‘Discuss Dickens’ presentation of Sissy Jupe’s character,her importance and contribution to the novel’
'Discuss Dickens' presentation of Sissy Jupe's character, her importance and contribution to the novel' Sissy's is a contrast to Coketown, the school and the Gradgrind household and at the other end of the spectrum, quite truly as the light that catches her at 'the beginning of a sunbeam,' only touches Bitzer weakly at the other end. (This could also suggest that Sissy is the sweet good girl underneath and Bitzer has some sort of evil in him.) The circus actually does not serve a beneficial function but exists only to give pleasure and bring colour and romance into dull lives. The Gradgrind philosophy is that the circus should be abolished as it not based on facts to which Mr Sleary replied to, not sharing Gradgrind view. "People muth be amuthed, Thquire, thomehow... they can't be alwayth, nor yet they can't be alwayth a learning." Sleary applies that people can't always be bombarded with facts and need entertainment so they can relax with no learning involved and sometimes, need entertainment to keep them sane and going to the circus is perfect example of relaxation. Sissy conveys of a character that once permitted to grow and flourish, the 'bright childish imagination' cannot be easily destroyed. Sissy becomes a student at the Gradgrind school but a quite advanced age. Previously, she spent her 'formative' years in the circus and no matter how heavy the influence
Compare the roles of institutions in “A Kestrel for a Knave” and the works of Dickens
Compare the roles of institutions in "A Kestrel for a Knave" and the works of Dickens Dickens and Hines use writing techniques to portray their institutions as impoverished and brutal places. Dickens is especially good at this. He can bring places to life with similes and metaphors. Dickens and Hines have added a fiery, tyrannical character in the shape of Mr Gradgrind, who every one fears and Mr Gryce. Both of whom are headmasters. At the beginning of "Hard Times" Dickens disguises his characters by not giving them names, he does this to draw the reader into the novel. "The Speaker and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present" Both of the novels, although written 100 years apart show very little change in the schooling the children received. The authors show their institutions as plain and bare. Dickens even goes, as far as to say that the school room in Hard Times is a "vault", not letting anyone in or out. "monotonous vault of a schoolroom" Dickens likes to use repetition of words. Especially "Facts" and "emphasis". He does this to show the squareness of Mr Gradgrind. Dickens does this to illustrate how he wants every thing to be regimented and perfect. Gradgrind had the premonition that all the children he schooled were only good for factory fodder. Hines has the same thought but did not put it so blatantly in his writing; this is because he does not want
What does Hard Times show about Dickens attitude towards education?
What does "Hard Times" show about Dickens' attitude towards education? When Dickens wrote "Hard Times" in 1854, he aimed to highlight the social and economic pressures that many people were experiencing in the Victorian era of Britain. One of the major themes throughout the book is the idea of "Fact vs. Fancy". Dickens uses this novel as a medium for voicing his opinions on a lot of things that were happening in Britain at the time of writing. Dickens wanted to attack the failings of the Victorian education system, which many believed to have too much emphasis on cramming the children's minds full of facts and figures, and nor enough attention given to other aspects of their development. These ideas are broadly labelled as "utilitarianism". It should be noted that the only educational system in the fictional town of Coketown is built upon utilitarian beliefs. One of the main characters in the novel - Mr. Gradgrind - firmly believed in utilitarianism, and opened a non-fee paying school that catered to the lower classes. Gradgrind, being a utilitarian, takes full advantage of the school as a platform to project his utilitarian opinions upon children, in the hope that he will be able to create young adults with utilitarian beliefs. So in his school, Gradgrind makes sure that the only thing being taught to the children are facts and figures. The children in the classroom aren't
Comparisons between Charles Dickens's Hard Times and Langston Hughes's Thank You M'am.
