Reading Assignment 3

Uncle Pumblechook escorts Pip to Miss Havisham's home to play. A girl about Pip's age, named Estella, greets them at the gate. Estella then takes Pip to Miss Havisham. Dressed in an old wedding gown, wearing one white slipper, and flowers in her hair, Pip finds Miss Havisham to be quite strange. Miss Havisham mentions that her heart is broken and wants to see Pip play. Therefore, Estella comes to play cards with Pip. He then notices that all of the clocks are stopped at the same time. He later discovers that Miss Havisham's wedding was cancelled at exactly twenty minutes to nine while she was getting dressed in her room. Since then she has left everything exactly how it was that morning. Miss Havisham asks Pip what he thinks of Estella. He replies that she is proud, pretty and insulting. Miss Havisham wants Pip to love Estella because she knows that Estella will never want him. She wants Pip's heart to be broken. Pip was given permission to explore the yard and premises. It is plain that Estella is pleased when Pip is upset and humiliated. While walking, Pip spots Miss Havisham hanging by the neck on a wooden beam. Frightened, Pip ran and returned but only sees Estella walking around the area he just saw Miss Havisham. This shows that even if Miss Havisham dies, it will not matter because Estella is just like her. Miss Havisham wants her revenge on the male sex because of what happened on her wedding day. As a result of Estella's actions, Pip returns home thinking how much of a common boy he is. This is exactly what Miss Havisham wants.

Reading Assignment 2

Early in the morning, Pip leaves to find the convict at the Battery. On his way, Pip meets another convict who Pip believes is the young man that was previously spoken of. Pip finds his convict and gives him the wittles and the file. Pip asks him if he will be saving any food for the young man. Immediately, the man acts startled and furiously files the iron around his leg. He is realizing that he is not alone.

When Pip returns home, Mrs. Joe is preparing Christmas dinner. Throughout dinner, Pip cannot stop thinking about the pork pie that he stole that it to be dessert for everyone after the main meal. When Mrs. Joe leaves to get the pork pie, Pip runs towards the front door out of guilt and finds a sergeant standing with handcuffs. The officer is looking for Joe so that he can fix the cuffs. Pip thought that the officer was coming to get him because he stole to help a convict. The officers are leaving to steak out the runaway convicts and Mr. Woplse, Pip, and Joe tag along. The group finally finds the two convicts fighting in a ditch in the Battery. I think they were fighting about whose idea it was to escape. The convict that Pip helped spots Pip on Joe's back. Pip tries to make the convict understand that he had nothing to do with it before he boards the ship. Pip's convict explains that he stole the food from Joe's home. Pip and Joe silently agree that it was not completely wrong because no one should ever starve.

One night when Mrs. Joe is out with Uncle Pumblechook, Pip is home practicing writing. Pip then realizes that Joe cannot read because he was unable to go to school. Throughout their conversation it is understood that Joe wishes a better life for Pip. With Mrs. Joe's return, she reports that Miss Havisham wants to have Pip over to play at her home uptown. Although Pip does not know who Miss Havisham is, Mrs. Joe appears to be excited about the invite.

Reading Assignment 1

Near Christmastime, Pip Pirrip was observing the tombstones of his late parents when a frightening man approached and threatened him. The man was dressed in raggy clothing with iron on his leg. The man demands a file and “wittles” or food. The man also tells Pip of a young man who could do much more harm to Pip if he does not follow orders. Pip then runs home after the man leaves. Pip lives with his sister, Mrs. Joe, who is 20 years older than Pip, and her husband, Joe, who works as a blacksmith. Mrs. Joe is admired in their community for bringing Pip up by hand. This means that Mrs. Joe beats him so that he learns lessons and behaves. Over the years, Pip has developed a friendship with Joe, who has always warned Pip when Mrs. Joe is on a “ram-page”, even though Joe gets his own share of beatings as well. On a “ram-page”, Mrs. Joe uses the tickler; a stick with hardened wax on the end used for punishments.
Later that night, Pip steals some alcohol, bread, pork pie, and a file from Mr. and Mrs. Joe for the man at the cemetery. Pip feels guilty for stealing from his guardians but he does not want to let a person starve to death. On his way, Pip sees a figure sitting in the cemetery. Thinking it is the man Pip spoke to earlier, he approaches him and thinks that it is the young man that was brought up during the man’s and Pip’s conversation earlier. When Pip finds the correct man, he asks him if he will save any food for the young man. Realizing he is not alone, he immediately asks Pip about the young man’s whereabouts and fiercely files his iron as Pip walks home.

Pip-Character Analysis

Philip Pirrip is the main character of the classic book: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. The name "Pip" is well chosen based on what this character thinks, feels, and does. One definition of the name Pip is "a small seed of a fruit". If this is the definition that Dickens was going by, then he could of had meant that Pip starts out small protected under another's wing. In the novel, Joe looks out for Pip's best interest. For example, Joe has always let Pip know when Mrs. Joe was out on her "rampage". Someday Pip will become someone important and with a beautiful personality and lifestyle, possibly protecting someone of his own. A second feasible interpretation of Pip is "a young bird breaking out of a shell". Assuming that this may be Dickens's chosen terminology, Pip may be shy and "small" now but in the near future he will branch out and succeed and make a big difference. Finally, another practical explanation of Dickens's reasoning of naming the main character Pip could be "to defeat (an opponent)". If so, this could mean that Pip will win a silent battle between himself and another character such as Miss Havisham or Estella. I personally believe that Pip will "break out of his shell" and reach out to achieve personal success.

An Influence in Time

Lasting from about the late 18th century to the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was not only a part of the historical timeline but it also left an extraordinary impact on the United States. The Industrial Revolution had positive and negative affects on society because it increased production but made some people poorer. The quote: "You've got to have money to make money" shows that the upper class had better luck. Between 1860 and the 1900s, 2% of the population controlled 1/3 of the country's wealth, creating a new level of living standards for the upper class. Unfortunately, the Industrial Revolution affected the lower classes who provided hard labor for little pay. Children also worked difficult hours for little earnings. Unavailability of education prevented children from preparing for a future outside of the factory. Injuries and deaths at work became all too common. Workers recieved no benefits and went on strike. Strikes created a better inlfuence for the cause because many people participated. In contrast, if one or two people did not report for work, they would be replaced and a point would not be made. The creation of Unionization, which is still used today, occurred as a result of the abuse. Large scale manufacturing became easier and cheaper, therefore making goods available to many people at a time. The Industrial Revolution was also the beginning of the oil industry. All of these changes led to a need for political reform. As businesses grew, rules were required to govern the general structure of the business. Urbanization forced the government to pay greater attention to transportation, paving, water cleanliness, street lighting and cleaning, and policing and fire protection. However, the main reason politicians tended to these issues was to get more money from local communities. Nonetheless, they were still apprectiated because they finished the job even if it was scandalous. In many ways, the Industrial Revolution was a powerful model for today's society.

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 at Portsmouth, England. Dickens possessed the talent of using personal life experiences in his writings. Dickens's greatest influence to his stories was the life-changing event of his father being imprisoned on account of debt. To earn money for his family, Dickens was pulled out of school and sent to work at a boot blackening factory at age twelve. Dickens expresses his feelings for this and several other episodes cleverly in his novels. Some well-known writings such as Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol define his success as a novelist. Dickens later died of a paralytic stroke on June 9, 1870.