Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 529 views

    Great Expectations Style

    Uploaded by

    Petrushevska Slavica
    This document provides an overview of Charles Dickens' writing style in his novel Great Expectations and discusses how the novel was originally published. It notes that Dickens employed vivid vocabulary, complex sentences, and cliffhanger endings between chapters and installments to engage readers as the story unfolded serially over time in weekly magazines. Originally published this way between 1860 and 1861, Great Expectations became hugely popular and helped increase one magazine's circulation significantly. The document also outlines how a workshop will attempt to replicate the experience of reading the novel serially over several sessions, with an agreement that participants will not read ahead.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Great Expectations Style

    Uploaded by

    Petrushevska Slavica
    529 views2 pages
    This document provides an overview of Charles Dickens' writing style in his novel Great Expectations and discusses how the novel was originally published. It notes that Dickens employed vivid vocabulary, complex sentences, and cliffhanger endings between chapters and installments to engage readers as the story unfolded serially over time in weekly magazines. Originally published this way between 1860 and 1861, Great Expectations became hugely popular and helped increase one magazine's circulation significantly. The document also outlines how a workshop will attempt to replicate the experience of reading the novel serially over several sessions, with an agreement that participants will not read ahead.

    Original Description:

    /

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document provides an overview of Charles Dickens' writing style in his novel Great Expectations and discusses how the novel was originally published. It notes that Dickens employed vivid vocabulary, complex sentences, and cliffhanger endings between chapters and installments to engage readers as the story unfolded serially over time in weekly magazines. Originally published this way between 1860 and 1861, Great Expectations became hugely popular and helped increase one magazine's circulation significantly. The document also outlines how a workshop will attempt to replicate the experience of reading the novel serially over several sessions, with an agreement that participants will not read ahead.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    529 views2 pages

    Great Expectations Style

    Uploaded by

    Petrushevska Slavica
    This document provides an overview of Charles Dickens' writing style in his novel Great Expectations and discusses how the novel was originally published. It notes that Dickens employed vivid vocabulary, complex sentences, and cliffhanger endings between chapters and installments to engage readers as the story unfolded serially over time in weekly magazines. Originally published this way between 1860 and 1861, Great Expectations became hugely popular and helped increase one magazine's circulation significantly. The document also outlines how a workshop will attempt to replicate the experience of reading the novel serially over several sessions, with an agreement that participants will not read ahead.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Greenblatt ellengreenblatt.

    com

    Workshops

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens


    An Introduction to Style
    Diction:
    Dickens' uses a large and colorful vocabulary in his novels, and GE
    is no exception. For a beginning example of his word choice, see the
    description of Mrs. Joe in paragraph 3 of chapter 2. Words here build
    to create the view of Mrs. Joe" "impregnable," coarse," "red,"
    "nutmeg grater," etc. Also, the sentence fragment at the end lends
    immediacy.
    Syntax: The structure of Dickens' sentences is one of the hallmarks
    of his style. His use of parallelism, subordination, coordination,
    fragments, periodic sentences, and a mix of long and short
    sentences are all noteworthy. See chapter 1 paragraph 3, 3rd
    sentence for an example of his use of subordination and of the
    periodic sentence.
    Paragraphs: How are they organized? From the specific to the
    general or the general followed by example? Inductive or
    deductive?
    Chapters: Since the novel was first published as a serial, note that
    the chapters are short. Look at the first and last sentences of the
    chapters. If your edition shows where different installments ended,
    see how Dickens crafted the cliffhanger which would induce his
    readers to rush out for the next installment.
    Stages: Here, even more than in the chapters, there is a sense of a
    crafted end and beginning. Why did Dickens set the novel in stages?
    How does he play upon the notion of Eden and the Expulsion?

    The Cancelled Conclusion: Dickens, at the urging of his publisher,


    wrote a new ending to the novel. After you have read the whole novel,
    you will be able to assess which ending you think is most appropriate.

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens


    (in installments)

    Greenblatt ellengreenblatt.com

    Workshops

    Charles Dickens' novel, Great Expectations was first published in weekly


    magazine installments between December 1, 1860 and August 3, 1861. This
    meant that readers had to wait a week between episodes. In the hiatus, they
    could wonder about the plot and worry about characters who began to seem
    like friends.
    The magazine in England in which Dickens published Great
    Expectations, a magazine called All The Year Round,* was having circulation
    problems before he started, but the appearance of Great Expectations
    changed all that. After a few episodes, the printing of over 100,000 copies per
    week became necessary. Dickens knew how to engage his readers' anxiety,
    sympathy and curiosity. He also understood the power of the maxim: "Make
    'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em wait."
    Obviously, publishing as he wrote meant Dickens could not revise the
    whole manuscript. But to an amazing extent, he was able to remember what
    he had written and to proceed accordingly. His work became hugely popular
    and, when it was published together, became a staple of libraries which made
    a business of renting copies to subscribers.
    We will try to replicate, after 140 years, the pleasure (and vexation) of
    reading serially. Because of time constraints, we will read 2 installments
    together. YOU MUST READ THE ASSIGNMENT BY THE DUE DATE, BUT, UNDER
    NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU PERMITTED TO READ AHEAD. YOU
    MUST SIGN HERE TO AGREE!!
    I HEREBY SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL NEVER READ AHEAD
    IN GREAT EXPECTATIONS. I WILL, HOWEVER, KEEP UP WITH
    ASSIGNMENTS (which will appear on the syllabus).
    YOUR SIGNATURE______________________________
    * In the U.S., Great Expectations was published in Harper's Weekly.
    [Information on this page comes from an article by Robert L. Patten (Rice University),
    published by The Dickens Project, UC Santa Cruz.]

    You might also like