Extracts from ‘Great Expectations Essay

The extracts I will be analysing are from the novel Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens. I am going to be describing how Dickens has succeeded in making the reader feel sorry for Pip. Dickens used his own experiences as a boy to help him write sympathetically of being a young child, his family had no money and got transferred from city to city until he was ten years old, his father was also sent to prison for six months over debt. He based the character Pip in remembrance of himself as a child, writing about his own thoughts and feelings to help himself create more sympathy for Pip. Pips given name was Philip Pirrip, as he was so young he couldnt pronounce his complicated name correctly, so he shortened it and named himself Pip. Pip was very imaginative as a young boy, he lived nearby to a graveyard and there wasnt many other people about, so Pip was alone and lonely a lot because he couldnt make friends with anyone. During the first extract we get to see that Pip is an orphan after he says: As I never saw my father or my mother.. (for their days were long before the days of photographs), we recognise that he unfortunately lost both his mother and father along with five brothers he once had, who passed away whilst they were still infants. The only family Pip had, was his older sister Mrs Joe Gargery and her husband who was a Blacksmith. He had lived with them both for most of his life, his sister treats him dreadfully as all she sees Pip as is a waste of space in her household. Whilst her husband – Joe Gargery, treats Pip like he was his own flesh and blood. We now get the chance to begin to see the hard and upsetting life Pip leads and what he has gone through in the past. We start to feel sympathy for Pip, as not many children would have to go through the same experience as he once did. Where he lived was neither such a nice place to be around, nor one of the friendliest places to live either. Pip describes the village he lived in as a marsh country down by the river, also remarking how the churchyard nearby to his home is full of over grown nettles and also bleak. The small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all, and beginning to cry was Pip, from what we are told of the surroundings and atmosphere where he lives, it all seems  like a gloomy, upsetting place to be around. Also, it sounds as if it were to be constantly dim and discoloured, somewhere were no soul would choose to be, whilst the marsh country is similarly being described with the colours black and red included symbolising things such as death. Dickens used a technique called imagery making us think about how unfortunate Pip is to have to live there, and that it would make you feel depressed and slightly unwanted as you would have no friends, if you were to live there too. Pip sneaks out of his house in the early hours of the morning to visit his mother and fathers grave when he comes across Magwitch who approaches him fiercely. We begin to get the impression of how scared Pip may have been, as he starts to gently cry after he pleaded to Magwitch:Oh! Dont cut my throat sir. Whilst Magwitch was threatening to do so, dressed in:All coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his headAfter Pip had seen this man who turns out to be and escaped prisoner he knows nothing of, dressing in such clothes, I am sure just the view of him would have scared him, even before Magwitch chose to threaten him once again, asking him to; fetch him some wittle and a file. Wittle was a word used as colloquial which the people of those days would have said, which simply meant; food. Magwitch wanted a file to help him file off the chains left around his ankle. If Pip didnt fetch Magwitch what he had requested, he furiously and vigorously told Pip:If you fail or go by my words in any partickler, no matter how small it is, your heart and live shall be tore out, roasted and ate. Magwitch tried to kid Pip into believing that if he didnt do as he pleaded, a different man he had not seen, would come and find him a nd no matter were he hid, he would be able to get to him. Although this man he speaks of did not exist, Pip was only young so he didnt know any better than to believe the words that came form Magwitchs mouth. Yet, the thoughts Pip must have had running through his head at this moment in time must have been horrific, seeing as Pip was so much more than just imaginative and always thought of the worse scenario possible, making things even harder for himself of what would have happened if he didnt do as he were told. At this moment in time we begin to feel enormously sorry for Pip,  after we get to see what Magwitch put him