British Literature -- Spring Grades

This British Literature class was a great pleasure for me.  Not only did I get to re-read some of my favorite pieces of literature, but I had the opportunity to discuss and “unpack” these with a wonderful group of students.  Each week they came prepared; not only had they read the sometimes challenging material, but they had insightful discussion questions that we used as a group to explore deeper meanings in the novels, poetry, and dramatic works; they all contributed to our discussions and added many perceptive opinions.

Because this class required a lot of reading, I didn’t assign any writing assignments.  At the beginning of the semester, I modeled the kind of discussion questions that would help us examine the assigned readings.  After those initial weeks, the students themselves were assigned to bring in questions for the class to consider and explore.   Some days, we had so many discussion questions that we couldn’t get through all of them. 

Their grades are then somewhat subjective.  This was not a class in which a student could sit back, not read the assignments, and refuse to participate.  A small class like this demanded much more interaction.  I don’t have any percentages or specific scores to use to determine a letter grade; however, as I considered each student’s grade for the semester, I asked myself these questions:

·         Did he/she come to class having read the assigned portions?  Could I tell the student’s comprehension via his/her comments and participation?

·         Did he/she bring thoughtful and insightful questions for the class to discuss?

·         Did he/she think carefully over the discussion questions and share individual comments?

·         Was he/she resistant to participating in the discussions?

·         Over the course of the class, did he/she grow in his/her abilities to analyze fiction, poetry, and drama?

Each of the students did marvelously, and my suggested grade for each is an “A.”  I hope they enjoyed the class as much as I did.   If they ever need some ideas for more good British literature to read, I’d be more than glad to help them find more good books, drama, or poetry to read.

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 7)

Greetings!

We had a wonderful final class for our British Literature class.  We finished our last reading selection, The 39 Steps by John Buchan.  While the book is full of implausibilities, the action of the plot made it a fun read.  One student expressed the wish that it would make a great longer book with more of the details filled in. 

We only took about a third of our class time to discuss the book because I had planned a final exam.  I had written last week that it would be a Bingo game.  I lied.  It was a Jeopardy game instead.  (You can go here and play it for yourselves.)  The students did well and were rewarded with prizes.  

There was some confusion about the Reflection Papers.  In my other classes, I had the students write their reflections as part of the class.  If any of the students didn't write one, they can write one and e-mail it to me.  

My goal is to have grades out by next Thursday.  I have to say that this is one of my favorite classes to teach. This year's group of students were especially loquacious, making the class discussions fascinating.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Jeopardy Game

Have a wonderful summer!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 14 (April 30)

Greetings!

Once again, the weather was beautiful, and my garden was calling my name.  As we're winding down our school year here at CHAT, students and teachers are getting ready to change gears.

We are on our final book, the 1915 espionage/thriller The 39 Steps by John Buchan.  The class seems to like the book.  Not only is it shorter, it has an engaging plot and feels more contemporary in its style.  In class we not only discussed the the questions that each student brought to class, but we watched excerpts from a 2008 BBC version of the book and a scene from a stage play.  The movies made from this book follow the serious, dangerous tone found in the book while the plays are more farcical.   We will finish the book for the last week in class.

This week, our final week together, we will finish our discussion of The 39 Steps and will also have a final exam.  I haven't decided if this exam will look more like a Bingo game or a game of Jeopardy.  At any rate, no studying will be required; on the other hand, students have mentioned that treat would be nice, so they may bring something to share with the class.

This Thursday is also the National Day of Prayer, and my community hosts a city-wide Prayer Breakfast; I will be playing on the worship team for this event.  Because of this, there is an outside chance that I may be a few minutes late.  I usually leave Northfield quite early to avoid heavy traffic, so I'm not sure what I will encounter leaving a bit later.  Students have been forewarned.

Finally, I've given the students one writing assignment for this semester:  a Reflection Paper.  I would like them to take time to think about what they've learned in this class.  They can include thoughts about styles of writing, themes, periods of literature, their personal opinions about various pieces, assignment lengths, and class discussions.  I'd prefer these reflections go deep rather than broad.  In other words, instead of a bullet-pointed list of all the particulars of the class, they could choose one aspect of the class and "unpack" it a little deeper.

Assignments for this week:

-- Finish The 39 Steps

-- Reflection Paper

Links for this week:

Class Notes

The 39 Steps (BBC version)

Drury Lane stage version of The 39 Steps

The Value of Reflection Papers

Looking forward to our class,

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 13 (April 23)

Greetings!

