How successful are the opening chapters of

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How successful are the opening chapters of “Great Expectation”?

“Great Expectation” is a book by Charles Dickens written in weekly instalments between December 1860 and August 1861. Charles Dickens has also written many other famous books such as “Oliver Twist”, “The christmas carols”, and “David Copperfield”.

When I read the opening chapters to a book, I like to read one with a bit of mystery in it, keeping it realistic but still having a strange and odd feel about it too. It must be able to give a mental image of the characters. A bit of dialogue should also be used as a lot of description can be very boring. To create a bit of action it should end with a cliff hanger.

In “Great Expectations”, Charles Dickens began by introducing the main character Pip. Pip’s family is described and then another character is introduced. He is described with a lot of descriptive language which helps to create a mental image of the person. His name is not mentioned which creates a bit of mystery. The dialogue also tells us a lot about the character. The end of the chapter leaves us wanting to continue the story.

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The main character Pip was introduced first. We find a bit about his family. Pip’s full name is Philip Pirrip, but he was called Pip. We find out he was a orphan when he was young as he said, “I never saw my mother or father.” He had also lost five brothers but has one sister who is married to a blacksmith.

Next, after Pip, a mystery man is introduced. We find out nothing of the character except how he looked when Pip first saw him. He was dressed in grey clothes and had an iron on his leg, ...

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