through just to get his own way. As Magwitch would have known, the younger he was the easier he was to fool over this imaginary man he had told him of. As a result he was proved right, when Pip then brought himself back to the churchyard the following morning with the goods Magwitch insisted he brought. After this extract the reader is affected with thoughts of what Pip went through after meeting the prisoner and after being viscously threatened by him. Dickens wrote this effectively for the reader to feel sympathy for Pip affectionately, also to create an image of what was going on in more detail, than if Dickens didnt put so much effort into making it much more intense. Dickens uses descriptive language to add life to the characters and tell us more about them. For example Magwitchs character uses a lot of dialect such as: Who dyou live with – supposing youre kindly let to live, which I hant made up my mind about? this suggests that Magwitch is a scruffy, common character. Dickens has wrote Magwitchs character to be phonetic, this also gives a comic edge to the convicts character. Whilst Miss Havisham doesnt have a personal dialect although her speech is very prosperous and well spoken: You are not afraid of a woman who has not seen the light since you were born?. This also brings the point across of how she hasnt left the chair she is sitting in since her wedding day, which never went forward. In the second extract Pip is asked to visit Miss Havisham, after she remarked how she would like Estella to play with Pip. Pip was worried at what she would think of him as he had never met this woman before. When we see Pips facial expressions after his first glimpse of Miss Havisham, we start to feel sympathy for him as she was dressed in a wedding dress still from the day she was supposed to get married. Pips description of her at this moment is: She was dressed in rich materials — satins, and lace, and silks — all of white. Her shoes were white. And she has a long white veil dependent from her hair Decayed objects. She was sat in a dim room, which she hadnt moved from since her wedding day. You could see from Pips body language and facial expressions that he was  horrified at the sight of her: I regret to state that I was not afraid. Miss Havisham asked if he were somehow frightened of her and he blatantly told the lie that he wasnt, although he regretted it sometime afterwards he was very afraid to admit that he was nervous and scared of her at the time. Estella was Miss Havishams adopted daughter, who was asked to play with Pip and break his heart. After Estella says to Pip: What coarse hands he has!. Pip then changes his mind and wants to become a gentleman instead of a Blacksmith, as she keeps on insulting Pip and denounced him for a labouring boy, we start to feel sorry for him. Whilst Pip thought Estella was a very pretty and proud young lady, she was just in need of breaking his heart as she had been asked to do so. Miss Havisham had power over Pip because she was rich, so he did his best to do as he was told, in dread of what she could have done if he disobeyed her. Towards the end of the second extract, Pip begins to wish he had lead a different life and blames Joe Gargery for his upbringing: I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too. This is a turning point for Pip whilst he also blames Joe for teaching him to call the picture-cards jacks, instead of knaves in a pack of cards, because Estella had laughed at him for calling them jacks. Again we begin to feel sympathy for Pip for the way Estella treats him, because he is a: Common labouring-boy! as she describes him. We especially feel sorry for him when Miss Havisham tells Pip he may not say anything of Estella. She also repeats her words: She says many hard things of you, but you say nothing of her. This shows the reader how harsh Miss Havisham is towards Pip, further on in the extract we see that Miss Havisham treats Pip even more harsh, just to hurt his feelings and make him wish he was a different boy. Overall I think Dickens was successful, as my response being the reader I thought that it was very touching and I easily felt sympathy for Pip throughout both of the extracts. I personally think that it is important to be able to feel sympathy for Pip in the first extract, as it then helps us feel sympathy whilst he visits Miss Havisham later on in the novel in the second extract. After we see that Pip doesnt have much of a family and that  he is horrified of doing anything wrong, just because of the circumstances which would have occurred by his sister or even Magwitch it makes us feel more sympathy towards the end while Miss Havisham and Estella try and mess up his mind and upset him.