We enjoyed another rousing discussion about our literature this week.  We've reached the end of a classic from the turn of the century, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.  As we read  quality works, we not only discuss themes, character development, and plots as they appear in the literature, but we also talk about the same ideas and how we see them reflected in our own lives.  For example, as we looked at the idea of external appearances and internal character strengths in Pygmalion, we could take time to apply the same principles to our lives.

I lauded the students for the discussion questions that they bring to class.  Every week, each one of them has a good set of insightful questions that promotes our lively discussions and helps us unpack our reading selection.

We are beginning our final book for this class:  The Thirty-Nine Steps.  This adventure novel written by Scottish author, John Buchan, is one of the first espionage thrillers.  His main character, Richard Hannay, has been described as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond.  It first appeared in 1915 as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine.  According to one commentary, this book would not have been a success "without Buchan's brisk characterization, loving evocation of Scottish landscape and his switchblade prose."    

I forgot to mention in class that for the last week I will be assigning the students a reflection paper.  This is their only writing assignment for the semester.  Also, we will have a final test on the last day.  But no worries, it will be in the form of a Bingo game!

Assignment for Next Week:

-- Read p. 1 - 42

-- Write 3 Discussion Questions

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Pygmalion -- 1938 film

My Fair Lady (with Rex Harrison & Audrey Hepburn)

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Alfred Hitchock, 1935)

The Thirty-:Nine Steps (Full Audio Book)

The 39 Steps (BBC, 2008)

The Thirty-Nine Steps Teacher's Guide

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 11 (April 9)

Greetings!

This week in our British Literature class we discussed Victorian poetry.  The week before we went over poetry from the previous literary period, the Romantic period.

Poetry can be a bit challenging to understand.  Students sometimes initially have a hard time, but when we go over a piece of poetry line by line, the themes and symbols emerge more clearly.

This week we thoroughly read Lord Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott" and Browning's "My Last Duchess."  Both poems deal a little bit with the role of the artist.  In Tennyson's poem, the Lady in the tower weaves a tapestry from the reflection in a mirror, rather than looking directly at life.  Browning's poem is a piece of poetry about a painting with a statue thrown in at the end.

I gave the class their next book, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.  This is the book from which My Fair Lady was taken.  The students were give a couple handouts to use for introduction and background information.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Acts I, II, and III 

-- Write 3 Discussion Questions

This week's links:

Class Notes

Introduction to Pygmalion

Pygmalion Analysis

Robert Browning & "My Last Duchess"

"The Lady of Shalott"  blog post

Analysis of "My Last Duchess"

Analysis of "Lady of Shalott"

Have a beautiful weekend!  

Maybe, just maybe it won't snow!  

(I posted on the blog a picture of the flash snowstorm that happened Friday morning in Northfield.)

Mrs. Prichard

Introduction to Pygmalion

What’s Up With the Title?

Shaw wrote Pygmalion in 1912, but he took its name from something way, way older: an Ancient Greek myth. The most famous of its many versions can be found in the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses.

In the myth, Pygmalion, a sculptor from Cyprus, hates women, and especially hates the idea of getting married. Still, he gets tired of lying in bed alone at night, and decides to carve a beautiful woman out of ivory, a woman so beautiful that he can't help but fall in love with her. Which is exactly what he does. After making the sculpture, he can't help himself, and he kisses her and starts dressing her up and doing anything he can to make her seem more human. None of that helps to turn her into a human being, but he can't let her go. So, when the feast of Venus rolls around, he prays and begs and pleads with the goddess Venus to please turn this statue into a real live woman. Venus, sympathetic, or maybe just sick of Pygmalion's whining, grants his wish. When Pygmalion tries kissing the sculpture again, she starts turning warm and fleshy, and soon enough she is a real live woman. Pygmalion and his statue/woman get married, have a kid, and live happily ever after.

Pygmalion (Shaw's play) isn't a simple retelling of the myth, but it's pretty clear who's who here: Henry Higgins is the sculptor, Eliza Doolittle his creation. Shaw adds a lot more to the mix – stuff about British society, and women – and it's science, not Venus, doing the transforming, but the basics are the same. Just remember: there's a reason it's called Pygmalion and not My Fair Lady. It's about the relationship between Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, but we have to pay attention to the old sculptor as much as we have to watch the beautiful statue coming to life.

