GE Semester 1 final review

What does Light and Dark symbolize

Dickens uses the ever so famous archetype of light to represent the goodness and dark to represent the evil or unknown.

Estella’s candle light guides Pip along the way while the Satis House is almost completely dark.

Dark symbolizes unknown, light symbolizes savior and hope

What does the mists symbolize

The mists are used several times to symbolize danger and uncertainty.

As a child, Pip brings Magwitch a file and food in these mists; later, he is kidnapped by Orlick and nearly murdered in them. Whenever Pip goes into the mists, something dangerous is likely to happen.

Significantly, Pip must go through the mists when he travels to London shortly after receiving his fortune, alerting the reader that this apparently positive development in his life may have dangerous consequences.

What do the houses symbolize

Satis House: Represents lack of growth or death; Latin for Enough

• Decay and Frozen Time: The crumbling, dark, and dusty mansion, with stopped clocks and a rotting wedding feast, represents Miss Havisham’s refusal to move past her betrayal, symbolizing frozen, degenerate time.

• A Self-Made Prison: With iron bars and boarded-up windows, it symbolizes confinement, not just for Miss Havisham, but also for the trapped, unloving, and "frozen" nature of Estella.

• False Upper Class: The decaying mansion and surrounding, equally ruined, brewery signify the rotten foundations of inherited wealth and the upper class that Pip initially idolizes. 

Wemmicks’s Castle:

• Separation of Life: In contrast to Satis House, Wemmick's small, heavily fortified home in Walworth symbolizes the separation of his professional, cynical life in London from his personal, creative, and happy life.

• Safe Haven: It is a, "portable property" retreat that provides a sanctuary against the harsh, impersonal nature of Newgate Prison and the law, representing a, "fairy tale" escape. 

What do the personal objects symbolize

• Miss Havisham's Wedding Dress and Cake: Represents decay, death, and the freezing of her life at the moment she was jilted.

• Stopped Clocks: Symbolize a desperate, impossible attempt to halt time and refuse to move past her heartbreak.

• Wemmick’s "Portable Property" (Jewelry, Watches): Represents the commodification of life, where human value and relationships are reduced to exchangeable goods, reflecting a cynical, materialistic, and protective approach to life.

• The Forge: Symbolizes honest, hard work, and the stable, loving home life Pip abandons for his "expectations".

• Locks and Keys: Act as a recurring motif for access, representing both the literal control of property and the figurative locking away of hearts or secrets.

• Clothes: Represent class distinction and the superficiality of high society, particularly how they make Pip feel superior yet ashamed of his past, or uncomfortable in his new persona.

• Handcuffs/Files: Symbolize the pervasive, lingering theme of crime, guilt, and the social stigmas that follow characters like Magwitch. 

Thematic Ideas: gentlemen

In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens explores the theme of being a "gentleman" by distinguishing between superficial social status (wealth, education, manners) and true moral character (kindness, integrity, loyalty).

Pip’s journey reveals that becoming a gentleman, as he is expected to, is not achieved through money or status, but through virtue

Thematic Ideas: revenge

• Miss Havisham’s Vengeance: After being jilted on her wedding day by Compeyson, she lives in a state of arrested time (stopped clocks, decaying wedding dress) to fuel her hatred. She explicitly raises Estella to be a cold-hearted tool for ruining men.

• Magwitch’s Social Revenge: As a criminal, Magwitch seeks to ruin the social structure that cast him out by using his money to make Pip, a commoner, a gentleman.

• Orlick’s Personal Vendetta: Driven by jealousy and a feeling of being wronged, Orlick seeks vengeance on Pip, culminating in an attempt on his life.

Thematic Ideas: forgiveness/redemption

Guilt fills Pip from how his snobbish rise in status makes him look down on Joe but by the novel’s end he mends his friendship and is redeemed.

Pip realizes he can gain self worth, not by becoming a gentleman, but rather by working for it. He works for many years with Herbert.

Miss Havisham is consumed by feelings of guilt and asks Pip for forgiveness.

Thematic Ideas: love/ rejection

Charles Dickens explores the theme of love as a destructive, often unrequited, force, centered on Pip’s obsession with the cold, unreachable Estella. Rejection drives the narrative, with Miss Havisham acting as a catalyst for pain, while genuine, unconditional affection is only found in the humble, loyal love of Joe and Biddy. 

Thematic Ideas: social injustice/ social advancement

In Victorian England, members of the lower class and middle classes often have the ambition to rise up to a higher class.

In contrast, members of the upper class want to maintain their superiority.

For example: Dickins shows that some lower class people can be caught in a trap of poverty that makes it difficult for them to improve their lives through Magwitch.

Thematic Ideas: loyalty/friendship

Joe, Biddy, and Herbert—not to mention Magwitch—all show Pip loyalty that he not only doesn't deserve based on his actions.

Thematic Ideas: morality

Pip’s "great expectations" initially focus on becoming a wealthy gentleman, leading to moral decay where he abandons his loving, humble roots (Joe and Biddy) for social standing.

Thematic Ideas: sacrifice

In Great Expectations, the author uses self-sacrifice as a meaningful symbol.

Characters Magwitch, Pip, Miss Havisham, and Estella are examples of people who self-sacrifice themselves throughout the book.

Magwitch, a convict who is wanted by the law, desires to financially aid Pip by converting him into a gentleman;

Pip, an innocent boy who has yet to learn about the ways of life, had to sacrifice his time with his family members Joe and Mrs. Joe to move to London to become educated and wealthy

Miss Havisham has sacrificed and devoted her time to getting vengeance on men

Thesis

a concise, central claim or argument that tells the reader the main point, scope, and direction of the entire paper, acting as a roadmap and requiring evidence for support

Topic Sentences

introduces the main idea of a paragraph, acting as a mini-thesis that guides the reader and connects back to the essay's overall thesis

Point Sentences

The point sentences must clearly state: the character, impacts Esperanza, and it must give general context, which is what happens BEFORE the quote.
Think about what the reader needs to know to be able to understand the quote.
Do not just tell plot.
Do not tell what the quote will say in the point sentence.

Quotes

All quotations must be incorporated/blended into a sentence with specific context and cited with the correct page number.

Lead into the quote with the speaker or with what is happening at the time of the quote.

Discussion

The discussion must explain HOW the details within the quote reveal the impact on the character You have to:
actually connect to the quote you have given
That is the impact, so how does that quote reveal that?