Development of the Welfare State

What factors have led to the development of the British welfare state? The British welfare state has an impact on our lives on a daily basis and has been transformed since its initial developments in the early 19th century. I will be exploring the social, economic and political factors that led to the development of the British welfare state up to 1945, and I will assess the most dominate features at the time and those that are still prevalent within the current welfare system today. The historical origins of the British welfare state can be dated to Elizabethan times with the introduction of the Poor Law (1601) which dealt with welfare at a local level. This was the first instance where the government attempted to ensure that the poor had the means to live. This continued until the impacts of the Industrial Revolution called for changes in the provision for the poor. From the late 18th century British society was being transformed through economic and industrial growth. There was a revolution in the use of land in the production of raw goods, and technological advances in the use of machinery and the manufacture of goods. The state allowed markets to operate freely without regulation. There was also a mass migration of people moving from towns to the cities seeking employment. Many of these people were dependent on employment within the factories and on the assembly lines. Although there were many benefits from industrialisation on the economic front, urbanisation created a large concentration of people in many areas, his lead to major problems with health and housing. In addition, when jobs were no longer available, men were unable to support their families. The family unit was often broken with most fathers travelling many miles to their place of work. Many women and children were also forced to find employment as a result of being widowed and orphaned. Poverty, unemployment along with many other social issues became a recognised problem within the new urban communities. In line with these economical and social changes there were also changes taking place within the political sphere. The growth of political democracy and ‘the centralisation of governmental powers’ (Pierson. C 2006, p16) led to more competition between the British liberal and conservative political parties in of the time. It could therefore be suggested that political forces helped to shape the welfare state. It can be argued that developments in state welfare were a direct response to some of the problems generated by the changing nature for society through industrialisation and the social risks related to this. The Poor Law amendments (1834) meant that only those who were really in need, for example the poorest paid workers would receive support. These reforms differentiated between the ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor. Individuals were expected to ‘submit to degrading and shameful procedures to receive any benefit.. thus only the completely destitute, would be prepared to come forward for help’(Blakemore. K 2003, p42). The workhouse was introduced to force people to work in order to receive their benefits. This transformed public attitudes to towards poverty, whereby being poor and dependant of benefits became shameful and those receiving support were increasingly stigmatized. Other laws were also passed such as the Factory Act (1883) which aimed to reform the working conditions of factory workers by ‘legally enforcing a ten-hour day and rules governing the employment of children’(Alcock. C 2006,p19). This Act especially focused on women and children, and also enforced health and safety regulations, in addition, employers had to comply with educational classes for employees during the working day. At this point, it is evident that although state involvement was limited because of the dominant liberal principals of the time. Yet, there were the beginnings of a new beauracratic approach in state intervention. The Boer Wars (1880-1881,1899-1902) were fought between Britain and Holland as part of Britain’s empire building mission. The economic and human cost was evident following the two wars. Britain was faced with a country that needed rebuilding and a population that needed comfort and confidence from their leaders. The wars also highlighted the extent of poverty and poor health within the unskilled labour classes which showed that there was a strong need for welfare reform. Following these wars, David Lloyd George and his Liberal Party enacted the National Insurance Act 1911 setting up a national insurance contribution for unemployment and health benefits such as sick pay and maternity pay. The government introduced limited unemployment benefits, with old age pensions, and job centres available to help people find jobs, paid for by national insurance contributions and income taxes. Although this scheme was limited, it offered greater social welfare provision than the previous Poor Laws. However, benefits were subject to a contribution basis, and those benefits would run out once the contributions were used. ‘The scheme was not designed to provide widespread relief in a period of mass unemployment’ (Hill. M 2006,p24). Although this act appeared to have some benefits, there were also many issues, and the majority of people were not able to could not cope financially without being able to work. Most of these policies remained in place throughout the first world war (1913-1918) and the Great Depression. However, during World War I, Britain experienced conscription for the first time and this lead to changes within the workforce as many women took up employment in a range of roles to support the war effort ‘the beneficial effects of regular employment, longer hours and rising wages was offset by rapidly rising prices of essential goods’ (Thane. P 1996,p120). It can be suggested here that the effects of the wars called for immediate changes in the welfare state especially in relation to unemployment, health, housing and disability benefits. The Labour Government of 1945, were determined to eliminate poverty, ill health, and social deprivation. Their social