Credits

All pictures on this blog are produced by www.yahoo.com and www.google.com. Please scroll down to the very bottom to see a picture of "Miss Havisham and Pip" and to also see a picture of "Charles Dickens". Thanks!!

Correction

To see "Great Expectations" - Reading Assignment #4, you must scroll down below "Great Expectations" - Reading Assignment #3. During the downloading post process, they got mixed up. Enjoy!!!!!!

"Great Expectations" - Reading Assignment #3

Pip, at this point, meets an old woman named Miss Havisham. Rich, and stuck in the past, she is extremely weird to Pip. He finds out that she is stuck in the past because her heart was broken from getting left at the isle on her wedding day.
The setting of her home was dark and dismal, so Charles Dickens is trying to set the mood of the Industrial Revolution.
Now, a niece of Miss Havisham was Estella. When Pip and her first met, she was believed to be "evil" to Pip because she had struck him. Then, at one point of his visit, he imagined Miss. Havisham hanging herself. To me, he felt that she was "dead inside" for her heart was broken and that took a toll on her, to the extreme that she stopped the clocks, which also symbolizes she wanted to stop time, to never grow old, maybe even have another chance at love. That would be hard now because she hates all men. From this experience, we also learn that Pip doesn't do well with non-friendly people at all.
Now, also, he finds out that he wants a great expectation for himself. It seems as if he realizes that there is more out there in is life than what he has now.
By this, I think we have to look at a bigger picture. Not that how Miss Havisham or Estella treats Pip, but how Pip takes this "badness" from them in the beginning. Say you just heard of Pip, didn't know his life, didn't know one single thing about him. You think his reaction to this cruelty would be to argue back, but he doesn't. He just takes it. To me, it seems as Charles Dickens is trying to get across that Pip shows true morality. Which, to me, is very brave, true and kind.

"Great Expectations" - Reading Assignment #4

For the next trip to Miss Havisham's, Mr. Joe comes along to find out more about Pip's apprenticeship. With his Sunday best on, Pip can tell Mr. Joe is getting more and more nervous as they draw closer to the house. Once entering the house, Joe's nervousness comes even bigger, leading to the point that when he "answers" Miss Havisham, he addresses Pip instead. With this action, Pip becomes angry and embarrassed by Joe. He knows this is wrong but he can't help.

*I think Pip can't help this feeling because he is so used to seeing Joe as a strong influence on his life, that he wishes Joe would show that "strongness" to Miss Havisham.

Returning to the meeting, Miss Havisham gives Mr. Joe twenty-five pounds. This is the simple fact that Pip's behavior and understanding was worth rewarding. Having no need to stay there, they leave. Though, Pip wants to stay because over time, he fell in love with Estella.

When they returned home, they had gotten the news that Mrs. Joe was attacked by one of the convicts. Left paralyzed by this, Biddy (one of Pip's teachers) comes to live with the Gargerys and take care of everything.

Now, since Biddy is taking care of Mrs.Joe, a man named Matthew Pocket becomes Pip's new tutor. Eventually, he learns that Pip "Great Expectation" is to become a gentleman.

*With this in mind, a few questions have to follow. One: Will Pip reach his Great Expectation? Two: Since Pip wanted Biddy to teach and comfort Joe, will anything between them(Biddy and Joe) happen such as a relationship?
* Overall, acts of kindness could change a person. How? For example, Miss Havisham hated all men, though she rewarded Pip because of his acts of kindness. Another is Biddy taking care of Joe. Her act of kindness towards him may lead to something more.

"Great Expectations" - Reading Assignment #2

During the Christmas dinner, no one noticed anything missing, though Pip still was very nervous and couldn't stop thinking of himself as a thief. So, when it was time for Mrs. Joe to bring out the meat pie, Pip started running. He didn't get far, for the police had stopped him at the door, though the only reason they were at Pip's house was because the police needed Joe to fix their handcuffs.
Now, I will discuss the main points that should be thought of while reading this assignment.
The first point is morality. Pip has true morality because he is being good to others, even though he knows there may be consequences that follow. He also shows responsibility for others. Aren't we all responsible for seeing if we could help others? Such as how Pip helped Magwich get food.A perfect example of false morality is Mrs. Joe. "Behind closed doors", she is an abusive, nasty, uncaring woman, though that changes when friends are around. She acts as if she is a sweet, gentle, and caring woman. This is false morality because she is actually cheating Pip, the people around her, and herself. This act is also known as dehumanizing.Another point I would like to make is how the Industrial Revolution had a corrupt society. In which, again, Mrs. Joe takes part in for her false morality.
Now, if you could think in Pip's point of view, how confused he must be with all these, "lies". Reality is a hard thing to grip for Pip, especially when he is "living" with false morality.In my opinion, I sometimes think we could get fact and fiction mixed up. By this, I mean we could get what is right and what is wrong confused. Just as how Mrs. Joe expresses it by showing two different personalities as different times towards different people. Mixing up reality with fantasy.

