David Copperfield
David Copperfield How does Charles Dickens create a sense of tension in this extract? We have a read a short abridged extract from 'David Copperfield' where he returns home after a holiday to find he's got a stepfather. In this extract, Dickens uses a variety of techniques to build tension. The extract starts with a very positive atmosphere. David is having a holiday in a quiet seaside Yarmouth town with his maid's family, whom he likes. Everything is so peaceful and calm and David is happy. Then the third paragraph starts with a very short sentence. 'At last the day came for going home.' The short sentence suggests his return might not be a very happy one. The day he went home was a 'cold grey afternoon, with a dull sky, threatening rain.' This technique is called pathetic fallacy, where the weather reflects the mood. When David reaches home (expecting a huge welcome from his mother), he is received by a 'strange servant'. This has a hint of shock in it because the reader wonders why Copperfield's mother hadn't given him the welcome he expected. Was something wrong? When David asks Pegotty (the maid) whether his mother was home she replies, ' ''Yes, yes Master Davy...I'll - I'll tell you something.'' ' The hesitation shows something's not right. Later David asks, ' ''Where's mama?' ''Where's mama Master Davy?'' ' repeated Pegotty. Here Dickens uses repetition which
The Way Education is presented in the Novel David Copperfield
Using the first seven chapters of 'David Copperfield' look at the way education is presented in the novel. Going through such terrible conditions himself as a child, Dickens grew up to be a man who was very with his times and someone who knew what was going on in the world. During his life he visited a lot of schools around England as he was concerned for the welfare of children. Along his travels he found that most schools were fee-paying establishments for boys that catered for children unwanted by their parents. The schools had cheap rates meaning poor food and shabby conditions to live and "learn" in. In fact, most of the schools were run by failed business men who had no interest in the wellbeing of the children, they would employ unqualified teachers so that they only had to pay out a low wage. Dickens worried about the "monstrous neglect" he witnessed and seeing this, he wanted change. He wanted to alter society so that every child had a chance for a good education. His method was by writing novels based around such establishments. These included Dotheboys Hall in his famous novel 'Nicholas Nickelby'. His aim was to convey his feelings and he did so, through his writing, and the stories of the poor children. He raised the public's consciousness about what was going on around them, behind the closed doors of schools. Before the arrival of the Murdstones into the
David Copperfield
David Copperfield 'David Copperfield' is a heart warming, Victorian novel that is partly based on the life of Charles Dickens. David's naïve mother, a dear surrogate parent called Peggotty and no Father unfortunately, let David experience the wonders of early childhood until the Mr Murdstone and his sister came along to wreck any known happiness. The time in London was cruelly spent with the help of a private school but all worked out in the end thanks to Mr Micawber and David's feminist Aunt, Betsey Trotwood. The dirty, filthy life that the young lad followed was washed away and never returned again. Charles Dickens chose to write about children as it created pathos and drama for his readers. Also, I think the other reason that children are used as a focus is because it reflects on Dickens' life as a child. It is all very similar to his life and the way that he grew up. The lives of children were extremely hard back in Victorian times and the fact that Dickens was a journalist made him realise the hardship that children went through day by day, hour by hour. All of this, I imagine, he wanted to bring to the attention of his readers. Poor young David Copperfield grew up with no shadow figure to give him guidance into life. All this young boy had was a, "white gravestone in the churchyard" which is the remains of his kind-hearted father who sadly left before David
Compare the two short stories, 'The Signal Man' by Dickens and 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by Roald Dahl.
Wider Reading Unit by Alison Rothwell Compare the two short stories, 'The Signal Man' by Dickens and 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by Roald Dahl. We are going to write a paragraph about each of the following elements of the stories. Begin by making notes. It does not matter which final order you choose. You must, however, check that you have; * Compared the characters. * Described the setting of each story. * Refered to the openings and endings. * Made some observation about language and style. * Offered some of your own opinions. * Used some quotations from the stories. * Explained how each author creates suspense. Use the following questions and suggestions to help you compose each of your paragraphs: Opening What is the mood at the start of each story? Is it the same or different. Think of two words to describe the mood. Choose some words or phrases which help to create the mood at the start, quote them and explain what effect they have. What is the effect of the opening upon the reader? Setting Where is each story set? Historically Physically (indoors, on a moor, in another country) Are there any similarities or contrasts Theme What is the theme of each story? What point do you think the author wanted to make? Are the two stories similar? Characters Describe the main characters in each story. Find one or two quotations which show what they
Compare and Contrast Dickens' treatment of two schoolmasters in David Copperfield and Hard Times.
Compare and Contrast Dickens' treatment of two schoolmasters in David Copperfield and Hard Times Both Hard Times and David Copperfield show to us the harsh severity of the Victorian school system and the teachers that were around at the time. The two teachers I will be looking at are Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Creakle. The first thing we notice about both of them is their distinctly gruesome, unattractive surnames. When you think of the name Creakle, you come up with the word creak. The word creak is a noise that you would associate with a haunted house or ghost stories; this may be a premonition of what is to come of Mr. Creakle's character. From the name Gradgrind you can find the word grind. Grind is another word that describes a noise, you often talk of people grinding their teeth together and this could also be seen as him grinding the facts into his student's heads. Mr Creakle is a horrifying teacher. He loves to inflict pain on unsuspecting children, especially the vulnerable, for example the fat children. However, Mr Creakle shows himself to be a bully as he only picks only the weak and refuses to pick on the most powerful and popular boy in the school, Steerforth. "But the greatest wonder that I heard of Mr Creakle was, there being one boy in the school on whom he never ventured to lay a hand, and that boy being J. Steerforth." This shows us that Mr. Creakle is not
Examine how Dickens uses his works to make a comment on the society in which he lived in.
