2.+Great+Expectations

Directions: your group is responsible for compiling and creating responses to all sections and will be graded on the completeness and accuracy of the information provided. In addition, your response must include material covered in class, not information "cut and pasted" from on-line study guides. Assignment is worth 100 points. Remember, you are helping your classmates by providing a complete response.

The story starts off with Pip, the narrator wandering around in the marshes near his home. He lives with his Sister and her husband Joe who is a common blacksmith. On his walk Pip comes a across a convict who threatens to kill him if he tells. Pip returns later that night with food and a file for the mysterious man. After his Uncle Pumblechook comes to visit Pip is sent off to aid Ms. Havisham, there he meets Estella and begins his journey to become a gentleman to impress the cold hearted girl. When he is a little older he receives word that he has come across great fortune by an unknown benefactor. Pip then moves to London to persue his practice of becoming a gentleman and rising in the social class with the help of his friend Herbert Pocket. Still in love with Estella he hears the heartbreaking news that she is to be married off to Drummel, a rich and arrogant man. The one night he comes across the man that threatened his life in the marshes, Magwitch (Provis). He then revels to Pip that he is his secret benefactor, not Ms. Havisham. At first Pip resents the fact that a convict helped change his life, but when Provis is arrested and dying Pip realizes that there is more to life than being a gentleman. He spends years working overseas for his friend, Herbert Pocket. After some years Pip and Estella are reunited as friends and end the story walking off together.
 * 1) Plot Summary (no more than 250 words please):**


 * 2) Major Characters, Description, and Relationships:**

**Wemmick -** Jagger's clerk.
Ironic Point of View- is between the narrator of the story and the author.Ex- Pip thinks his benefactor is Ms Havisham for a very long time. The benefactor turns out to be Magwitch. Also ironic in that someone so poor made someone else so rich.
 * 3) Literary Terms discussed in class (including a brief definition and how they relate to the text):**
 * Exposition**-The opening portion that sets the scene, introduces the main characters, and provides any additional background information that we need to know. Pip in the marshes in the opening chapters.
 * Irony**-The use of a word to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning.
 * Plot**-Pattern of actions, events, and situations. Ex: The entire story of G.E.
 * Protagonist**-the hero or usually the central character in the story. Pip
 * Setting**-time and place. Setting causes characters to act, bring them to realizations, or cause the to reveal their inmost natures. In London, Pip acts like a gentleman, whereas the Kent marshes returns him to his poor, humble roots.
 * Symbol**-a thing that suggests more than its literal meaning. Ex: Stopped clocks represent the time when Ms. Havisham was jilted on her wedding day. London represent Pip's gentleman way of life.
 * Tone**-Whatever leads us to infer the author’s attitude. Convey's the author's feelings. Tone in Great Expectations varies from Wry, Dark, and Dramatic, to Cheerful and Comical. Pip often speaks in morose tones when describing his relationship with Estella.


 * 4) How has the writer created meaning? In other words, what choices has he/she made in plot structure, point of view, character, setting, tone, style and/or symbol in order to convey meaning?:**

Point of View: Pip narrates the story in first person perspective, but as an older Pip looking back on his life. This lets him occasionally comment on his past decisions. Also, by narrating it in the first person, Dickens is able to create mystery. Since the reader cannot see into the mind of the other characters, such as Miss Havisham and Estella, we do not know who his benefactor is or what Miss Havisham’s true intentions are. Also, first person perspective allows Pip to include his bias on what happens to him. Character: Dickens uses character’s names to describe certain things about them, or what they represent. The name Pip means seed. Pip is like a seed, he has great potential to become something big, such as a gentleman. He grows and changes greatly throughout the novel. Estella’s name means star, because she is something that Pip looks up to but can never reach. Dickens also uses exaggerated characters to comment on society. Joe is very poor and simple, yet kind and affectionate. Pip learns in the end that Joe is the true gentleman, not someone who is proper and rich, but someone who cares about other people. Miss Havisham and Estella represent the cold and empty life the upper class and wealth can bring. Setting: Dickens uses setting a great deal in //Great Expectations.// The time period of the Victorian Era is important in shaping the roles of the different characters and their culture. It is also a way to both extend characterization and add symbolism. The marshes and London are the two extremes of Pip’s life, his beginnings as a blacksmith’s apprentice, to his life as a gentleman. Miss Havisham’s house is empty and falling apart, just as Miss Havisham is herself. Wemmick’s interesting house represents who he truly is, when he is away from Jagger’s office. When he is home, he is no longer cold and dry, but happy and whimsical. Also, parts of the setting can symbolize other things. For example, Dickens uses mist or fog to allude to danger approaching in the future. Style: One of //Great Expectations// most distinctive element of style is Dickens word choice. Since the characters are from varying social classes, he has each one of them speak in a unique way. This is especially evident in Joe’s simple vocabulary and way of speaking. Dickens also uses tone as a way of expressing how Pip feels about the situation he is in, because he is the narrator. Dickens’ use of irony adds surprise and suspense to the novel. For example, Pip believes that Miss Havisham is his benefactor and sends him to become a gentleman, but in fact it is a convict, who is the exact opposite of a gentleman. Symbol: Miss Havisham’s house holds many symbols that represent her character. The stopped clocks, her decaying wedding dress, and the wedding cake all represent her inability to move on from the past. She is stuck mentally in time, and her house is frozen in time too. However, the house, just like her mind, is decaying. There are also symbolic characters who represent certain aspects of society. Joe is simple minded and performs a dirty physical task, blacksmithing. He is the embodiment of the lower class. Estella, however, is the upper class. She is proud and proper, but cold and distant. **
 * Plot Structure: The novel is broken up into three sections. The first section is Pip as a child, who is untainted by the upper class. The second section is Pip as a gentleman in London. He is influenced by the upper class and becomes pretentious and proud. The third section is Pip’s return to the marshes, which shows his realization that he would be happier living a simple, honest life. Dickens also unfolds the plot slowly, leading to suspense and mystery.


