Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
Summer Essays
1.
Developing a Dickens Episode (attached): Choose one of the example descriptions and using vividly descriptive terms, depict that scene. Your grade will not only be based on how descriptive you are, but also on the vocabulary you use and how well you are able to incorporate Dickens’ style into your writing. You should also incorporate literary devices such as similes, metaphors, allusions, personification, etc.
2.
Dynamic characters are those who change as a result of a conflict. These changes are most noticeable when you compare a character’s first appearance with the last. Explain why both Magwitch and Miss Havisham are dynamic characters. Then identify five characters from the novel who are static, unchanging. Describe their unchanging natures.
3.
One of the major themes of Great Expectations is that appearances often do not reflect reality. Dickens reveals this theme both in the way he portrays individual characters and in the way he makes a particular character a foil to another. A foil is a character that intensifies the characteristics of another by possessing opposite traits.
In what ways do the following characters’ appearances not reflect the reality of their personalities: Estella,
Magwitch, Joe.
4.
Imagine that you are a scriptwriter and that you are proposing Great Expectations for a television mini-series.
Choose the scene that you consider the most dramatic in the novel, and adapt it into a television script. Your script should include both detailed stage directions and the characters’ dialogue.
5.
Great Expectations is divided into three stages, corresponding to the three stages of Pip’s spiritual journey on the road to manhood. Write an essay in which you identify what these three spiritual stages are. Explain the events and changes in Pip that mark his progression from one stage to the next.
6.
Part of Dickens’s style lies in his use of humor. Identify the situation or language that makes these scenes humorous. What serious points is Dickens making despite the humor?
Consider the following scenes:
*Mr. Wopsle’s great-aunt’s classroom (chapter 10)
*Pip’s fight with the “pale young gentleman” (chapter 11)
*Joe’s meeting with Miss Havisham (chapter 13)

LaGrange High School
Jessica Stamp, Instructor stampj@lgisd.net
512-739-7580
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
In order to remain in English I PreAP, students must complete the attached essays and research assignment and submit them to www.turnitin.com
. The research assignment is due on or before Monday, July 7, 2014, and the essays are due on or before Monday, August 11, 2014. Students must also pass a test given the second day of school over the novel
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens . Students who fail to complete the essays and research assignment on time or fail the novel test will be dropped from the class.
If a student should decide over the course of the summer not to stay enrolled in PreAP English I, he/she should call the high school office at 968-4800 as soon as possible and notify the school of the decision to drop the class.
Note that there are two endings to the novel. Be sure you read both.
The essays should be answered thoroughly using specific details, examples, and quotes from the novel Great
Expectations by Charles Dickens. All quotes should include the book’s page number. The essays must be a minimum of
300 words. Please proofread your answers for spelling and grammar errors. Responses must be typed in an easy-toread 12 point font. Double space your essays.
You may email me at stampj@lgisd.net if you have any significant questions during the summer. You must make arrangements to purchase or attain a copy of the novel so that you can properly annotate it during your reading. You may contact me privately with any concerns.
In order to submit the assignments, you must log on to http://www.turnitin.com
to register for English I PreAP 2014-15 class. This is where you will be submitting your summer research assignment and essays and many of your assignments throughout the school year.
If you do not have an email, you must create one first.
Login or create an account by using your email address and password www.turnitin.com
Section: English I Pre-AP Summer Assignment
**Class ID: 8025087 **Password: leopards
You must submit all your essays at one time in one attachment. You cannot submit them separately. You may want to register for this class before the end of the school year so that should you have a problem with registering, we can get it resolved before the summer break begins.
The first day of school, you should turn in all of the essays and research assignment in hard copy form in your folder. You will also complete the included analysis handouts: Casting the Characters, How to…(social etiquette), Artist
Collaboration, and Revenge.

Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
Dickens’s childhood had a significant effect on him and his writing. You may glean some of this information from the biographical information included in the book.
Dickens is well-known as a social critic. His novels often pointed out the need for reform in the education, law, and working conditions of his time. So what were education, law, and working conditions like in Dickens’s lifetime?
Research this time period in British history. Focus on education, law, and working conditions.
Why did Dickens feel there was a need for reform based on your findings?
Document your sources on a Works Cited (bibliography) page. See the included MLA format guidelines for quoting and listing sources. Your essay should be a minimum of 500 words with an introduction and conclusion after your body paragraph(s).