Lit Analysis Great Expectations

Like I have said in the past,  I feel like I will never come away from a book like I have met a person

GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

The story starts off with Pip, a 6-year-old who lives with his sister and her husband.  One day, he meets a convict, steals food to feed him, and lets him go.  He is soon invited to play with a rich woman's adopted daughter and falls in love with her.  Years later, he is well on his way to becoming a gentleman (Expectation One).  Pip now lives in London and has a huge dept against him.  One day, he gets 500 pounds from a mysterious benefactor (Who later reveals himself to be the convict) [Expectation Two].    Pip tries to help the convict escape but they are caught.  The convict dies and Pip becomes ill.  An old friend nurses him back to health.  Pip decides to go visit the rich woman's house ruins.  There is Estelle, rich, beautiful, and looking for love.  They live happily ever after.  A definite fulfillment of the author's purpose.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

The theme of Great Expectations is Hopes/Dreams.  Pip, from the beginning  wanted to have a happy life with Estelle.  He wanted everything to happen perfectly.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

Dark and Gloomy.

-Always fog around

-Plants in the garden are dead

-Everything is told from a sort of dark point of view4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

1.Setting- The story takes place in England

2.Genre- Coming of age/realism

3.Narrator Point of View- Story told by Pip

4.Symbolism- Everything in Miss Havisham's garden is DEAD
5.Imagery-Shadows always pop up when Estelle is around

6.Mood- Dark and Gloomy

7.Tone- Same as the Mood

8.Writing Style- Always having a deeper meaning within the writing

9. Allegory- The whole story can be taken as a simple love story or of how a boy grew up in London; along with many other possibilities

10.Antagonist- Not a definitive antagonist; actually, there are several throughout the story CHARACTERIZATION 
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

There is NO direct characterization in the story, as it is narrated by Pip.  Every description of a character is told through Pip's eyes.  

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)? 

The entire story is based on Pip so there are no character changes to take place.3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

The protagonist is static in my opinion.  Pip doesn't really change throughout the story.  He is, however, round.  He has many characteristics to work with.4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

Like I have said in the past,  I feel like I will never come away from a book like I have met a person..

Hidden Notes???

Over the past couple days, colored letters in the journals have formed phrases semi-related to the class.

-Find The Jokers
-Collaboration is not Cheating.  Don't get left behind.
-Your Rewards are Waiting
-This life is your life.  Don't give up.  Somebody has found the path.  Yay Ashlie.

Where does he plan to go with is?

Quote of the Day Nov. 29

Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking.   -Black Elk

Great Expectations Summary

-The story starts off with a 6-year-old boy named Pip
-He lives in the Britain with his sister and her Husband.  (His sister is a bit mean but Joe is really nice to him)
-One day, Pip meets an escaped convict.  He steals food from his sister so that the convict wouldn't starve. (Important later on)
-Miss Havisham, a rich old lady that lives in a mansion, invites Pip to come over.
-Once Pip gets there, he realizes that he was having a play date with Estelle, Miss Havisham's adopted daughter.
-Pip soon develops a crush on her. (a very BIG one)
-As soon as Pip is in his teen years, he begins a smithy apprenticeship to learn how to be a gentleman (Expectation One)
-Pip has a busy life in London.  His depts pile on and on.
-Estella is busy off becoming a lady and becoming more and more beautiful than ever.
-One day, Pip gets 500 pounds from a mysterious benefactor, who said he was soon to reveal himself.
-One night on Pip's 23rd birthday, a man approaches him.  Apparently, the mysterious benefactor was the convict Pip had helped. (Expectation Two)
-Since Abel Magwitch (the Convict) is here against the law, Pip decides to get him out of the country.  They decide to sneak into Germany.
-Right before the plan goes into effect, Pip sees Estella go and marry Pip's nemesis   The escape plan fails, and Magwitch is sentenced to death.
-Pip gets sick.  Pip's childhood friend, Joe, nurses him back to health.
-Pip decides to go ask Joe if he can marry his childhood friend, Biddy.  As Pip gets there, he is disappointed, as Joe and Biddy had just married.
-Pip moves to Cairo.
-Now working at a Shipping Company set up by his friend, he raises in the ranks.  After 11 years, Pip becomes a partner.  He sends money to Joe and Biddy, who have now had a kid named Pip as well.
-Pip decides to visit Miss Havisham's house one more time.  While there, he sees Estella.
-She was now single and has regretted throwing away the love of Pip.
-They get back together.
THE END

Quote of the Day Nov. 28

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.   -John Lubbock

Quote of the Day Nov. 27

My motto is: Contented with little, yet wishing for more.   -Charles Lamb

Thinking Outside the Box (No Exit Step 4)

Plato and Sartre both have very unique methods of going about this topic.  Plato sees the limitation of thinking as slaves against a wall with nothing more to live about.  What you would look forward to would be a new crack in the wall.  Your reality is shadows casted by puppeteers  nothing more.  Their solution would be to stay still, do nothing, expect nothing.  Sartre addresses the same subject by using hell.  The characters just couldn't comprehend where they were.  A basically empty room doesn't give them much.  The three characters wouldn't have much of an escape either.  Their only option would to become friendly towards one another.  A massive cave in the middle of nowhere and hell are both uses of an extended metaphor, as both are extremely hard or impossible to come by.