Great Expectations – Why Great Expectations Matters

Great Expectations – Why Great Expectations Matters

A comprehensive and professionally structured resource exploring the enduring significance of Dickens’s novel and its examination of ambition, class, conscience and moral growth.

This resource follows Pip’s development from childhood vulnerability and social shame to adult self-knowledge. It examines how Dickens challenges false definitions of success and gentlemanliness through contrasting characters, symbolic settings, retrospective narration and dramatic revelations.

Key features:

• Clear analysis of social ambition, class prejudice, guilt, emotional damage, identity, responsibility and moral education
• Focus on Pip’s relationships with Joe, Estella, Miss Havisham and Magwitch and the lessons each relationship contributes to his development
• Exploration of the marshes, forge, Satis House and London as symbolic settings representing fear, honest labour, decay and social confusion
• Nine structured exercises covering key concepts, character, context, symbolism, narrative voice, writer’s methods, evaluation, creative writing and extended essay preparation
• Detailed answer key and an 18-slide supporting presentation with activities, model responses, discussion tasks and summary material