An exploration of the ways in which issues of class and status are presented in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" and L.P. Hartley's "The Go-Between".

John Nickell A-Level English Coursework An exploration of the ways in which issues of class and status are presented in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" and L.P. Hartley's "The Go-Between". Both Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" and L.P. Hartley's "The Go-Between" discuss the class assumptions of early Victorian England; around 1807-1823 is when most of the action can be dated too in "Great Expectations" and at the start of the 20th century, the year 1900 in "The Go-Between". Both novels portray a class structure in decline or under threat, as the rise of trade unions and rights for women were to transform the quiet hierarchy that had existed for countless generations. In this essay I will draw out the similarities and differences in how the two authors present the issues of class and status to the reader. Hartley often seems to place great value in the tradition and history of an ancient, aristocratic, ruling class; Dickens regards beyond all else the value of hard work. Dickens argues that social status denotes nothing but money, whereas Hartley seems to glory in the upper-classes natural superiority, such as at sport and at music: none can match Marion in skill. Hartley warns against the social mobility that makes Marion too good for Ted despite their love for each other and subverts the natural hierarchical order and security that has existed for centuries,

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Analysing and explaining Charles Dickens' Great Expectations; Chapter 1.

THIS WAS ALL WRITTEN BY CHARLIE MACGILCHRIST OF ST. BENEDICTS RC SCHOOL AND PERFORMING ARTS COLLAGE, DIFFIELD ROAD DERBY Media Coursework- Analysing and explaining Charles Dickens' Great Expectations; Chapter 1 In this essay I am going to "Compare the opening scenes of the two film versions of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations,(BBC's 1999 and David Lean's 1945,) and review how effective they are in creating an atmosphere of tension." The analysis of the films corresponds to Chapter 1 of Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations' and I shall first of all inform you using a brief summary, of what happens in chapter 1 of Great Expectations: The story begins with pip, who introduces himself and describes an image of himself as a young boy; standing alone, mourning and crying in a church-yard near some open marshes. Young Pip is staring at the gravestones of both his parents who died soon after his birth. This tiny, shivering bundle of a boy is suddenly terrified by the voice of a large, bed ragged man, who threatens to cut Pip's throat if he doesn't stop crying. The man dressed in a prison uniform with a shaven head and a great iron shackle chained around his legs, grabs Pip and shakes him upside down emptying his pockets. The man devours a piece of bread, which falls from one of Pip's pockets, then barks questions at him. Pip tells him that yes, he is an orphan and that yes he

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How do circumstances cause characters to change?

How do circumstances cause characters to change? The first time we are introduced to Pip in Great Expectations was when he was visiting his parent's grave. The graveyard was cold and misty. Dickens was trying to create a feeling of sadness and sympathy for Pip. He met a convict who had escaped from prison and wanted "wittles". He demanded Pip brought him some "wittles" and a file. Otherwise "a young man" would come after him and rip his "heart and liver out". Pip's innocence and naivety meant he believed every word of the convict and was scared not to obey him. This was despite the bad temper of Mrs Joe, his sister who brought him up "by hand" and threatened to use "tickler" (a stick she used to hit Pip with). He stole the "wittles" and went to sleep. When Pip left early the next morning, which was in fact Christmas morning, his guilty conscience was noticeable. His conscience was so bad in fact, that when Pip slowly walked down the stairs, every creak in the stairs sounded as if they were shouting "Get up Mrs Joe" and "Stop thief". Also, when he went to meet the convict on the marshes, he imagined the cattle calling after him saying " A boy with Somebody - else's pork pie! Stop him" and "Holloa, young thief!" This proves that despite what he is doing, he knows what he is doing is wrong, hence the guilty conscience. After he met the convict and gave him his "wittles" and