 * 5) Themes/Motifs(at least 4):**


 * Social Class -** Social class the the main theme in Great Expectations. Everyone is concerned about their class in comparison to others. Pip is ashamed of being in the lower class and does not want to be a common man for the rest of his life. He has a desire to learn and he believes that is he goes to London when he moves up in class that happiness will come with it. Pip is embarrassed that Mr. Joe is a blacksmith and does not want to be his apprentice for life. Estella is the one who makes Pip feel like he will never be good enough. Although Pip becomes wealthy and moves up in class he quickly loses it and finds himself in debt. Pip ends up going back to the class he started at with the woman who made him feel like he would never suceed in the end.


 * Satis House -** The Satis House is where Pip's adventure truly began. Had he not gone to see Ms. Havisham he would not have met Estella and began to strive to be a gentleman to win her over. The Satis House holds alot of symbols that reflect Pips feelings towards the higher class and Ms. Havisham's unhappiness.


 * Irony-** The irony is that Provis, a convict is Pip' benefactor. As soon as Pip gained his wealth he assumed it was Ms. Havisham looking out for him. However, she was trying to spite him by dangling Estella in front of him. Irony also comes at the end of the story when Pip settles back down with Joe and Biddy and relinquishes his fortune for a humble life with a steady job.


 * Desire to better one self -** Pip was an orphan who was brought up by his older sister and her husband. They were members of the poor and lower class. Mr. Joe was a blacksmith and Mrs. Joe worked in the home. Pip did not want to follow in these footsteps. He wanted to become something more and not have the title "common man," as Mr. Joe did. He went through schooling and travels and experiences to finally not be considered in the lower class any longer. Once he bettered himself and had the fortune he dreamed of it was quickly lost. Pip rose above what is family thought he would be, a blacksmith, and turned out being with the girl who made him feel like nothing. He had a desire to get away from the life he was born into.


 * 6) Quotes from the text that capture major themes (at least 3):**

"There have been occasions in my later life (I suppose as in most lives) when I have felt for a time as if a thick curtain had fallen on all its interest and romance, to shut me out from anything save dull endurance any more. Never has that curtain dropped so heavy and blank, as when my way in life lay stretched out straight before me through the newly-entered road of apprenticeship to Joe" (124).

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day" (82).

"Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, and as I may say, one man's a blacksmith, one's a whitesmith, and one's a goldsmith, and one's a coppersmith. Diwisioins among such must come, and must be met as they come" (222).


 * 7) Interpretive Questions (at least 3):**

Was Pip better off naive?

Did Estella ever have any hidden feelings for Pip?

What would Ms. Havisham be like if she wasn't left at the alter?

Did Pip change over the course of the story, or did he basically remain the same person on the inside?


 * 8) Historical/Social Influences on text (include relevant author biography):**
 * // Great Expectations //**** takes place during the Victorian era, and many Victorian elements can be found in the novel. Women were expected to be housewives or teachers during this time, and all of women in //Great Expectations// are confined to the home. Mrs. Joe and Biddy stay at home and do housework. Miss Havisham is the extreme of this, she never allows herself to leave her house or even see the sun. The role of the gentleman was also a significant facet of Victorian society. Rising to the status of a gentleman and not contributing to society was a common goal. Pip too wishes more than anything else to become a gentleman. Etiquette was also very important during this time. It was a way to separate the upper class from the lower class. There is a great distinction between someone who is of the upper class, such as Miss Havisham, and someone from the lower class, such as Joe. Pip’s language changes during the novel as he becomes more educated and becomes a gentleman. The Victorian era also exhibited the height of child labor in factories, where many children were injured or killed while performing dangerous tasks. Pip has a hard childhood, where no one cares about his wellbeing, and he is beaten and abused by Mrs. Joe. **
 * Dickens put many of his personal experiences into this novel. When he was a child, his father was imprisoned for debt and Charles was sent to work in Warren’s Shoe Blacking Factory. Charles was traumatized by this experience, and it helped to inspire the themes of alienation and the orphaned, helpless child that appear in many of his novels. Dickens’ father took him out of the factory and sent him to school. His father is like Provis, a convict who takes Pip out of poverty and sends him to get an education. Charles also worked as an office boy for an attorney, just as Pip’s guardian is Jaggers, a lawyer. His father was arrested for debt again, and Dickens had to bail him out. Pip too has to help Provis escape the police in //Great Expectations//. Dickens also felt guilty about rising from his life of poverty to one of success, which comes through in many of his writings. Pip abandons his old, poor life for one of luxury, but feels remorse about it in the end. Dickens also falls in with a woman named Maria Beadnell, but her parents do not approve of their relationship. Pip is likewise not able to marry Estella because he is not a gentleman, and Estella believes she is too proper. **