Great Expectations Stage 1 Quiz

Here’s a 50-question detailed quiz on the First Stage of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Chapters 1–19). The questions are a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and analytical responses.

Comprehension & Plot (Chapters 1–19)

1. Who is the narrator of Great Expectations?

2. Where does Pip first encounter the convict?

3. What is the convict’s name, as Pip later learns?

4. Why is Pip afraid of the convict in the beginning?

5. What item does the convict demand Pip bring him?

6. Who is Joe Gargery? What is his relationship to Pip?

7. How does Mrs. Joe treat Pip and Joe?

8. What is the “Tickler”?

9. What holiday is being celebrated in Chapter 4?

10. How does Pip feel during the Christmas dinner?

11. How is the convict recaptured?

12. What does the convict say to protect Pip when caught?

13. What trade does Joe practice?

14. Who is Mr. Wopsle?

15. What is the name of the wealthy, reclusive woman Pip is taken to visit?

16. Who is Estella? How does she treat Pip at their first meeting?

17. What game does Pip play with Estella at Miss Havisham’s?

18. What time are all the clocks set to in Miss Havisham’s house?

19. What does Miss Havisham wear? Why is this significant?

20. Why does Pip cry after visiting Miss Havisham and Estella?

Characterization & Literary Devices

21. Describe Pip’s character at the beginning of the novel.

22. How does Dickens use setting to create mood in the opening scene?

23. What is ironic about Pip’s “great expectations” as they begin to form?

24. How is social class portrayed through Estella and Pip’s interactions?

25. Explain the symbolism of Satis House.

26. What literary device is used when Pip imagines the convict’s leg-iron as a shackle on his own conscience?

27. What theme is introduced by Pip’s shame after meeting Estella?

28. Compare Joe’s kindness to the behavior of other adults in Pip’s life.

29. What does Pip mean when he says he was “a common labouring-boy”?

30. How does Pip’s attitude toward Joe change during the first stage?

Details & Recall

31. What does Pip steal for the convict?

32. Who is Mr. Pumblechook?

33. What role does Mr. Pumblechook play in Pip’s introduction to Miss Havisham?

34. What does Pip lie about after his first visit to Satis House?

35. How does Joe respond when Pip confesses the truth about his visit?

36. What is the nature of the fight between Pip and the “pale young gentleman”?

37. What is surprising about Miss Havisham’s encouragement of Estella’s behavior?

38. How does Pip’s apprenticeship with Joe begin?

39. Why does Pip feel dissatisfied with his life at the forge?

40. Who visits Pip and Joe with the news of Pip’s “great expectations”?

Vocabulary & Style

41. Define “expectations” in the context of the novel.

42. What is significant about the use of first-person narration in the novel?

43. How does Dickens use humor in the portrayal of the Christmas dinner?

44. Give an example of a metaphor used in Pip’s descriptions of Estella.

45. Identify and explain an instance of foreshadowing in the first stage.

Analysis & Interpretation

46. What does Pip’s desire to become a gentleman say about Victorian values?

47. What is Dickens criticizing through the character of Mrs. Joe?

48. What role does guilt play in Pip’s development in the early chapters?

49. How does the setting of the marshes reflect Pip’s internal state?

50. In what ways does the First Stage set up the major themes of identity and self-worth?

Answers

Here is the Answer Key for the 50-question quiz on the First Stage of Great Expectations (Chapters 1–19):

Comprehension & Plot

1. Pip (Philip Pirrip).

2. In the churchyard near his parents’ graves.

3. Abel Magwitch.

4. He threatens Pip with violence and claims to have a young man hiding who will harm him.

5. A file and some food.

6. Joe is Pip’s brother-in-law and a blacksmith; he is kind and caring toward Pip.

7. Harsh, abusive, and controlling.

8. A wax-ended cane Mrs. Joe uses to beat Pip.

9. Christmas.

10. Nervous and guilty about stealing from the pantry.

11. He is found by soldiers searching the marshes.

12. He claims he stole the food and file himself.

13. Blacksmith.

14. The church clerk and a pompous figure.

15. Miss Havisham.

16. She mocks and insults Pip for being “common.”

17. Cards (beggar-my-neighbor).

18. Twenty minutes to nine.

19. A faded wedding dress – symbolizing time frozen at the moment of heartbreak.

20. He feels ashamed of his social class after Estella’s insults.

Characterization & Literary Devices

21. Innocent, impressionable, kind, and obedient.

22. The bleak marshes and graveyard create a sense of fear and vulnerability.

23. They come from a mysterious benefactor and bring internal conflict, not joy.

24. Estella looks down on Pip because of his lower status, showing class prejudice.

25. A decaying house stuck in the past – symbol of Miss Havisham’s emotional state.

26. Metaphor (symbol of Pip’s guilt and moral burden).

27. Social class, identity, and self-worth.

28. Joe is loving and loyal, in contrast to many others who mistreat Pip.

29. That he is of low social status and unrefined.

30. He becomes embarrassed by Joe’s manners and starts to look down on him.

Details & Recall

31. Bread, butter, cheese, mincemeat, brandy, and a file.

32. Joe’s pompous, self-important uncle.

33. He recommends Pip to Miss Havisham for her amusement.

34. He tells elaborate lies about the visit, saying he saw dogs and swords.

35. Joe gently tells Pip that lies are not good, but doesn’t scold him.

36. Pip punches a strange boy (Herbert Pocket), and wins – to his own surprise.

37. She trains Estella to break men’s hearts for revenge.

38. Mr. Jaggers brings the paperwork, and Joe signs Pip’s apprenticeship.

39. Because he feels common and unworthy after visiting Estella.

40. Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer representing the anonymous benefactor.

Vocabulary & Style

41. Wealth or status someone is expected to receive in the future.

42. It allows readers to experience Pip’s inner growth and reflections.

43. Through exaggeration of characters’ behavior and awkward dinner conversation.

44. Pip describes Estella’s eyes and looks in romanticized, poetic terms.

45. The leg-iron from the convict showing up later foreshadows the convict’s return.

Analysis & Interpretation

46. It shows the value placed on wealth and refinement over character.

47. The cruelty and repression in Victorian domestic life.

48. Pip is haunted by guilt, first over the convict, later over his shame of Joe.

49. The bleak, flat marshes reflect Pip’s isolation and fear.

50. Pip’s changing identity, guilt, social shame, and desire for improvement begin here.