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Below are some study questions for the play, Pygmalion.  Read through them and be ready to discuss in detail 4 of the questions.

1.    In his preface to the play, Shaw writes that the figure of Henry Higgins is partly based on Alexander Melville Bell, the inventor of Visible Speech. How does Shaw utilize this idea of "Visible Speech"? Is it an adequate concept to use to approach people?

2.    It has been said that Pygmalion is not a play about turning a flower girl into a duchess, but one about turning a woman into a human being. Do you agree?

3.    What is the Pygmalion myth? In what significant ways, and with what effect, has Shaw transformed that myth in his play?

4.    Why does Eliza start speaking in her old manner when she gets emotional? What does this say about her training? Or about Higgins's abilities as a teacher?

5.    Higgins and Pickering tell Mrs. Higgins that Eliza is an incredibly quick learner. They even call her a genius. Who, then, deserves more credit for Eliza's transformation: Eliza herself, because of her potential intelligence, or Higgins, for bringing it out?

6.    Why is Higgins so keen on teaching Eliza? Can we ever really understand his real motives? If so, what are they?

7.    We watch Eliza change in a number of ways throughout Pygmalion: she learns how to speak properly, she begins dressing differently, etc. But does she ever lose her old self, her old identity? Can we really say what her old identity is anyway?

8.    What are the different ways in which the characters define themselves? For instance, do they compare themselves to other groups? Do they allow their class to define them, or their jobs? Are they even conscious of their own identities?

9.    At the end of Act 4, Eliza tells Higgins that she doesn't want the clothing and jewelry that was given to her. Why does this anger Higgins so much?

10.         Throughout Pygmalion, Eliza is repeatedly objectified, compared to everything from a pebble to a piece of trash. Is there any reason why Shaw compares her to the things he does? Is there a better way to describe the way she is treated?

11.         The mythical Pygmalion was a sculptor who fashioned his ideal woman out of stone. Shaw is clearly making a comparison between Pygmalion and Higgins, but does that comparison really hold up?

12.         Shaw was a lifelong socialist, and wrote many essays on the subject. Can Pygmalion be interpreted as a socialist text?

13.         In the play, we are introduced to members of a number of different classes and areas of society. That said, does Shaw leave anyone out? Or, to put it another way, does he offer us a view of it in full?

14.         Shaw addresses a lot of problems concerning women, and allows us to hear a number of different opinions on them, many spoken by female characters. Does Shaw's position as a male author prevent him from directly addressing these issues? Or is he able to present an unbiased view?

15.         Although Higgins is able to win the bet, and teach Eliza to speak and act correctly in the process, Eliza's dream of working in a florist's shop is not fulfilled or even addressed. Why do you think this is?

16.         Doolittle ends the play with plenty of money, he's on his way to get married, and he seems to have patched things up with his daughter. In most plays, this would be cause for celebration, but he doesn't seem all that thrilled about it. What does this say about our usual expectations for happiness and success?

17.         Does Alfred Doolittle's theory about the "undeserving poor" have any merit? Is he just a good speaker, or is he simply addressing a problem that most people ignore?

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 10 (March 26)

Greetings!

We had a good class today.  I enjoy starting my teaching day with this class.  Thinking about complex pieces of literature is a wonderful way to wake up our minds.

This semester, we will spend two weeks on poetry.  This week we covered some Romantic poetry; next week is Victorian poetry.  Poetry can be hard to understand.  It takes a lot more read and digest a piece of classic poetry.  Today, we read two of Blake's poems, "The Chimney Sweeper" from the Songs of Innocence and "The Chimney Sweeper" from the Songs of Experience.  Both were sad poems that dealt with the themes of injustice, religion, and poverty.

We also read Byron's "She Walks in Beauty," a poem depicting the almost perfected beauty of a young lady as she is compared to various aspects of Nature.

Our final poetry selection is one of my favorites, John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn."  I felt we ran out of time, but we were able to make it all the way through it.  The poem is an artful paradox of the human figures carved on an ancient piece of pottery:  they are both free from time and frozen in time.  The poem then makes these figures live again through the words.  I've included a couple of links to some further analysis of the poem.  Personally, I think life is richer when you take the time to think deeply about this poetry, 

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read the Victorian poetry handout.  We will especially be discussing:

     Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"

     Browning's "My Last Duchess"

     Carroll's "Jabberwocky"

     Hopkins' "Pied Beauty" and "God's Grandeur"

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Poetry of John Keats

SparkNotes -- Ode on a Grecian Urn

Ode on a Grecian Urn Analysis

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 9 (March 19)

Greetings!