and economic policies were driven by the party’s own ideals and long-term objectives. William Beveridge was a government adviser to Winston Churchill. He filled his report and made recommendations about reforms to the provision of welfare. Beverigde based the principles of his report by seeking to ‘establish a unified universal social insurance social system’ (Thane. P 1996, p 232). This led to the introduction of many social security schemes including the National Insurance Act 1946 and the National Assistance Act 1948, which dealt with sickness and unemployment benefits and retirement pensions. These acts and reforms formed the basis for the welfare state that has been accomplished over time. From the early 18th century, there was a mixture of factors that lead to the development of the welfare state in Britain. These reforms and developments in welfare provision were a direct response to economic, political and social changes taking place at the time. Welfare reform persists to change today within its current framework, and continues to respond to these factors which are often interlinked and constantly shifting. References Blakemore,K. (2003) Social Policy: An Introduction (Open University Press) Burnett,J. 1994) Idle Hands: The Experience of Unemployment 1790-1990 (Routledge) Hill,M. (2000) Understanding Social Policy (Blackwell) Fraser,D. (1984) The Evolution of the British Welfare State: A History of Social Policy Since the Industrial Revolution (MacMillan) Goodin, R. E. , & Mitchell, D. (2000). The Foundations of the Welfare State, Part I, London: Edward Elgar Publish ers Pierson,C. (1998) Beyond the Welfare State: The New Political Economy of Welfare (Polity Press) Pierson,P. (2001). The New Politics of the Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Thane, (1982) The Foundations of the Welfare State in Britain 1945-1960 (Longman)

Everday Negotiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Everday Negotiation - Essay Example More often than not, we are expected to keep the peace, acquiesce be the first to make concessions and not make waves. It is important that in everyday negotiations, we learn how not to easily and naively buy into such self-defeating expectations. There are a myriad of reasons why some of us get less or more salary or wages than others, get better or worse deals that other; one of these reasons is because they either reject terms first offered to them and negotiate, or accept terms first offered to them without negotiating. According to Kolb and Williams (24), the effects of failing to negotiation or bargain smart and hard accumulate over a period of time and that this leads to the widening of the gap that cannot even be measure in monetary terms. This may result in the involved person not being able to get the best deal, authority, or resources that would enable them to succeed. Especially in business and in the work place, the effects of failing to negotiate and acquiescing instead of holding down the opposition’s feet and bargaining hard and smart can increasingly become negative with time and result in failed business deals or bad careers. Good everyday negotiation, according to M. R. Carrell, M. Carrell, and Heavrin (46) is a matter of understanding the basic techniques, which include bringing together all your insights and observations about the party that one is negotiating with, practicing, speaking and standing up for oneself on a daily basis, irrespective of how small or big a negotiation is. Most of our day-to-day interactions essentially, are a series of negotiations; thus, not knowing the simple basics is doing a great disservice to ourselves. Every day, we negotiate with our friends about what we would like to do or want done, we negotiate with our families regarding what to eat, who to pay bills, and who does the dishes; we negotiate with sales personnel on the price and cost

Ernest Rutherford and Nuclear Physics contributions Research Paper

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English - Narrative Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Ballistics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ballistics - Research Paper Example o empirical evidence to back up this claim that criminal cases have been affected because the jurors are now more well-versed in Forensic Science through these television series—making it more difficult to get a guilty verdict as jurors require more forensic evidence—a study has been conducted on 1027 jurors that show that â€Å"46 % expected to see some kind of scientific evidence in every criminal case† (Barak, Kim and Shelton, 2006 as cited in Shelton, 2008, p. 5). Now, because gun-related crimes continue to rise since 2002, with 68% of murders in the United States in the year 2006 being committed with the use of a firearm, it can be said that much of the scientific evidence being expected by jurors relate to ballistics, which is a specialized area in the field of Forensics (National Institute of Justice, 2010, para. 2). In fact, the study on â€Å"the CSI Effect† found that â€Å"32 % expected to see ballistic/firearms laboratory evidence in every criminal case† (p. 5). This introduction into Forensic Science and Ballistics does not only highlight their key role in crime-solving, but also emphasizes the role of scientific evidence in serving justice. It can be said, then, that no matter how the television series may have exaggerated some aspects of crime scene investigation, like the time the evidence is processed, it cannot be refuted that the field of Forensics and Ballistics play crucial roles in the criminal justice systemâ €”CSI Effect or not. Having established the importance of Forensic Science and Ballistics, I will now outline what this paper will contain. In the course of my paper I will provide background and history of the field and I will then examine the many changes undergone by ballistics in the 20th century. Case studies will be examined to highlight the points that I will be making. I will then conclude with some thoughts as to where the field may go in the future. Forensic Science, most commonly known by its shortened name of Forensics, is