what he was or for how useful he may be. The violation of this universal law of morality may be one key to the interpretation of "GREAT EXPECTATIONS ". Explain this violation on the relationship between Miss Havisham and Estella, between Pip and Joe, between Pip and Magwitch, between Wemmick and Mrs. Jaggers, between Pip and Herbert Pocket, between Pip and Estella.
4. Dickens' writing was greatly influenced by public demand. The Victorian public for which he wrote believed that goodness was desirable and should he rewarded and that evil would ultimately lead to punishment. Show how this attitude is reflected in "GREAT EXPECTATIONS "
5. . What does the change in Pip as he becomes a fashionable gentleman tell the reader about the social structure of 19th century Engand? What was the idea of a "gentleman"?
6. How does Dickens explore ideas of guilt and shame?
7. How does this novel explore themes of justice, crime and punishment?
8. Dickens has been called the ?novelist of childhood?. How well does he describe a child?s mind and imagination in the figure of Pip?
9. What is the value of education? Does it improve people or corrupt them?
10. One of the oldest thematic traditions in literature is the conflict between city and country. Usually, the city is the scene of corruption, confusion, and problems, while the country hosts innocence and resolution. What about the city and country in ?Great Expectations?? How do they function? (Cite the examples).
11. Analyze Pip?s reaction to the criminal in the cemetery. Discuss what you would do if you were in Pip?s situation. Would you report the criminal to the proper authorities or would you do the same thing Pip did? Why?
12. Discuss the role Miss Havisham plays in the novel. Some have said she represents an imprisoned state of mind. What does this mean, and do you agree that this is an apt description of Miss Havisham?
13. In Great Expectations, Pip?s foster father, Joe, comes to visit Pip in the city. They are distant and Pip is embarrassed by Joe even though he realizes all that he has done for him. Analyze a time in your own life when you were embarrassed by a family member. How did it make you feel before, during, and after the incident? Do you think Pip was justified in feeling this way?
14. The last chapters of the novel solve many of the novel?s mysteries. Give examples.

(Chapters 20-31)

15. In Chapter 20 through 31, Pip finds himself with new people in a variety of new settings. Dickens uses carefully chosen details to characterize Pip?s new surroundings. In the chart below, describe each setting. Then explain the atmosphere, or mood, that the details create.

16. How does the novel create a picture of the social structure and what are the problems that an individual faces in a stratified society built upon rather strict class distinctions?

17. What are the differences among the attitudes that various characters have toward the moral values of the society and its institutions?

ELEMENTS OF FICTION:

1. Analyze the four levels of the plot (exposition, complication, turning point, resolution)
2. Analyze the setting in the novel.
3. What are the major themes of the novel?
4. Analyze the author?s use of language. (simple, complex, straightforward, logical, stream of consciousness)
5. How is the story told? (point of view)
6. Analyze the examples of imagery in the novel.
7. Analyze the characters. (kinds of characters, modes of presentation)

TECHNIQUES AND LANGUAGE

Dickens uses many techniques to create additional interest in the story and its characters.

1. Ceremonial distancing.Which of thecharacters distance themselves from reality?

2.Find examples of Dramatic Symmetry.(The motif of doubles runs throught the book)

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 529