Creating a Dickensian Character

Hello Bloggers!

Today's task is the last one for our blog. I am inviting you to express your creativity and talent in stepping into Dickens' shoes, and creating a character you will add to Great Expectations.

You will have the opportunity to create your very own caricature fitting the style and fantasy of Dickens himself.





Before you embark on this, let's take a look at what caricatures are and what purposes they serve:

A caricature can refer to a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.

Caricatures can be insulting or complimentary and can serve a political purpose or be drawn solely for entertainment. Caricatures of politicians are commonly used in editorial cartoons, while caricatures of movie stars are often found in entertainment magazines.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caricature)

Dickens and the art of characterization

While lower and middle-class life in the 19th century London inspires Dickens, it does not inspire him to give a realistic portrait of it. His settings are realistic but their central figures are first and foremost the characteristics of Dicken's fantastic imagination, not at all like the reality!

Dickens was fascinated by the grotesque and he transformed and distorted characters by using exageration (for example) to make his characters alive. (Adapted from Cecil - Early Victorian Novelist)

HOW TO CREATE A DICKENSIAN CHARACTER:

Try to use all or most of the following in creating your character. You should not do it in point-form, but rather in parapraphs, just like Dickens would.

• A Dickensian name, with a dramatic/an unusual entrance into the story.


• Definition of the character by negation (for e.g you will say she was not tall instead of saying she was short)


• Physical description of character, features of dress, and any particularities you wish to add
• A characteristic mannerism (i.e a habit - like Jaggers washing his hands) that would make this character more interesting.


• The circumstances under which Pip comes across this character.


• A dialogue between Pip and your character.

You have to mention at which point this character is introduced in the text - for example: Pip was on a stroll when he bumped into ..... (your character)

You can write in the 1st person narrative either from Pip's perspective, or your character's perspective, provided you make it clear to your readers who the narrator is.

If you want to add a visual of your character, you can either draw one yourself, or create a caricature online (google search:create your own caricature free) then add the image to your post.

Happy Blogging

Ms Expectations :)

Assignment 2

Welcome back Bloggers!

Today, you will have the opportunity to practise your compare and contrast skills while having fun watching a few clips of Great Expectations, and writing about them.

Task 1:
Click on the following links one at a time and view the film version of the introductory chapters of Great Expectations

1st version -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8YTCe_wx1w&feature=related – P1 (5 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIiBEYoR250&feature=related – P2 ( first 3 mins only)


2nd version -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe6LRAEHkoU&feature=related – P1 ( 7.16 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZSRL2cytcY&feature=related – P2 (8 mins)

Now that you have watched both versions, write a short paragraph (about 200 words) to compare and contrast the 2 versions of the first few chapters of the text. Remember, compare and contrast implies talking about both similarities and differences!! If you feel like referring to your book, please feel free to do so as well.

It is clear that the 1st production is for a school project while the 2nd is professional., so it is expected that the quality and choice of actors will be significantly different. your task is to focus on the literary significance of similarities and/or differences you notice in the productions.

Task 2:

As your second task for today, please write a short piece on how the film version(s) have influenced your reading, understanding and or interpretation of the text.

Enjoy

Ms Expectations :)

Welcome M4s

Hello M4s!!

Welcome to Gr8 Expectations, our Great Expectations blog, where we will reside in the dickensian world for the duration of this unit.

As part of our unit on Great Expectations, we will be creating a blog where we will be posting information, reactions and personal appreciation of the text. This blog will act as a virtual gallery where all of you will have the opportunity to publish your thoughts, share them with your friends and comment on what others have said as well.

The online assignments will be indirectly and directly preparing you for the final summative due at the end of this unit, in December, so we encourage active participation at all times.

Your first task today will be to create your own blogs - choosing the name, design and colours.. Feel free to express your creativity and have fun!!

Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Create a new email account and password to be used by all the members in the group.
2. Once your blog is created, please email the url, name of team members, username and password to me.

Have fun blogging!!

Ms Expectations

ASSIGNMENT 1

EXPLORING THE DICKENSIAN WORLD

Welcome back bloggers!! It's now time to do some internet based research on your assigned topic.

For this first assignment, you will have fun learning more about our author and his world. Remember that you need to cite all your sources, and while you can start with the following websites, feel free to explore others. You will notice how some are more reliable than others, so that's where your judgement comes into play.

http://www.victorianweb.org/
http://wikipedia.org/
http://www.answers.com/

So, here are the main guidelines for your research:

Group A – Charles Dickens and his works.

- A brief introduction about the author ( birth, family history, etc)

- Works (mention a few)
- Events in his life while writing GE

- How GE was initially published.

Group B – Genres

- Provide a brief glimpse of the history of the novel form.
- Where does the English novel come from? When does it first start appearing? How did it develop?
- Who was reading at the time? What kinds of fiction were popularly read?

- What is a Bildungsroman? Provide a few contemporary examples (i.e. movies)

Group C – The Gentleman

- Find a few dictionary definitions of Gentlemen

- How do you think the word is used in popular culture? What do we mean these days when we say someone is a “Gentleman”?

- How was a gentleman defined in Victorian England? What various definitions were offered?

- What are the main characteristics associated with Gentlemen in Victorian England?

Group D – Class in Victorian Society.

- Provide a general definition of class

- Where did this idea come from?

- How was class determined in Victorian society? How were the classes demarcated?

- What were the markers of class in Victorian society?

- What was the general economic condition in the Victorian era? How did the industrial revolution effect socio-economic classes?

Group E – Gender in Victorian Society.

- How would you describe the status of women in Victorian society? Please provide examples

- What sorts of conventions around gender existed in Victorian times?

- How were gender roles effected by class or socio-economic status?

Group F – Crime and Punishment in the Victorian Age

- What can you tell us about the justice system in the Victorian society? How were criminals treated?

- What were the conditions in jails like in the Victorian era?

Your assignments should be posted by Saturday night latest please.

Ms Expectations :)