"Great Expectations Illustrates the danger of seeing status and money as the most worthwhile aims in life" - Discuss.

Pip's preoccupation with money and status! "Great Expectations Illustrates the danger of seeing status and money as the most worthwhile aims in life." Discuss Charles Dickens' Great Expectations is not so uncomplicated as to suggest that wealth is a destructive force. Instead it attempts to highlight the apparent dangers associated with becoming preoccupied with money and social status. In Pip, the book's chief protagonist, Dickens presents us with a character that misguidedly follows these ideals in a journey of self delusion. The abandonment of his childhood father figure -Joe - and his earlier virtues of decency and compassion are the consequences of his misconception that with wealth will come 'gentility'. Dickens' underlying message is that wealth and class are superficial, failing to give any indication of a person's quality or true gentility. This being said, it must be understood that Dickens' aim is not to condemn wealth and social 'niceties' such as good manners and a formal education, instead it is those who worship these false ideals and become preoccupied with them that are criticized. In characters such as Herbert and Mathew Pocket and, to an extent, Wemmick and Jaggers, we are presented with benevolent and harmless forms of class and privilege. Yet juxtaposed against this we have Pumblechook, Magwitch and Pip. Failing to realize what truly counts, these

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"How does Dickens teach both Scrooge and the reader a moral lesson in "A Christmas Carol".

"How does Dickens teach both Scrooge and the reader a moral lesson in "A Christmas Carol" Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 1843. It was a story that is designed to harness our emotions and rattle our consciences. His reasons for writing the book were to convince his readers for the need of reform. Dickens did this because he was aware of what life used to be like: many houses had an average of thirty people and children as young as nine were working. Charles Dickens intended to write a story with an uplifting moral. He showed this by Scrooge being visited by Marley and three sprits. Dickens did this because he felt he could make a difference to try and change wealthy people into giving money to the poor as he saw what poor people and himself went through. The spirit of Christmas Past, Present and Future all represented different parts of Scrooge's life and made him think about himself. Dickens' moral on the spirits of Christmases is that it is charity, generosity and kindness and it belongs to us all year round. When the spirits visit Scrooge his is taken on a journey of self-discovery. Dickens makes clear to us in the opening stave that Scrooge is a character who needs to learn a lesson. He does this by comparing Scrooge a lot to hard and cold words to create imagery. Scrooge is seen as miserly because he doesn't let Bob Cratchit have a decent fire. "; and so

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Enduring Love" How appropriate is the title of the novel?

"Enduring Love" How appropriate is the title of the novel? At first glance, "Enduring Love" may seem a simple title for a novel, not one that invokes serious thought for the reader. Although we expect a story of love, we are presented with a much more complicated array of events revolving around three people, all with their own version of "Enduring Love". Ultimately the story revolves around the somewhat content relationship between Joe Rose, an accomplished and well-respected science writer and his partner Clarissa Mellon, a Keats scholar and university lecturer that is until the intrusion by Jed Parry. Brought together by a ballooning accident, Joe and Jed momentarily exchange words, but this moment is the catalyst for a fixation by the younger man, Jed Parry, for the protagonist of the story, Joe Rose. Clarissa also witnesses the accident but she, like Joe, misses the moment that spawns the obsession, which rips their lives apart and in due course, breaks apart their relationship. There are two types of love themes running through this novel, one of obsession and one of pure love. The one of obsession is obviously the love Jed feels for Joe and the pure love is that of Clarissa and Joe. As Jed becomes more and more fixated on Joe, Joes relationship with Clarissa increasingly dwindles until the point where they call it a day and end their relationship. Early on in the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Great Expectations Essay.

