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Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

An Introduction to Style

• Diction:Dickens' uses a large and colorul !ocabulary in his no!els" and G#is no e$ception. %or a beginning e$ample o his &ord choice" see thedescription o rs. (oe in paragraph ) o chapter *. Words here buildto create the !ie& o rs. (oe+ +impregnable"+ coarse"+ +red"++nutmeg grater"+ etc. Also" the sentence ragment at the end lendsimmediacy.

• Synta$: ,he structure o Dickens' sentences is one o the hallmarkso his style. -is use o parallelism" subordination" coordination"ragments" periodic sentences" and a mi$ o long and short

sentences are all note&orthy. See chapter paragraph )" )rdsentence or an e$ample o his use o subordination and o theperiodic sentence.

• /aragraphs: -o& are they organi0ed1 %rom the speci2c to thegeneral or the general ollo&ed by e$ample1 Inducti!e ordeducti!e1

• Chapters: Since the no!el &as 2rst published as a serial" note thatthe chapters are short. 3ook at the 2rst and last sentences o thechapters. I your edition sho&s &here di4erent installments ended"

see ho& Dickens crated the cli4hanger &hich &ould induce hisreaders to rush out or the ne$t installment.

• Stages: -ere" e!en more than in the chapters" there is a sense o acrated end and beginning. Why did Dickens set the no!el in stages1-o& does he play upon the notion o #den and the #$pulsion1

• ,he Cancelled Conclusion: Dickens" at the urging o his publisher"&rote a ne& ending to the no!el. Ater you ha!e read the &hole no!el"you &ill be able to assess &hich ending you think is most appropriate.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens5in installments6

8/20/2019 Great Expectations Style

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Charles Dickens' no!el" Great Expectations &as 2rst published in &eeklymaga0ine installments bet&een December " 789 and August )" 78. ,hismeant that readers had to &ait a &eek bet&een episodes. In the hiatus" theycould &onder about the plot and &orry about characters &ho began to seemlike riends.

 ,he maga0ine in #ngland in &hich Dickens published GreatExpectations" a maga0ine called All The Year Round,* &as ha!ing circulationproblems beore he started" but the appearance o Great Expectationschanged all that. Ater a e& episodes" the printing o o!er 99"999 copies per&eek became necessary. Dickens kne& ho& to engage his readers' an$iety"sympathy and curiosity. -e also understood the po&er o the ma$im: +ake'em laugh" make 'em cry" make 'em &ait.+

b!iously" publishing as he &rote meant Dickens could not re!ise the&hole manuscript. ;ut to an ama0ing e$tent" he &as able to remember &hathe had &ritten and to proceed accordingly. -is &ork became hugely popularand" &hen it &as published together" became a staple o libraries &hich made

a business o renting copies to subscribers.We &ill try to replicate" ater >S, ?#AD ,-# ASSIG@#@, ;= ,-# D># DA,#" BUT, UNDERNO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU PERMITTED TO READ AHEAD. YOUMUST SIGN HERE TO AGREE!!

I HEREBY SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL NEVER READ AHEADIN GREAT EXPECTATIONS. I WILL, HOWEVER, KEEP UP WITHASSIGNMENTS (which will "# $% &h" 'll)*'+.

 YOUR SIGNATURE In the >.S." Great Expectations &as published in Harper's Weekly.

BInormation on this page comes rom an article by ?obert 3. /atten 5?ice >ni!ersity6"published by ,he Dickens /roect" >C Santa Cru0.