Introduction to Great Expectations. Character Unit

Transcription

1 Introduction to Great Expectations Character Unit

2 Types of Characters Round characters characters who are complex in temperament and motivation Flat characters characters who are two-dimensional and built on a single idea or quality Stock characters a variation of flat characters; they represent a recurring type, as if they ve been plucked from a stockroom of prefabricated characters Dynamic characters characters who change throughout the story Static characters characters who don t change

3 Protagonist the main character Types of Characters Antagonist the character who opposes the protagonist *Do not associate virtue or vice with the protagonist or antagonist Foil a minor character whose situation or actions parallel those of a major character, and thus by contrast sets off or illuminates the major character Anti-hero a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose, and the like.

4 Indirect Characterization: Characterization by showing rather than telling. Speech Thoughts Effect on Others Actions Looks Revealing a Character Direct Characterization: an author simply tells you something. Requires little interpretation. It s the weakest way to reveal a character.

5 Miscellaneous Terms Epiphany a sudden flare into revelation of an ordinary object or scene; a revelation of such power and insight that it alters the entire world-view of the thinker who experiences it. Caricature a method where particular aspects of a subject are exaggerated to create a silly or comic effect. Bildungsroman a type of novel that focuses on the intellectual and emotional growth the protagonist from childhood to adulthood. Also, referred to as a coming of age novel.

6 First- Person: Narrator as a main character Narrator as a minor character Innocent-eye narrator Stream of consciousness Point of View Third-Person Omniscient Selective / Limited Objective

7 Unreliable Narrator Too self-interested Too inexperienced Not sufficiently knowledgeable Not sufficiently moral Too emotional Actions too inconsistent with words

8 Character Archetypes The Hero: Predominantly exhibits goodness and struggles against evil The Mother: Fairy Mother who guides a child; Mother Earth offers spiritual guidance; Stepmother who treats children roughly The Innocent: Inexperienced with many weaknesses, seeks safety with others The Mentor: Protects the main character

9 Character Archetypes The Doppelganger: Duplicate of another character, represents the evil side The Scapegoat: a character who takes the blame for everything bad The Villain: A character who opposes the hero

10 Dickens Dream (1870) Robert Buss

11 About the Novel GE (Great Expectations) is a serial novel meaning it was published in a series of 36 serial installments in a British newspaper called All the Year Round. Published in Aside from David Copperfield, GE is considered semiautobiographical. Written in the final decade of Dickens life, two years after his divorce from his wife of twenty-two years, Catherine Hogarth

12 Historical Context Published during the Victorian Period ( ). Named for Queen Victoria and governed by a set of strict social rules Poor factory conditions during the Industrial Revolution led to some reform acts that improved the lives of workers somewhat Britain s social class system was rigidly defined; however, two social classes emerged during this time: the working class and the middle class.

13 Literary Trends in the Victorian Age Realism: the view that confronted the technological and social changes for the common man. Focused on ordinary people enduring the problems of daily life. Naturalism: the portrayal of the harshness of the natural world. Emphasized human suffering. Pre-Raphaelites: named for the Italian painter, Raphael. This trend rejected and exposed the ugliness of industrial life.

14 Dickens Style Characters who are exaggerated but still rooted in reality Complicated plots that mimic the pitfalls and coincidences of real life Characters tend to fall into one of two categories: good and bad Characters tend to have symbolic names Sentences are long-winded and complex. He was paid by the word.

15 Annotations Focus Motifs Houses Spiders Hands Weather Clocks Use of doubles Images of crime and conviction Thematic Ideas Ambition Greed Social Oppression Obsession Guilt Loss of Innocence