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Great Expectations

Great Expectations There are many common, familiar cliches about illusion versus truth. "All that glitters is not gold" and "Things are seldom what they seem" are the most universal hackneyed phrases, but they do not cover entirely every aspect of appearance versus reality. In Charles Dickens' novel, Great Expectations, there are several differences between the illusion and the truth. The appearance of certain things is often detrimental to the outcomes of characters when the reality of a situation is revealed. These illusions are revealed through Pip, a lower class boy caught in the struggle of the social classes of 19th century England. Throughout the book, Charles Dickens emphasizes the difference between appearance and reality through Pip's expectations of something better, social status, and settings in the book. The most important illusion Great Expectations is Pip's confident expectations of a better life. Pip began the book out poor, and was sent for to spend time every week with an upper-middle-class crazy woman and her heartless adopted daughter, Estella. From the moment he met Estella, he was in love with her. Later on in the book, he was provided with financial support from an un-named benefactor that should be used to go to London and become a gentleman. Pip assumed that Ms. Havisham, Estella's adoptive mother, was the benefactress. "My dream was out; my wild

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Charles Dickens's writing techniques in Great Expectations.

Charles Dickens's writing techniques in Great Expectations There are several techniques of writing that Charles Dickens constantly demonstrates in his novel Great Expectations. These techniques include his theme of money and social power, his eccentric characters, and his use of repetition. With out these qualities Charles Dickens's novel Great Expectations would not be nearly as enjoyable. No other author in history quite compares to Dickens when it comes to his eccentric characters. Most, if not all, of Dickens characters in this novel have such peculiar way about them. The most eccentric of all the characters in this novel would undoubtedly be Miss Havisham. She is dressed in a tattered wedding dress, even though she has enough money to acquire more cloths than anyone else in that area. She refuses to keep her house up to date, and has the most bizarre ways about her. She is just one of many of Dickens uncanny characters. One of the last qualities that Dickens presents in this novel is his use of repetition. He constantly repeats words and phrases to try to get his point across. One of these phrases is used by Pip's relatives. The phrase is "brought you up by hand", which is referring to how Mrs. Joe raised Pip. The point that Dickens is trying to make is that she raised him all by her self. However, there is a little bit of humor behind this matter in the way

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Great Expectations Role of Magwitch

Magwitch Appears Twice Unexpectedly in Pip's Life, With Traumatic Effect and Dramatic Consequences. Show how Dickens Brings These Episodes to Life, Commenting on his Style and how the Character is Portrayed. In Your Answer, you Should Concentrate on Close Analysis of Chapter 1 and 39. Charles Dickens, the author of Great Expectations was born in 1812 and spent his early childhood living in Portsmouth. His family then moved to Chatman which was located next to the River Thames marshes, and it is here that the scene of Great Expectations was set. Great Expectations is regarded, as one of Dickens's darkest and more reflective novels as it contains passages of grim realism based on criminal London and within Great Expectations, Dickens's uses a fairy tale plot, which he treats ironically. Dicken's uses his own personal experiences within Great Expectations, as when he was a small boy his father became a criminal by not paying his debts. This gives the reader of Great Expectation's a grim realisation that the character of Magwitch could have been based on his criminal father. Dicken's also grew up as a poor boy, because of his father's time in prison. Dicken's had to work within factories to earn money, but then began writing and became what he is today, one of the best authors of English literature. These characteristics shown by Dicken's are also expressed by Pip in great

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  • Level: GCSE
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Pip wants to grow up to be a gentleman. Do you think he succeeds?

Richard Wingfield Eng. Lit. Great Expectations Pip wants to grow up to be a gentleman. Do you think he succeeds? Great Expectations was written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1861, just eleven years after the Great Exhibition in London where the best of England and her empire was shown off to the rest of the world. At this time Britain was undoubtedly the greatest and most powerful nation in the world. This is reflected at the start of Book two in the line: "We Britons had at this time particularly settles that it was treasonable to doubt our having and being the best of everything." And when Dickens wrote this novel, it was to warn against the arrogance of wealth and power that Britain and it's people had. This message is emphasised through characters like Pip and Pumblechook. Before we can argue for or against the question, we need to decide what a gentleman is. There are two options to this in my opinion; in Victorian times people believed a gentleman was a man with wealth and lots of land, good clothes and power. This is the type of person Pip wishes to be. The more serious meaning is a good and kind man. Gentleman literally means a 'gentle man' a man who is generous and noble. For the essence of this essay I take gentleman to it's true meaning, a good and honest man, but because this is set in the nineteenth century, I shall also include aspects which refer

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and Contrast Pips Life on the Marshes to his Life in London.