University of Cape Town Faculty of Humanities ESSAY COVER PAGE Full name: Joanna Felicity Morton Student Number: MRTJOA003 Course name: English Literary Studies Course Code: ELL113F Tutorial Tutor: Nadia Davids Tutorial Group: 24 Due Date: 12 April 2002 . I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another's work and to pretend that it is one's own. 2. I have used the Author-date convention for citation and referencing. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this essay from the work, or works, of other people has been acknowledged through citation and reference. 3. This essay is my own work. 4. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work. 5. I have done the word processing and formatting of this assignment myself. I understand that the correct formatting is part of the mark for this assignment and that it is therefore wrong for another person to do it for me. _____________________ _____________________ Signature Date Great Expectations Essay We have reached the end of the second stage of Pip's Expectations, and he has recently learnt the true identity of his benefactor, namely, the convict who threatened him in the cemetery and on the marsh all those many years ago. The convict, Abel Magwitch, is moved by Pip's kind-heartedness and generosity,

  • Word count: 1538
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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A Christmas Carol, although occurring at a different time period than today, still holds values and lessons that are important in society today. The main character, Ebenezer Scrooge

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, although occurring at a different time period than today, still holds values and lessons that are important in society today. The main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, starts off having no feelings for others and no Christmas spirit, but changes from his gloomy, dark appearance to a carefree, child-like person at the end. Dickens shows in A Christmas Carol that personal greed will lead to peril, while kindness and generosity lead to personal happiness. It saddened me to learn of Scrooge's lonely childhood. I could picture him sitting all alone at school, emotionally abandoned by his father, waiting for his sister to come tell him there may be a happy Christmas. There are so many children in the world today that are in this same situation. It saddens me to know that there a children who never get to open a present on Christmas morning. It seemed as his childhood progressed and his love for Belle grew, his love for money and greed grew faster until he lost everything but his money. So much emphasis is placed on the monetary value of things today that it is possible anyone could fall into this same lifestyle. When the second ghost comes to see Scrooge, we see the Cratchit family. This family reminds me of the Christmases my family spent together. We didn't always get everything we wanted but we always had a good

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Describe the attitude and values underlining beliefs of Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay in text 23 'Our day Out'.

Describe the attitude and values underlining beliefs of Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay in text 23 'Our day Out' Text 23 is taken from 'our day out' by Willy Russel. In the text it describes of a school trip where a class of students are taken on a day out. Two of the main teachers in the text Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay have conflicting ideas on the purpose of the trip. They also believe differently about the education of the children and the reality of their situation. The children are less interested in learning and more interested in enjoying their day out much to the dislike of Mr Briggs. Mr Briggs believes that even though the students are on a school trip they should still behave in an orderly fashion and that they should be learning at the same time as behaving themselves. Mr Briggs has much more stricter views and ideas on how a school trips should be conducted. Mrs Kay realises and is very aware that none of the children are interested in anything other than enjoying themselves and since the children are, in her words, 'rejects since the day they came into the world' so what is the point in trying to make them learn. When Mrs Kay makes these views clear, Mr Briggs is horrified even though he most likely knows its true. The main difference between Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay is that Mrs Kay has accepted the truth that these children haven't learnt and aren't going to start on there big

  • Word count: 583
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Sensation Novels

Sensation Novels English (American-born) Author 843-1916 Recalling an after-dinner visit to Charles Eliot Norton's house in Boston of 1867 (68?), Henry James had this to say of Dickens: "I saw the master -- nothing could be more evident -- in the light of an intense emotion, and I trembled, I remember, in every limb, while at the same time, by a blest fortune, emotion produced no luminous blur, but left him shining indeed, only shining with august particulars. It was to be remarked that those of his dress, which managed to be splendid even while remaining the general spare uniform of the diner-out, had the effect of higher refinements, of accents stronger and better placed, than we had ever in such a connection seen so much as hinted. But the offered inscrutable mask was the great thing, the extremely handsome face, the face of symmetry yet of formidable character, as I at once recognised, and which met my dumb homage with a straight inscrutability, a merciless military eye, I might have prounounced it, an automatic hardness, in fine, which at once indicated to me, and in the most interesting way in the world, a kind of economy of apprehension. Wonderful was it thus to see, and thrilling inwardly to note, that since the question was of personal values so great no faintest fraction of the whole could succeed in not counting for interest. The confrontation was but of a

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Pip's problems come from arrogance. It is only when he learns humility that he can really become a better person. Do you agree?