Literary Tradition Examine how Dickens uses his works to make a comment on the society in which he lived in. In this essay I will be examining how and why Dickens chose to comment on the society in which he lived through his novels. I will be examining 'Hard Times', 'Oliver Twist', 'Nicholas Nickelby' and 'David Copperfield'. Charles Dickens was considered to be one of the greatest English novelists during the Victorian period, and during this period, novelists had a tradition of commenting on issues affecting society through their work. They chose to express their views like this so people would realise exactly what is taking place in the town or village they are living in. Charles Dickens had a very disturbing childhood, members of his family were sent to prison and he was sent to work at the age of twelve in a Blacking Factory; he became miserable. He escaped from this by writing fictional texts in school; he then developed his existing skills and made rapid progress. From the entire trauma he went through, he decided to express his pain through his words. The education system was extremely poor. Only children with working parents would be educated, whereas poorer children would have to work. In the novel 'Hard Times', the education system was firm, harsh and stern; 'Quadruped. Graminivorous...Age known by marks in mouth.' This straight-to-the-point definition of a
Comparing the writings of Trevor and Dickens.
Dickens used language as a technique to present his characters. Firstly Miss Havisham's clothes had lost its colour, 'once white now yellow'. For so long she had not taken of her wedding dress, and it had aged with her. Miss Havisham had suffered so much pain mentally, that it had begun to show through her face, 'sunken eyes', it is though all the bad memories were still in her eyes. The character had worn the bridal dress for so long that it had started to look like 'grave clothes', this illustrates that miss Havisham lost touch with the world and felt neglected. Miss Havisham was in a dull atmosphere, 'no brightness left' this also suggests the surroundings showed her inner somber feelings. Through narrative structure Trevor was able to create and describe his characters. Trevor used a certain type of format when describing. Firstly he begun with the characters name and a short description, 'Teresa Atty and was now Teresa Cornish, had a round pretty face and black, pretty hair'. He then followed on with their personal details, 'and was a month and a half pregnant'. Trevor finally ended with the relationship between characters, 'she stood in the corner of the lounge with her friends, Philomena Morrissey and Kitty Roche'. In my view Trevor had used this format, because he wanted the reader to be familiar with his characters, whilst reading. In comparing the writings of
David Copperfield - Mr. Murdstone plays an important role as David's step-father
DAVID COPPERFIELD Mr. Murdstone plays an important role as David's step-father as David's father died before he was born David has never encountered the company of another man in the house and soon finds out that he hates these arrangements. This is a important because in a Victorian household once a man had married a woman all of her possessions would become his by law and he would also have total control over David and Miss Murdstone. We first meet Mr. Murdstone when David's mother returns home with him and David seems very reluctant in meeting him and buries his head into his mother's chest, once again Mr. Murdstone tries to approach David and once he buries his head into his mother's chest. The book quotes "I didn't like him or his deep voice, and I was jealous that his hand should touch my mother's in touching me - which it did" at this point David shows a child's intuition that Mr. Murdstone is not to be trusted. At the same point the book again quotes "ill omen, black eyes" David glances quickly at Mr. Murdstone and immediately is attracted to his large, dull, lifeless black eyes, which have negative implications because the eyes are said to be the windows to the soul. However, only David can see this and Clara doesn't she thinks Mr. Murdstone is a kind and caring man. At first Mr. Murdstone is a kind person but he is pretending, somehow only David can see
'In "David Copperfield" Dickens introduces us to a rich array of characters whose adventures enhance our understanding of Victorian life', discuss.
"David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens is a tale of a boy on his eventful road to manhood. Set in the late 1800's of the Victorian period, the novel portrays many Victorian issues. Themes such as love and marriage, family life and relationships, wealth and poverty, work and education, and law, are illustrated by the individuality of the characters, which are influenced by their surroundings in the Victorian period, and therefore they give an insight into the many varied aspects of Victorian life. Dickens uses the novel to express his feelings about Victorian life, and either present or contradict issues arisen in the novel, that are believed to be unfair, in order to criticise them. The Victorian era was simple when it came to family life. As the man of the house you were expected to go to work, and come home to a peaceful environment where the wife was cooking the dinner or cleaning the floors and serving her husband in an obedient and loving way. As a child you were expected to be "seen and not heard", and as a consequence of this, the children were rarely acquainted with their fathers. Women were an auxiliary to men and therefore were responsible for house keeping and the up bringing of the children. At the start of the novel we see an exception to this - the relationship between Clara Copperfield and her son David. They are portrayed as
Comparison of the Novels Angelas Ashes With David Copperfield.
COMPARISON OF THE NOVELS ANGELAS ASHES WITH DAVID COPPERFIELD David Copperfield tells us of his birth: He is born on a Friday night and begins to cry the moment the clock strikes midnight--an unlucky omen. But he is born with a caul (a sort of membrane covering a new-born's head), which is thought to be a good omen. He then tells his story of how his mother tried to sell the caul but with no joy. Then ten years later they raffled it off. Frank McCourt tells the story of how he was born in New York and then brought up in Limerick in Ireland. Then the story continues of how they tried to cope with poverty and a lot of illness due to the damp. Both stories are biographies, except McCourt's story is about his own experiences in life (which would be an autobiography) and Dickinson's story is of a character he has made up but they both tell the reader of their experiences through life. The happy times and the struggles in life it's self. They are very similar in many ways and both stories start at the beginning of their lives. In the beginning of both chapters it is obvious that both of them are looking back on their lives because at the beginning of Angela's Ashes McCourt writes, "when I was four" so the reader knows that this is McCourt looking back to when he was four. Also McCourt is looking back on his life because he wrote. "When I look back on my childhood I wonder