We had another good discussion this week in British Lit.  We've come to the end of our longest selection, Great Expectations.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I asked the students how they would rate this book among others that they have read.  We seemed to be split between those who would give it 8-ish, and those who more inclined towards a 4 or 5.  While I recognize that not everyone will love this book, each year when we reach the end, I am newly amazed at Dickens's writing ability. 

For those of you who don't know, this book, Great Expectations, was written in installments.  In other words, he wrote a section and had it printed in his magazine.  Then he wrote the next section and had it printed.  His genius is in the cohesiveness of the plot and character development.  As is common for Victorian novels, all of the details are wrapped up in the final chapters.  No loose threads.

The students brought great questions to class, and I felt that we had a satisfying final discussion.

Our next unit is Romantic poetry.  I gave the students a handout of the poetry that we'll be reading.  In addition, I gave them a handout explaining the poetry of that time and one that discusses how to read poetry.  For next week, we will focus on a few poems, but I will pull out lines or stanzas from others in the handout.

Before reading the poems,  The students should read the Interpreting Poetry handout before they read the poems.  Also, they should read the questions that go with poems before reading each poem.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read the handouts, Interpreting Poetry and Responding to Romantic Literature

-- Read the following poems:

     Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper"  (both poems)

     Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey"

     Coleridge's "The Aeolian Harp"

     Byron's "She Walks in Beauty"

     Shelley's "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty"

     Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

-- Note:  We will especially work through the Keats poem

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Interpreting Poetry

Responding to Romantic Poetry

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 8 (March 12)

Greetings!

We had a good class this week.  Our book, Great Expectations, has had some fascinating plot turns.  The characters are becoming more developed and the various themes have had a variety of expressions.  The students came prepared with great discussion questions.  In fact, we had a good variety of questions.    We compared persons and situations that seem similar, but had key differences.  For example:  Startopp and Drummle, Estella and Biddy, Pip and Herbert, the love relationships of Wemmick/Skiffin, Herbert/Clara, Pip/Estella, Joe/Jaggers/Magwitch.

We will finish the book this coming week.  The action of the plot will be picking up.  Students should give themselves plenty of time to read so that they don't run out of time.

Once we've finished our Victorian novel, we will head into Romantic poetry.  I will have handouts for the class next week.  A couple of students may be gone next week, so I've attached the file with the poetry readings.

It's beautiful out.  Have a glorious weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 7 (March 5)

Greetings!

The weather people say that Thursday was, most likely, our last really cold day. It's March and we're half way through the second semester at CHAT -- it could be that Spring is really on its way!

We are approximately half way through Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  By this point of the book,we have a good sense of the characters ans some of the themes.  In our discussions, we can analyze more deeply many of the relationships and decisions of our characters because Dickens has done a thorough job of presenting the actors in this story to us.

The plot, on the other hand, continues to twist and turn.  This novel was one that Dickens published in monthly installments of his periodical, All the Year Round.  It was important that he write a "page turner" so that people would buy his magazine.  Students, be prepared for some surprises as you continue reading.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read p. 191 - 286

-- Bring 3 discussion questions to class -- at least one that is theme-related.

Links for this Week

(Some are repeats from previous weeks, but might be helpful for this week's reading, too.)

Great Expectations -- Audio Versions

Plot, Themes, and Style for Great Expectations

Great Expectations at a Glance

Great Expectations Videos

Enjoy the weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Great Expectations Videos

Great Expectations has been remade into a number of movies.  One of my favorites is the 1946 version.  I think it stays most faithful to the book.

Below are some links to video versions.
Great Expectations (1946)

Great Expectations -- BBC  (1999)
     Part I and Part II

Netflix also has a 2012 version.

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 6 (February 19)

Greetings!

We had another good class discussion this week.  As we begin our new book, Great Expectations, many of our discussion questions  brought up ideas and themes that we will discover as we continue reading.  It's good for students pick up on these at the beginning of their reading.

Our discussion today included the themes of lies/deception, conscience/imagination, and social roles/ being "common.  We had a variety of theories about Pip and his relationship with Joe, Mrs. Joe and Joe's marriage, and the manipulative nature of Estella.

Assignment for Next Week:

-- Read p. 91 - 196 in Great Expectations

-- Write 3 Discussion Questions

-- Be ready to discuss the following themes:

     Ambition & Self-Improvement

     Social Class

     Crime & Justice

     Revenge

     Friendship

     Love

Links for This Week:

Class Notes

SparkNotes page on Themes

Schmoop page on Themes

NOTE:  We do not have class next week on February 26.  We will meet again on March 5.

Have a great two weeks!

Mrs. Prichard

Great Expectations -- Audio Versions

Class,

Some of you may find these audio versions of Great Expectations helpful.  While I wouldn't suggest consuming the whole book in this manner, auditory learners may benefit from hearing and reading.  Or you could listen on a long car trip or while you're doing dishes for your family.

Librivox (Chapter by Chapter)

Librivox on Youtube

Audiobook Treasury

Mrs. Prichard

British Literature Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 12)

Greetings!

I had another great week with all of my CHAT classes.  I'm so blessed by their hard work and vibrant personalities.

We finished our second classic of British literature, the Shakespeare play Much Ado about Nothing.  We had a delightfully insightful discussion of the quality of love, hidden identities, shallow personalities, and comic relief.  The conversation was lively; there's rarely one of those long awkward pauses in which no one wants to say anything.

We are now ready to tackle the longest and most challenging of our books:  Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  I've read most of Dickens's novels, and this one is my favorite.  However, it is not quick or easy reading.  Whereas students could quickly read through the other books the day before class, they will need to pace themselves in order to get through the 90+ pages a week.  

I gave them a variety of handouts this week.  Dickens was considered a Victorian author, so I've given them some background information on literature from this time period.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Great Expectations (p. 1 - 96)

-- 3 Discussion Questions

This week's links:

Class Notes

Great Expectations at a Glance

Three Characteristics of Victorian Literature

The Victorian Era

Plot, Themes & Style for Great Expectations

Philosophy and Values of the Victorian Period

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard

Philosophy and Values of the Victorians

Philosophy and Values of the Victorians/

Characteristics of Victorian Literature 

Values	Major Ideas	Literary Form/ Structure	Literary Content/ Themes	Literary Genres/ Styles	Key Authors
Earnestness	Expansion of Empire	Narrative over Lyric	Isolation/ Alienation	Dramatic Monologue	Lord Tennyson
Respectability	Glorification of War	Meter and Rhythm over Imagery	Lack of communication	Novel Elegy magazines	The Brontes Oscar Wilde
Evangelism	Industrialism	Objective; reflective	Pessimism and despair	Drama: Comedy of Manners	Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning
Evolution and Progress	Economic Prosperity	Melancholy or meditative, even in love poems	Loss of faith	Rigid standards of personal behavior	Charles Dickens
Hypocrisy?	Reform	Moral issues, didactic	Didactic	High moral tone	Thomas Carlyle
Protestant work ethic		Contemporary subjects			Charles Darwin
Restraint		Longer over shorter forms			Matthew Arnold
Utilitarianism Strong emphasis on duty		More common expressions			Dante Gabriel and Christina Rosetti
		Medieval subjects and forms			Rudyard Kipling

Plot, Themes, and Style for Great Expectations

PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

                Charles Dickens is said to have explored a new ground in his novel, Great Expectations. The theme of self-knowledge explored in the novel expresses in part Dickens’ own search for a sense of self. May readers and historians have suggested that Pip has a touch of Dickens in him, making the fictional book feel almost autobiographical.

                Structurally, the novel is a narration by a mature and retrospective Pip. It is divided into three distinct “stages,” each labeled as a specific “stage of Pip’s expectations.” In chronological fashion, these chapters trace Pip’s progress from industrious obscurity as a child through willful idleness as an adolescent and young adult, to a resigned and modest acceptance of his true place in society. This is an obvious variation on the picaresque theme and carries with it many of the significant overtones of earlier picaresque novels.

                The first stage introduces all the major characters and sets the plot in motion. Pip’s situation is developed fully, including the first seeds of his desire to be “uncommon.” It leads to the revelation by Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer, that Pip is to inherit a huge fortune and become a gentleman. It is something Pip considers as miraculous, though mysterious, as his patron’s identity is not to be revealed for the time being. Mr. Jaggers only imparts to him that his benefactor has great expectations from him and so with the support of his anonymous provider, Pip’s expectations of himself also rise, and the action shifts to London.

                The second stage of Pip’s expectations, therefore, has a change of setting. In this section, Pip’s development into a “gentleman” is explored. It describes the spendthrift and idle way Pip squanders wealth and what kind of person he has become. On the surface of things, Pip believes that he is living up to his great expectations. He also expects to have Estella’s hand in marriage. But this stage of his expectations is brutally shattered when Magwitch discloses his identity to Pip.

                The third stage of Pip’s expectations explores the complete collapse of Pip’s great expectations, which are replaced by a more mature sense of life and respectability. This section primarily constitutes his transformation, which has been at the heart of the novel. Such a pattern of growth, development and re-education reflects the Bildungsroman tradition of Great Expectations.

                The novel, though divided into these three stages, is further divided into episodic chapters due to the publication of the novel serially. Each chapter must necessarily have a complete movement as well as some sort of trigger that will induce the reader to buy the magazine the following week in order to see what will happen next.

THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS

                Pip’s great expectations are a dramatized exploration of human growth and the pressures that distort the potential of an ordinary individual, especially in the process of growing up. Pip is a simple blacksmith’s boy who aspires to cross social boundaries when he realizes his own upbringing is common; however, he has no means to change. Mysteriously, he is given the means, but wealth only brings with it idleness. He learns that happiness in life can be achieved only by hard work and that great expectations not grounded in reality can only lead to tragedy and heartache.

                Part of this theme is an exploration of the dignity of labor. Pip initially feels ashamed to associate himself with Joe but later realizes that hard work brings honor to a man. As for honor, Pip realizes the importance of traits like loyalty and kindness, and eventually understands that no amount of money can make up for the lack of those traits. Supplementary to this theme is the sharp juxtaposition of appearance and reality, as well as the traditional notion that pride comes before a fall. Pip learns valuable lessons from his misguided assumptions. And his pride causes him to do things he is later ashamed of. A final thematic consideration is the belief that goodness is always able to supplant evil, even in characters like Miss Havisham. Mrs. Joe, Magwitch, Estella, and Pip are further examples of characters whose inherent goodness is apparent despite their wrongdoings.

                Essentially, it is a novel about contentment and humility, as well as honor. The thematic notion of great expectations touches on every aspect of common emotions like pride, ambition, envy, greed, and arrogance. The lesson Pip learns is that one should never presume he is better than another. As Joe tells him, it is far better to be uncommon on the inside than the outside. A person’s possessions do not matter as much as a person’s actions.

AUTHOR'S STYLE

                Dickens has shaped Great Expectations on the lines of the Bildungsroman genre, which closely follows the inner growth of a protagonist from his childhood to middle age. In many respects, it contains themes and emotions directly related to the author’s experience. However, the fictional nature of the story allows Pip to relate incidents and events that are similar to sensitive spots in Dickens’ own life without becoming too deeply involved in the narration himself. For instance, the description of Pip’s childhood has some affinity with Dickens own life. Also, Estella seems directly inspired from Maria Beadwell, a lady whom Dickens loved; Beadwell snubbed him coldly because of his low social status.

                Great Expectations boasts a carefully designed structure in three emergent stages. The simplicity of childhood memories in stage one is reflected in the generally direct narrative style. In contrast, the texture of stage three is much more complex, because as the action accelerates, substantial information about the histories of Magwitch, Compeyson, Miss Havisham and Estella are revealed.

                Great Expectations is a rich text illustrative of Dickens’ gift for realistic and dramatic speech. The author carefully studied the mannerisms of people and reported them in the depictions of his characters. Joe is a good example. The speech patterns he uses characterize him well and endear him to the reader much more than mere incidents or descriptions that describe him to be soft hearted.

                A novel with a vast range of subject and incident like that in Great Expectations has to be written carefully, paying great attention to unity and detail. Of all Dickens’ works, this one is generally thought to be the best. The fine tapestry of the novel is woven with vivid scenes of London as well as misty recollections of the marshlands. The haunted stagnancy of Satis House is an ever-present character in and of itself. In the midst of all this graphic description and palpable action, there is also an internal transformation taking place, one in which Pip learns to appreciate his true self and position in society. The varied texture of the novel in all these aspects sustains and maintains the interest of the reader, highlighting the completely balanced style of Dickens as a master craftsman.