Lack of self-worth and Satis house; a problematic mix! Pip's problems come from arrogance. It is only when he learns humility that he can really become a better person. Do you agree? Charles Dickens' Great Expectations is the tale of one character's troubled journey of self delusion in the pursuit of false ideals. Pip, the book's protagonist, is a morally good and honest boy corrupted by the glitz and glamour of nineteenth century bourgeois society. Although Pip's arrogance and pretentiousness ultimately creates a great deal of problems for him, it would be inaccurate to claim that they are the central causes of Pip's troubles. Instead it is the lack of affirmation and self-worth he experiences in his early childhood that instigates his downward spiral of morality and must be blamed for the cause of his problems. Fortunately, Pip is able to eventually realize the nobility of humble characters such as Joe and understand the importance of values such as compassion in gaining true gentility. Primarily, Pip's lack of self-confidence and lowly impression of himself are the most notable aspects of his early childhood. Under the tyranny of Mrs Joe, Pip is constantly made to feel inferior and has his self-esteem destroyed with snipes such as "in a low reproachful voice (she said) "Do you hear that? Be grateful.". Not only is he physically abused in the household having been

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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A Christmas Carol - My essay is about Scrooge who changes from a good to a bad man after three ghosts visit him, the ghost of Christmas past, present and future.

A CHRISMAS CAROL A Christmas carol is a famous story about a man who changes from a bad man who doesn't like Christmas and doesn't care for anyone to a man that loves Christmas and cares for everyone. The mans name is Ebenezer Scrooge. My essay is about Scrooge who changes from a good to a bad man after three ghosts visit him, the ghost of Christmas past, present and future. Before the ghosts visited scrooge he was an unhappy man. He didn't like anyone and he didn't like Christmas. Whenever somebody said 'merry Christmas' he said 'bah humbug' to them and walked away. Scrooge was a selfish man who didn't care for anyone except himself and Jacob Marley, his business partner who died. Scrooge and Marley had a business, which was called 'SCROOGE & MARLEY'. Marley was scrooge's best and only friend, when Marley died Scrooge didn't go to his funeral, but scrooge didn't change the name of the business he kept it as 'SCROOGE & MARLEY'. Marley died on Christmas eve and seven years later on Christmas Eve Marley's ghost came to visit Scrooge. Marleys ghost told him to make his life better and to treat people better or he will become like Marley when he dies, Marley had chains tied to him which made it difficult for him to walk and fly. (This was his punishment) Marley told Scrooge that three ghosts are going to visit you, the ghost of Christmas past, present and future. Scrooge was a

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Discuss how and why an original text you have studied has been adapted and transformed to appeal to modern audiences.

Discuss how and why an original text you have studied has been adapted and transformed to appeal to modern audiences. The modern screenplay writer Mitch Glazer, to entertain a twentieth century audience, has recreated the nineteenth century novel, 'Great Expectations'. Charles Dickens' novel has been altered to allow the text to be portrayed within the time constraints of a film and to suit a contemporary audience. Mitch Glazer dramatises the original text by recreating the plot and themes to fulfil the expectations of a modern audience. These changes are reflected in the differences in the character names and setting, and the sensualism displayed through the relationship between Finn and Estella. In Glazer's film the main plot is changed from Dickens' original idea of social comment to a love story between Estella and Finn. Glazer focuses on sensualism to attract a modern audience. In Dickens' text Estella invites a kiss from Pip "You may kiss me if you like."1 and turns her cheek. In Glazer's film greater emphasis in placed on this scene, which turns into a sensual kiss at the fountain after Estella asks Finn if he wants a drink. Other parts in the film plot are also changed to suit the love story such as Estella inviting Finn to a party, meeting outside and going to Finn's house. These are examples of Glazer adapting the text to make it interesting to modern audiences.

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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