I read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens in a group with Allyson Brown, Miki Kagawa, Rachel Shedd, Brenna McNamara, and Rebecca Aldrich. We all had different jobs, mine was to find historical and literary references and to research them for their relevance to the book.
Page 6- "He was a mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going, foolish dear fellow - a sort of Hercules in strength, and also in weakness.
Page 10- "Some medical beast had revived Tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs Joe always kept a supply of it in the cupboard."
Page13- "I knew my way to the Battery, pretty straight, for I had just been down there on Sunday with Joe."
Page 17- "I fully expected to find a Constable in the kitchen, waiting to take me up."
Page 20- "Wopsle said grace with theatrical declamation - as it now appears to me, something like a religious cross of the Ghost in Hamlet with Richard the Third.
Page 34- "...he would probably have excommunicated the whole expedition."
Page 86- "...and carrying a basket like the Great Seal of England in plaited straw."
Page 93- "I was pulling the bellows for Joe, and we were singing Old Clem, and when the thought..."
Page 133- "...and felt rather like Mother Hubbard's dog whose outfit required the services of so many trades."
Page 217- "The Queen of Denmark, a very buxom lady..."
Page 218- "Lastly, Ophelia was a prey to such slow musical madness..."
Page 219- "The joy attended Mr Wopsle through his struggle with Laertes on the brink of the orchestra and the grave..."
will you explain what you wrote for page 34 "excommunicated the whole expidition"? i have a similar assignment! help!
ReplyDeleteAll of these quotes are different allusions and references that Dickens made throughout the book. The highlighted words are links to their meanings. Excommunication is a religious practice that usually includes banishing someone from membership. In this quote, Dickens uses the word as something that would no longer happen.
DeleteHere is a link to the text, it's in the third paragraph.
http://www.victorianlondon.org/etexts/dickens/great_expectations-0006.shtml
Pip is traveling with Joe and Mr. Wopsle and they are all very tired from traveling. Pip points out that if the church that they passed by would have be open, they would have stopped there to rest rather than finishing their journey. Therefore they would have "excommunicated their whole expedition."