Annotations of Great Expectations
Annotation means
A. Marking- highlighting, underlining, starring, bracketing, circling, using parentheses
B. Taking a “note” or writing something
You must both mark and take a note. What kind of note?
 sometimes a LABEL is enough
 sometimes you need to write what it MEANS
 sometimes you need to write what it SHOWS
 sometimes you need to write how it CONNECTS to something earlier in the story/fits a PATTERN
 sometimes you might SPECULATE or QUESTION
A good annotator does some of ALL of these, depending on what is being annotated.
*****Each chapter needs a one sentence summary (think compound/complex) at the end, in present tense.
*****Each chapter needs a title (capitalized appropriately) which you write on the first page of the chapter. Use
present tense.
Chapter 1 Annotate the characters as you meet them. Put a character trait by each one that you meet.
 Annotate three different places Dickens uses parallel structure.
 Annotate diction which establishes the bleak mood.
 Annotate two examples of dialect, imagery and figurative language in the paragraph beginning, “The
marshes were just….”
 Look up gibbet and write a synonym beside it.
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 2.
 Allusion characterizing Joe
 Major passages of characterization of Mrs. Joe and Joe- beside each, jot down what TRAIT that
passage illustrates
 Vivid verbs used to show Mrs. Joe slicing bread, including one of our vocab words!
 Locate and define in the margin: consternation, remonstrance
 Important hints/plot facts about the convict and Hulks
 Examples of Pip’s naiveté and innocence
 Personification on the last page
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 3
 First two paragraphs- annotate all figurative language- the similes, metaphors, personification--and label
each. In margin, make a note about the purpose and effect of these uses of figurative language.
 Consonance in the second paragraph
 Pathos
 Animal imagery
 Details about the first man Pip encounters in this chapter AND more details about the man from Ch 1.
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 4
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Highlight five SAT-level words that you do not know and put a synonym for the word in the margin
The Christmas guests- characteristics and identity
Humor
Pathos
Treatment/role/status of children
Suspense Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 5.
 Key plot events- particularly how the convicts are apprehended
 The relationship between the second convict and the first convict's ("Pip's convict)
 Pip’s convict’s acceptance of blame for Pip's deeds
 Find the paragraph beginning, "As I watched them..." and annotate the metaphor in the first sentence.
 Also find and annotate the irony Pip is observing in this paragraph.
 Finally, annotate the parallelism in this paragraph.
 Two examples of wry humor in the chapter
 Allusion and imagery in last paragraph
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 6
 Pip's conscience
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 7
 Details of what goes on in the "school" Pip goes to
 Biddy- characterization
 Paragraph that begins "Much of my unassisted self...."- simile and personification
 Paragraph that begins "in order to__"(the purpose of these two figurative languages being used)
 Bracket Joe's explanation of why he did not go to school.
 In the margin, what is Dickens's social criticism here?
 Pathos in Joe's story of his marriage and the taking in of little Pip....
 Humor
 Introduction of Miss Havisham and the plan for Pip to go there
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 8
 --Zoom in--Use the first sentence as a vocabulary and diction study.
 A corn chandler is a corn seller. (Do you see why many people of today have inherited the name
Chandler? Wheeler? Fisher? Hunter?)
 Make a note about what the words peppercorny and farinaceous mean, and then suggest why Dickens
made these specific (oddly humorous) diction choices to describe Pumblechook's shop.
 Zoom back out: Annotate details of Pumblechook's treatment of Pip and what that says about
Pumblechook (characterization)
 Estella. Highlight details of her comments, her appearance, her attitude
 Note Pip's first view of the brewery. Highlight its characteristics and make a note about its mood.
 Highlight the name of the house and its definition as given by Estella.
 Miss Havisham. Note the details and write in the margin your impressions of her as you go--what kind of
person is she? Why is she living like she lives and doing as she does? Speculate.
 Mark carefully what Estella says about Pip when told to play with him.
 Continue to note her behavior and treatment of Pip throughout the book.
 Annotate how Pip begins to feel about himself as the day progresses.
 Continue to note his feelings about Estella and in response to her treatment of him throughout the book.
 Annotate Pip's tears and why he sheds them.
 In the paragraph, "To be sure, it was a deserted place," zoom in to parallelism.
 Also in that paragraph, Dickens makes an analogy or comparison between items in the yard and a
certain kind of person. What is the analogy, and why does Dickens make it here, in this chapter?
 Pip has a weird, surrealistic vision on the next- to- last page or so. What does he see? Why would
Dickens place this here? Annotate and speculate.
 As the chapter ends, please mark the anaphora AND Pip's attitude.
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 9
 Highlight "vicious in my reticence" and write why you think he feels this way (parag. 3).
 Annotate Pip's outrageous prevarications about his visit to Satis House.
 Mark Pip's confession to Joe.
 Mark Joe's final advice to Pip.
 Even though Pip recognizes Joe's wisdom, mark what he thinking as he lies down and falls asleep.
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 10
 Pip opens with a new resolution. Mark it, as well as the means he will use to accomplish it.
 Annotate the humorous aspects of Pip's "education."
 A stranger appears at the bar. Be very aware of this person and annotate accordingly.
 The observant reader annotates the appearance of....A FILE!
 And a whole shilling for Pip! WRAPPED IN EVEN MORE PAPER MONEY!
 Annotate Pip's feelings at the end of the chapter.
 Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.
Chapter 11
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Annotate the clock on the first page.
New characters: Why are they here? Who are they?
Annotate their LAST NAME. Always notice Dickens's names. He is often telling you something.
You now meet another key player--annotate this man coming down the stairs. Highlight the smell of his
hands.
Annotate the details of the weird room Pip goes into--all the creepy things there. Are you starting to put
together what happened to Miss Havisham long ago?
The Pockets talk about how terrible they feel about poor Miss Havisham's situation...how bad and sick it
makes them feel....(ingratiating themselves into her will, they hope). Annotate what Miss H says about
what will happen when she dies.
Outside, later, Pip encounters a most remarkable boy and has a very odd experience. Annotate this.
Annotate the kiss.
Annotate the fire of the forge at the very end. Watch for Dickens's use of the forge and its light as a
symbol. Think back to what the forge is to Pip and with whom it is associated.
Complete your chapter title and summary sentence.