Transcript Great Expectations Study Guide1

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What narrative point of view has Dickens
chosen for this novel?
What can the reader expect in a story told
from this point of view?
Briefly describe the convict. What evidence
is there that the convict has human
qualities and is not merely a criminal?
How does Dickens establish the social class
of the convict?
How does Dickens create some sympathy
for the convict?
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Contrast Pip’s description of Mrs. Joe with
his description of Joe.
What important exposition
(explanation/clarification) is the reader
given in this chapter?
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How does the setting mirror Pip’s state of
mind?
In what ways does Pip show himself to be a
compassionate young boy?
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3.
How does Chapter 4 begin and end?
What observation does Pip make about
Joe’s dress and appearance?
What are the sources of humor in this
chapter?
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5.
How is the capture of the two convicts
ironic?
What facts do we learn about the convicts
in this chapter?
What does the treatment of the stolen pie
suggest about the characters of the convict
and Joe?
Why does the convict go out of his way to
clear Pip of any blame for the missing food?
What indications show that the plotline of
the convict is not over?
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Why does Pip love Joe? What reason does
he give for keeping the truth of his crimes
from Joe?
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3.
Chapter 7 is the end of the third weekly
installment of the book. What structural
purpose does it serve?
How are Biddy and Pip alike?
Compare Joe’s dialect with the convict’s
(which was shown in Chapter 1).
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How does Dickens ridicule the city
businessmen in this chapter? What does the
reader learn about Mr. Pumblechook from a
glimpse into his home life?
Why is the Manor House also called Satis
House?
How is the name “Satis House” ironic?
Describe Miss Havishman in detail and her
interaction/feelings towards Pip.
How has Pip’s character developed after
interacting with Estella?
1. How does Dickens reinforce Pip and Joe’s closeness?
Use the following passage from the book to answer the
next two questions.
“That was a memorable day to me, for it made great
changes in me. But, it is the same way 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” (55).
2. What “links” in Pip’s “chain” are begun the day he
visits Satis House?
3. What effect is created by Dickens allowing his adult
narrator to pause in the narrative and address the
reader directly?
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What steps does Pip take to improve
himself?
What two things does the stranger do to
suggest a connection with the convict from
the beginning of the book?
What is the “invisible gun” referred to in
Dickens’ description of the stranger? How
does this connect to Pip’s nightmares?
What two major plotlines begin to converge
at the end of this chapter?
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4.
Describe the Pockets.
What is the significance of Pip’s saying of
the man he meets on the stairway, “He was
nothing to me, and I could have had no
foresight then, that he ever would be
anything to me”?
Explain the effect Dickens is creating by
using the 1st-person protagonist narrator.
What suspicions about Miss Havisham are
confirmed for the reader in this chapter?
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6.
Pip fights a young man. How does the young
man inspire Pip with great respect?
In the following passage, what is the
significance of the light from Joe’s forge?
“…when I neared home the light on the spit
of sand off the point on the marshes was
gleaming against a black night-sky, and
Joe’s furnace was flinging a path of fire
across the road” (72).