Examine how dickens’ description of character and setting contribute to the creation of the mood in three different points in the novel Great Expectations. Great expectations. In this piece of coursework I am going to examine how dickens’ description of character and setting contribute to the creation of the mood in three different points in the novel. I am going to explain three important chapters that shape the play, Firstly I will be looking at the opening graveyard scene where Pip meets Magwitch, this is very important as it shapes his future. The second chapter I will be looking at is Chapter Eight at Miss Havishams house, where Pip meets Estella and begins to fall in love with her. And finally Chapter Twenty-Five at Wemmicks house where Pip learns how to become a Gentleman. Firstly I am going to look at the graveyard scene. This chapter is where we first see evidence of Dickens’ gothic style. The graveyard was a “bleak place overgrown with nettles” referring to the church and the graveyard. This gothic style fits in very well with this chapter as Dickens has set the scene in a graveyard next to a church. This, together with the overgrown nettles and neglected grass makes the graveyard quite an eerie place to be. The area beyond the graveyard is described as “dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard”. This description suggests that Pip could see for miles along the marshland and could also see if there was anybody else around. The fact that Pip is supposedly alone in the graveyard also adds an element of eeriness to the chapter. Dickens uses alliteration to describe the horizon as a “low leaden line” here he is using alliteration to refer to the horizon and by using the word “leaden” he is describing how dark, grey and heavy the horizon is. When we meet the convict he is made to seem frightening to the “small bundle of shivers” which is Pip. Dickens describes the convicts appearance, words and actions as terrifying. He is a “fearful man, all in coarse grey”. The colour he is wearing, a coarse grey, makes the convict appear dark and mysterious with a side of danger. However he also appears to have suffered a great deal and we see this later in the sentence where it says “ a man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered,
As human beings, it is becoming more of a second nature to us to multi-task. As the world is technologically advancing more and more every day, there are becoming more distractions. Social-media is flourishing, reality TV show ratings are going up, and humans even unintentionally check their phones every two minutes. In this day of age, multi-tasking is proving to promote inefficiency rather than productivity.
I think this applies to both of the openings of the films as in the
In response to how fast everything around us, our brain has had to adapt. In his essay, Restak says, “we can be at two places at one time.” For example, you can be talking to someone in person but texting someone else at the same time. Technology has made it possible for us to contact someone in the other side of the world without having to be there in person. This makes us immediately available in more than one place at a time. Yet all of this has to do with our ability to what we call multitasking. Multitasking is something everyone does every day whether they realize it or not. As I said before, when you are talking to a friend and texting someone else at the same time you are multitasking. This is just another example of a way the human brain has had to adapt. Yet this also may not be as efficient as many people would think. In his essay, Restak supports this when he writes, “When you are multitasking your attention at any given moment is directed more towards one of the activates that you are doing rather than both at the same time. Your frontal lobes (which are the main control centers toward the front of your brain) must shift goals and activate new rules of operation. You also encourage different sensory experiences, which makes it harder and takes even longer to get one thing done.” Our brains are designed to work more efficiently when it works on a single task. Until very recently our minds have had to
Many would remark that multitasking is a skill that can be trained like all others. However, a lot of neuroscience has went into proving that multitasking is a myth altogether. The article “The Myth of Multitasking” is written by Nancy K. Napier for Psychology today is here to debunk the myth of the brain’s capability to multitask. The article states that the brain is incapable of doing two things at once. Instead, the way that we fool ourselves into thinking that we can multitask is how quickly our brain switches from one task to another. Our brains can’t perform tasks simultaneously as our focus is a narrow beam. So, to compensate for this, our brain switches between these two tasks very quickly, almost as if we are doing them at the same
had raised a storm to drown to try and drown him then had made a wax
In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens uses diction and imagery to illustrate how if one bases their dreams and aspirations on the values of a society that prizes materialism over character, they will face a life of devoid unhappiness through the character of Pip. In the novel, Pip finds it impossible to change social classes when Joe declares, “That ain't the way to get out of being common. . . as to being common . . . You are uncommon in some things. You're uncommon small . . .
Samuel corrects this outcome in her article by explaining, “Whether it’s an overflowing inbox, a backlog of unread articles or a Twitter feed that moves faster than we can read, most of us are suffering from an information overload.” By having multiple programs open at once, such as a web browser, word processor, and email application, people are overloading themselves with too much information, and are therefore less efficient. Richtel explains how multitasking has been scientifically proven to be less efficient by stating, “While many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting down irrelevant information, scientists say, and they cause more stress.” By only selecting one task at a time to complete, one can stop the information overload causing the loss of focus and the ability to let go of useless figures and programs. However, a loss of focus is not only the consequence of multitasking. A disorder, or as Sam Horn describes it, “. . . a distinctive type of brain organization,” called ADHD causes odd behaviors such as restlessness in children and impatience in adults (Restak 413-414). Restak describes ADHD’s involvement in the workplace by stating, “In order to be successful in today’s workplace you have to incorporate some elements of ADD/ADHD” (416). Multitasking has made the behaviors stated above normal in the workplace, but the symptoms from ADHD or ADD can be limited by reserving a person’s attention to one matter at a time. Though working on only one task at a time may seem less efficient at first, having to switch between programs could cause a loss of focus due to the many distractions such programs could bring
I have chosen to look at how the relationship of Pip and Magwitch develops during the novel. I have chosen 3 key scenes in which Magwitch and pip meet and I will look at how each is portrayed in terms of character, development, setting and the messages or morals that dickens is trying to convey.
“as I never saw my mother or father” from this quote alone we can see
New hat and old jerkin; a pair of old breeches thrice turned; a pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one buckled another laced; an old rusty sworde…with a broken hilt and chapeless; his horse hipped…with an old mothy saddle
In Great Expectations, the three main settings: the Forge, Satis House and London affect the atmosphere of the novel, as well as Pip’s emotions. The three main locations make Pip who he is, and it represents the aspects of himself – his hopes, fear, pride, and shame. Each of these three locations has symbolic characters which represents the aspects of Pip and also the mood.
Many professors, analysts, and common readers believe that Great Expectations was possibly the best work of Charles Dickens. Perhaps it was because of the diverse themes displayed by Dickens, which modulate as the story progresses. A clear example of the measures taken by the author to create diversity, is the application of irony. Dickens uses Rony to create suspense and conflict in plot events related to Estella, Miss Havisham, the convict, Joe, and Mrs. Joe.
Why do we to multitask? A lot of things factor into why we choose to multitask. The combination of busy lives and lack of time cause us to do whatever we can to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible, even if that means attempting to do more than one task at a time. Tugend states, “Although doing many things at the same time… can be a way of making tasks more fun and energizing” (725). We may feel like multitasking makes tasks easier to accomplish, but in reality it doesn’t
The Treatment of the Theme of Childhood in Great Expectations In this novel Dickens shows the treatment of childhood in many ways. and through many of the characters. In the opening few chapters of the novel Dickens shows his opinions of childhood through Philip Pirrip, otherwise known as Pip. Pip is first seen in a graveyard on his own reading the tombstones of his other family members who he never knew.
To be able to locate and analyze themes of novels, such as Great Expectations, it is essential to understand the basic definition of a theme: It is a fundamental and often universal idea explored in a literary work. For instance, if we take a closer look at the story of Pip, we discover that the main idea behind the story is ambition and self improvement, which is correlated to the preceding minor themes, including social class, crime, guilt and innocence.