Alastair Drohan 20th October 2001 Great Expectations Essay Question: Compare and Contrast Pips Life on the Marshes to his Life in London. This essay is based around Pips life on the marshes, his move from the marshes to London and his life in London. The marshes is a contrast, which shows Pips morale decline in life. During his move and during the course of the novel Pip becomes a very nasty person and his personality dramatically changes. In this essay I will attempt to show this and relate to why it is happening. At the beginning of novel Pip lives on the marshes and is a very pleasant little boy. He seems content and even happy with his position on the marshes and enjoys himself playing there. However an incident occurs very early on in the book, which shakes Pip up. After telling the reader about his dead family and their tombstones "The shape on my fathers gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair." This shows gloominess and represent the environment in the marshes as Dickens gives off the impression that the marshes is a very "bleak place overgrown with nettles" this quote shows Pip as a man narrating on his life as a child which is how the whole book is written. The language used is very mature but a very good description and easily gives me an impression of the environment in the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Dickens use characters in Volume One to present the themes of 'Great Expectations'?

How does Dickens use characters in Volume One to present the themes of 'Great Expectations'? 'Great Expectations' is a novel by Charles Dickens about a young, working class boy called Pip, brought up by his sister. Pip mysteriously inherits a large amount of money and is given the opportunity to become something he thought he would never be...a gentleman. The novel explores themes such as: Revenge, Family and Education. Another theme of 'Great Expectations' is the distinction of classes in Victorian society and their importance. In Victorian times, there were lots of ways of deciphering which class a person was from, by simply looking at, or listening to them. When Pip first meets Magwitch, he notices that he is "a man with no hat", the sign of a lower class person, although Pip is too afraid to look down on him due to this at the time. Higher-class people were thought to be superior to people in the lower classes and they hardly ever mixed or socialised. There was very little mobility between classes. Victorian society is in vast contrast to our own modern society because nowadays, people are a lot more accepting of others and are less discriminative of people who are dissimilar to themselves. Victorians in higher and lower classes were treated very differently to each other, whereas in modern times everybody is treated relatively equally and status, jobs, titles and

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  • Subject: English
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How does chapter 8 prepare the reader for the novel to follow?prose coursework: great expectations by charles dickens

HOW DOES CHAPTER 8 PREPARE THE READER FOR THE NOVEL TO FOLLOW? PROSE COURSEWORK: GREAT EXPECTATIONS BY CHARLES DICKENS ANIRUDH KATOCH, KING EDWARD VI HIGH SCHOOL Charles Dickens, the revolutionary 19th century novelist, wrote a bildungsroman of Phillip Pirrip (Pip) and the reality of his own "Great Expectations" in his pursuit to become a gentleman. In Chapter 8, the reader is introduced to Miss Havisham and Estella and this is where Pip first becomes dissatisfied with the life at the forge. There were many writers in Dickens' day whose works are no longer read; this is possibly because Dickens did something idiosyncratically different from his contemporaries. The plot of Great Expectations is quite complex, yet it is the way that Dickens handles the various elements of the plot that makes the novel appealing. For instance, the dexterity of one branch of the plot built up to the point where a major event is about to take place and then the scene modifies to another plot. This control of tension - making the audience wait - is a major component of the author's craft and can be experienced in this chapter. The chapter itself is positioned after Pip encounters the convict. This chapter contrasts with the other and acts as an expositional stage of the book. This links with the authorial style of Dickens and how he builds up certain areas of the novel to prepare for other

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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