I am studying the comparisons between Charles Dickens's Hard Times and Langston Hughes's Thank You M'am. The first of the comparisons is the setting. Hard Times is set in an English Victorian classroom whereas Thank You M'am is set in modern day Harlem, America. At the start of Hard Times we are placed in a classroom. It is described in ways that are significant. "A plain, bare, monotonous vault of a classroom." The word 'vault' makes me feel that it is a jail, the children are trapped and their imagination is being drained out of them. Then, we meet Mr. Gradgrind. He is overpowering, dominant, demanding and is only interested in facts. "Now what I want is facts. Nothing but facts." He is quite old and has spots on his bald head. He thinks himself as ruler of everyone, and when Sissy Jupe says her name is Sissy, he says it isn't a name! "Sissy is not a name," His name also tells us about himself. Mr Gradgrind gives me the impression that he is "Grinding" the children down until they have no imagination. There is a new girl in the class. Her name is Sissy Jupe. She is very shy and quiet, and vulnerable. Mr Gradgrind starts by calling her "girl number twenty," instead of Sissy. W hen she says her dad works in the circus, "the ring" Mr Gradgrind replies "We don't want to know about that in here." He is scared that the children might get ideas and an imagination, fun and
What is Mr Gradgrind's view of schooling as expressed in the first three chapters of 'Hard Times'? How do you think Charles Dickens' style of writing helps us to understand this?
Ravi Aggarwal GCSE English Coursework What is Mr Gradgrind's view of schooling as expressed in the first three chapters of 'Hard Times'? How do you think Charles Dickens' style of writing helps us to understand this? The novel begins with a paragraph of direct speech which we find out later is said by Mr Gradgrind. It is a speech full of irony because he is saying that they should teach the children facts and not let them think for them selves of develop an imagination; "Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts." It is unusual because the man actually seems to believe what he is saying and believes that it is the best way to educate children; "Facts alone are wanted in life." This opening paragraph immediately gives us a direct impression of Mr Gradgrind and his philosophy of facts. Some might interpret Dickens' description of him as slightly insane and obsessed with facts. We as the reader know that more than facts are needed in a good schooling and therefore we realise what an idiot Mr Gradgrind really is. We can compare the description of the schoolroom and the description of Mr Gradgrind and find that they are both very similar to each other. They are both described as being "square", "plain" and "bare". The schoolroom is probably like this because Gradgrind does not want the room to be colourful but just plain and monotonous which suits his teaching
Look carefully at the opening chapters of hard Times and explore some of the ways in which Dickens' attitudes to education are presented in these chapters.
Anna Hunter Look carefully at the opening chapters of hard Times and explore some of the ways in which Dickens' attitudes to education are presented in these chapters. Look imparticular at the following: * His presentation of the teacher/inspector * The different responses of Sissy Jupe and Bitzer and how as readers we respond to them * The ways in which Dickens uses narrative and speech in his novel In his novel, Hard Times, Dickens presents his attitude to education. His attitude in his novel shows that he thinks education is too formal and he disapproves of the way children are taught. He thinks that children should be more imaginative and have their own opinion and show their emotions. Dickens comes across as very critical towards teachers in those days. He makes his views more powerful by giving physical descriptions. He describes his characters in great detail. He presents Gradgrind as a single-minded man with little patience and little knowledge and the knowledge he does have is just facts, which have been poured into him which he, is passing onto children. He doesn't seem to know much about children or how to teach them, so he just drums useless facts into their heads. It seems like Gradgrind wants everyone to be like him and that in his eyes, a good education is the most important thing in life. I think this because, for example, in the schoolroom, Gradgrind
Hard Times is a novel written by Charles dickens
Hard Times Hard Times is a novel written by Charles dickens at the time of the industrial revolution. It is set in the nineteenth century in England. It is Dickens' harsh and satirical attack on the industrial and educational systems of his time. Dickens believed in good fellowship and community values, which he felt were being destroyed by this new system based purely on 'fact'. In the novel Dickens uses satire, humour, irony and symbolism to convey is vision and show the world what he thinks it should be like. This novel, set in a place called Coketown, England, is showing how English people live in a very harsh place. The characters in the novel include both good and bad people. Throughout this novel Dickens attacks the industrial and educational systems using satire and humour. He uses such techniques to poke fun out of them. He also uses irony, such as in the name Stephen Blackpool who at the end of the novel dies in a black pool. Dickens uses satire to describe things, for example: 'red brick buildings, or at least they would have been if it weren't for the grime.' Dickens also used characters and their names as a way of attacking the educational and industrial systems. Thomas Gradgrind is a leading businessman in the town of Coketown. He is a good example of how things are run and done in Coketown, all based on facts. He says ' now what I want are facts,' and
How does Dickens present his views on education in 'hard times'?