LETS VOTE!!!!

CHECK OUT THE WEEKLY POLLS POSTED ON *ANNA JAMES'S BLOG* WEEKLY AND VOTE!!!!!!!! THIS WILL GET AN IDEA ON EVERYONES OPINION!!!!!!

"Great Expectations" - Reading Assignment #1

Pip was looking down at his parents grave, lost in his own thoughts. Those thoughts were disturbed when a rugged, scary looking man approached him, ordering him to bring him wittles and a file. He had approached this by threatening the poor, small boy by saying he would cut him open, though all he really did physically was hang him upside down, which shows that he isn't as threatening as he puts himself out to be. He also shows this trait when he describes another "young man that is just as bad as himself". Does that really show toughness? Not at all. So, the next morning, Pip goes into Mrs. Joe cabinet and steals bread, liquor, and a meat pie, while then taking a file from Mr. Joe. His thoughts were racing because he didn't want to be thief, but what is more important, feeding a hungry and cold man, or stealing just because it is wrong? When Pip finally brought the food to the convict, he returned the favor by showing him a bit of kindness and respect.
These threats weren't as bad as what he got at home. His sister, Mrs. Joe, was a very hateful person towards Pip. This is for the simple fact that she blamed him for not moving ahead in life, though we all know you could move ahead in life with or without extra responsibilities. Now, her relationship with Pip was very rotten, for she brought him up by hand, which means she hit him and abused him. The only good relationship he has is with Mr. Joe, who sticks up for him a lot and makes him feel better most of the time about few problems in his life, though a question always arose. If he is getting abused by his sister, why don't Joe step in. This is because she is the head of the house, making all decisions.
So, on Christmas Eve, Pip couldn't take it anymore, with his thoughts about getting in trouble for stealing, he just started running out of the house, until a group of soldiers stopped him. His heart raced faster.

Now, I think it was right for Pip to steal that food to feed this starving, cold man. Of course, stealing is bad, but that is only if you're doing it for your pleasure. In this case, he was doing this for the act of goodness.
This simple act shows that Pip is the kind of person who cares for others, even though of how is life is. You would think that with such an ugly life, Pip would be the complete opposite of caring and compassionate for others.

"Great Expectations" - Getting the General Idea

"Great Expectations" is about a boy named Pip who is in search of finding his great expectation. In this time, during the Industrial Revolution, it is hard for a boy with his status in society to get very far in life. Being that his parents are dead, and having an abussive sister that raises him up by hand, life for Pip isn't very "peachie". The only good thing he has is Mr. Joe, his sister's husband. They get along great, being good friends, but Pip still isn't happy.

So, in the next few blogs, you, dear reader, will go through and witness events in Philip Pirrip's life, seeing how he reaches his "Great Expectation".

In my opinion, I think we could all relate to this book in some ways. By this, I mean we all have great expectations for ourselves, such as being a doctor or the next President one day. Of course we're not living in time like Pip, but we all want our dreams to come true, no matter how much hard work we put into it, just like Pip.

How The Industrial Revolutoin Shaped Our World

The Industrial Revolution was a great time when major changes had been made to areas of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation all over the world. These changes also influenced the world today. Socially, the rising middle class led to the discovery of "ordinary" people finding many opportunities for employment in factories and other good paying jobs, though the long hours and extremely fast paced work was considered very cruel. The child labor law created a need for the government to eliminate the law of children as young as nine to work in such horrible conditions. These major changes didn't end there. The Industrial Revolutin was started with the textile industry, eventually influencing iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined oils and chemicals, resulting in improved roads, railways, and canals. The economic influences of this great event would amend the way politicians and government looked at the world. After the government had made the correct adjustments, it was decided that they must play a more active role in business and economy. Therefore, many people, including business owners, moved towards a mixed economy where a free market and government could share the authorization of the economy. In conclusion, the Industrial Revolution was a time for change, discovery, and hard work. All this time and energy would eventually lead to a Second Industrial Revolution.

Who is Charles Dickens?

Charles Dickens was, and still is, one of the most famous and respected writers of our time. Born in 1812, he had painful childhood memories, which some say is what lead him to write some of his most famous stories such as Great Expectations, Bleak House, and A Tale of Two Cities.

At the age of 22, he joined a London newspaper, which helped him for his journalism career.

Then, 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth. They had 10 kids, but soon seperated in 1858. After this, he worked relentlessly at creating characters in a "shakespear" type of way.

Now, even after his death in 1870, his novels still provide the basis for many successful theatre and plays.

In my opinion, I think Charles Dickens was a creative writer, telling about how people lived in different times, though I think some of his novels would have been more interesting if he would have put a lot more personal experiences in his stories. Yes, of course he uses characters in a book, but I think you would connect to his stories a lot more of he said it was him who went through this. Maybe he should've written an autobiography, then I think a lot more people of his time and our time would understand what he meant through his writing.