Dickens' Purpose

Dickens' purpose in writing Great Expectations was to reflect the literary technique of realism. The story was written in connection to his own life. When Dickens was young, his family went through financial difficulties and he wanted to change his life. He was inspired by the times he lived in; England in those days of the early 1800s was a very bad place to live when you could not pay a debt you were held in prison until it was paid.

Great Expectations Discussion Notes

Literary Elements we came up with and who is going to discuss it during class:

1. Imagery - Annais
2. Symbolism - Yun Joo
3. Characterization:  Direct and Indirect - Jessica
4. Allusion - Ryan
5. Diction - Jessica
6. Syntax - Alex
7. Theme - Me
8. Mood - Me
9. Point of View - Ryan
10. Tone - Annais

Alex is also going to summarize the book from pgs. 1 - 100.

Great Expectations 10 Questions

Questions&Answers!!!

     Q: 1. Why does the protagonist go with the name, Pip,instead of his real name?
     A:     He was unable to pronounce his real name as an infant.

     Q: 2. Why does Pip not tell his sister and her husband about the convict he encountered?
     A:     He was a boy who was compassionate and caring.

     Q: 3. Why is Pip feel so guilty?
     A:     It was him who stole the food and gave it to the convict.

     Q: 4. Why do the police come to Pip's house?
     A:     To ask Joe to fix their handcuff since he was a blacksmith.

     Q: 5. At school, who does Pip befriend?
     A:    Biddy, the granddaughter of his teacher.

     Q: 6. Who does Pip fall in love with?
     A:     When Pip saw Estrella, he fell in love with her and wanted to be in the upper class to win her.

     Q: 7. When does Estrella allow Pip to kiss her on the cheek?
     A:     When Pip fights a young gentleman and knocks him over.

     Q: 8. Why does Estrella criticize Pip?
     A:     He is from the lower class and he doesn't have the proper manners.

     Q: 9. What is Miss Havisham's real motive towards Pip?
     A:     Use Estrella to break his heart as a revenge to all men.

     Q: 10. What happened to Mrs. Joe in chapter 15?

     A:       Towards the end of the chapter, she was attacked and injured on the brain.

Great Expectations (Pgs. 1 - 15)

The story starts off with the background of Pip living with his older sister, Mrs. Joe, and her husband, Joe Gargery. Pip is sitting in the cemetery when he suddenly hears threatening remarks made toward him. He finds out that he is an escaped criminal, so he listens to what he says in order to be safe. The guy tells Pip to bring him food and some files. So he goes back to the house and secretly takes some food and brings it back to the criminal. 

By applying my lecture notes, I researched about Charles Dickens' life to see if I could make any connections to the book. I found out that CD's father was in prison for having a lot of debt. So the name of the book meant that someone died and left you inheritance hence the Great Expectations.

Big Question Introduction

Big Question Intro. -

Literature Analysis #4

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

1.Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

After a long absence, Janie Crawford is now back at Eatonville, Florida. People gossip about her and her young husband, Tea Cake. Her grandmother's wants to marry Janie and finds the perfect fit, Logan Killicks. They marry and move in. One day, Joe Starks and Janie flirt and she runs off with him and marries him. They travel to Eatonville where Jody hopes to have a “big voice.” Jody makes some negative comments about Janie's appearance, so she does the same. Jody beats her for making fun of him and their marriage breaks down. Jody gets ill and he soon dies. Janie feels free for the first time in years. Later when she encouters Tea Cake, a man twelve years her junior, Janie is attracted to him. Despite negative gossip people made, she begins dating Tea Cake. Janie marries Tea Cake and leaves town to go with Tea Cake to Jacksonville. A terrible hurricane takes place in the Everglades, and as they flee the rising waters, a rabid dog bites Tea Cake. Tea Cake doesn’t realize the dog’s condition and three weeks later, he falls ill. Tea Cake becomes convinced that Janie is cheating on him. He shoots at Janie, and in order to save herself, she kills him. She is  put on trial for murder but all-male jury finds her not guilty.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

One of the themes in this book is about gender issues. Janie needs to get married to a man so that her life would be safe. This leads to the idea that women are dependent on men to protect them.

3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

Hurston’s main tones are celebratory and sympathy of the richness of African-American culture.

- "What she doin coming back here in dem overhalls? Can’t she find no dress to put on? – Where’s dat blue satin dress she left here in? – Where all dat money her husband took and died and left her? – What dat ole forty year ole ‘oman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down her back lak some young gal? – Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went off here wid? – Thought she was going to marry? – Where he left her? – What he done wid all her money? – Betcha he off wid some gal so young she ain’t even got no hairs – Why she don’t stay in her class? – "

- "Janie stood where he left her for unmeasured time and thought. She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was. It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered. But looking at it she saw that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams. Just some thing she had grabbed up to drape her dreams over. In a way she turned her back upon the image where it lay and looked further. She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man, neither any glistening young fruit where the petals used to be."

- "There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought. Nanny entered this infinity of conscious pain again on her old knees. Towards morning she muttered, "Lawd, you know mah heart. Ah done de best Ah could do." De rest is left to you." She scuffled up from her knees and fell heavily across the bed. A month later she was dead."
4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.

1)Allusion: The author makes references to the following -
     Civil War
     General Sherman Eatonville, Florida
     George Washington
     Abraham Lincoln
     Booker T. Washington

2) Metaphor: The use of this device allows me to make connections between the person being compared to the noun.

- "Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches."

3)Foreshadow: This device allows the readers to ascertain what's going to occur.

"Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien, but she dwindled all the rest of the day as she worked. And when she [Nanny] gained the privacy of her own little shack she stayed on her knees so long she forgot she was there herself….Towards morning she muttered, "Lawd, you know mah heart. Ah done de best Ah could do. De rest is left to you." She scuffled up from her knees and fell heavily across the bed. A month later she was dead.

4)Imagery : Helps me to visualize the text when I'm reading along. It leaves a better memory of the story.

- "She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid."

5)Symbolism: the head-rag Janie wears represents the constraints imposed on women by men in power.

Charles Dickens' Great Expectation

The significance of the title Great Expectations is from what Pip goes through in the book. By helping out a criminal who set him up with an inheritance, Pip now has money/"great expectations" coming his way and that he now is to become a gentleman instead of a blacksmith.