Prose assignment Jonathan Schofield How does Dickens present his views on education in 'hard times'? Hard times is set in the 1840's in the North of England. It's set at a time when Britain is changing dramatically because of the Industrial Revolution, which is mainly affecting this part of Britain. This revolution moved much of the work from the country into towns and cities, and small cramped villages were built around the factories and mills to house the workers. Dickens novel 'hard times' was set during this time. Dickens uses many techniques throughout the novel to show his views on education to his readers, the first of which is to create different characters, some of which contrast each other in different ways . Two of such Characters are Sissy Jupe and Bitzer. They differ in the ways they have been taught and the ways they see the education system. Bitzer is a model student, he has always strictly followed the system and been taught exactly how the system requires him to be taught. He is shown as lifeless and colourless, 'the boy was so light-eyed and light-haired that the self-same rays appeared to draw out of him what little colour he ever possessed.' This gives the effect that he has been drained of life and everything else but facts. When asked, Bitzer describes a Horse as a 'Quadruped' and 'graminivorous' and gives endless
With Regards to the text as a whole, how do the opening two chapters of the "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens reflect the social time in which Dickens wrote?
With Regards to the text as a whole, how do the opening two chapters of the "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens reflect the social time in which Dickens wrote? Hard Times was a novel written by Charles Dickens, born in 1812. Hard times was originally written in serial form, for a magazine called Household Words beginning on 1st April 1854. Hard times is a typical Dickens novel, but one of his shortest novels. Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times originally to improve the financial situation of the struggling magazine. Charles Dickens started work at a very young age due to his father being put in prison due to being in debt. Charles Dickens father was sent to prison when he was ten therefore Dickens went to work in a factor, he hated it, perhaps the suitable name "Hard Times" describes well the difficulties and unhappiness Dickens experienced as a boy. He wanted to go to school instead of working in the factory, but he was always interested in people with little wealth, and the novel explores the unhappiness experienced by some of the people involved in the novel. Dickens felt by writing the fictional novel he could express his thoughts, feelings and reach a wider audience. Charles Dickens eventually made money by working for the newspaper and publishing novels. The novel is set in the imaginary city of Coke Town which is an industrial city supposedly inspired by Preston and
'Look carefully at the first two chapters of Hard Times and explore some of the ways in which Dickens's attitudes to education are presented in these chapters'
Prose Study - Charles Dickens Question- 'Look carefully at the first two chapters of Hard Times and explore some of the ways in which Dickens's attitudes to education are presented in these chapters' Throughout the novel "Hard Times", Dickens satirically attacks the state of education of the 1800's. It written in 1854 which was close to the time of the national education act (which ensured all children went to school) was introduced. These schools however, were fully focused on the teaching of facts. Dickens disliked this type of teaching and expressed these views through harsh, unflattering caricatures of some educationalists of the time. The severe mocking of Mr. Gradgrind (a head teacher in the novel) entertains and amuses the reader. His book is based on a biblical theme (sowing, reaping and garnering) which is extremely relevant to education as Dickens believed what is 'sown' in childhood is very important to the rest of someone's life. Firstly the separation of the novel: sowing, reaping and garnering structures the book into three significant parts and also conveys Dickens' underlying message. The terms represent Dickens' belief that whatever a child learns or 'reaps' during the first years of their life directly influences the rest of their lives. The divisions would have also been very symbolic to a Victorian reader as they are related to the biblical quote: