gardner-great expectations seminar questions- 2

8/12/2019 Gardner-Great Expectations Seminar Questions- 2

1/3

Montoya 3

Marie Montoya

Gardner

English 10- 2 period

27 February 2014

Great Expectations Socratic Seminar Questions

Social Class

1. When Pip says, I took the opportunity of being alone in the court-yard, to look at my coarse

hands and my common boots (47), he is influenced by Estellas higher lifestyle to question his

own. Do you think that similar situations still happen today?

2. In the novel, social class and education are connected which is why Pip was sent away to

England to be more educated. In the modern world, is the amount of education the factor that

dictate a persons status, more like in the book?

3. In chapter 8, Pip explains that he wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up

(47) because then Pip would have been brought up to be a gentleman. Why is Pip suddenly

wishing to replace the loving Joe for somebody more mature and high class?

Light and Dark

1. After his first unexpected and disturbing meeting with the convict and Pip, Pip describes the

setting as, ... the river was just another horizontal line then, not nearly so broad nor yet so

black; and the sky was just a row of long angry red lines and denseblack lines intermixed (4) .

Did the convicts visit and requests manipulate how Pip saw the world around him?

2. The darkness that was instantly seen by Pip in the passages of the Satis house that were all

dark (43) gives a sense that Pip is approaching the worst. Do you think his experience at the

Satis house filled Pips life with darkness? Or ignited a light of great expectations for his life?


2/3

Montoya 3

3. Even though Stellas name reflects something bright and she is also described and an

intelligent person, does her name fully represent who she is and the kind of impact she had on

Pips life?

Crime and Conscience

1. When Mrs. Havisham accuses Estella of being heartless and cold, Estella backfires by telling

her mom that, I must be taken as I have been made.The success is not mine, the failure is not

mine, but the two together make me. (240) With this statement Estella accuses her mom of the

crime of teaching teaching her daughter to not love, but do you think the this crime was all of

Mrs. Havishams faultor could Estella have ignored Mrs. Havisham and acted to what she

perceived as right?

2. As Mrs. Havishams clock stop twenty minutes to nine she is reminded of the error she

made by loving another person that at the end betrayed her. Why would Mrs. Havisham want to

relive the crime made by Compeyson everyday, which left Estella and her unable to trust and

even less love somebody else?

3. At the end of the novel, while the convict is very ill, Pip decides to stay by his side because he

knows that he could not live with his conscience knowing that Magwitch helped him accomplish

his great expectations and Pip just left him in the time of need. Given with Havishams past

though, would Pip have been wrong if he left Magwitch on his own and then kept the money to

help his friends and family? Would Pip be committing a crime or looking out for his future?

Women and Power

1. Mrs. Joes bringing up by hand of Pip and Mr. Joe sounds ridiculous considering that Joe is

her husband and not her brother like Pip. Do you think Mrs. Joe ever even thought of Joe as a

dominant person in any aspect or did she always take command until her death?


3/3

Montoya 3

2. When Mrs. Havisham would whisper into Estellas ear to, Break their hearts, my pride and

hope, break their hearts and have no mercy! (74) she knew that Estella, being so young, would

listen to her mother and obey her; but do you think Mrs. Havisham ever thought that words like

this would have so much power over Estella that she ended up a heartless and emotionless person

towards the whole world?

3. In chapter twenty-nine, Mrs. Havisham screams to Pip to love Stella. To love her, if she

favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces- and as it gets

older and stronger it will tear deeper- lover her, love her, love her! (188) Mrs. Havishman

knows that Estella is almost unable to feel love towards anybody, including her, which is why

she asks of Pip to stay with Estella even if she breaks his heart to pieces. Do you think that if

Estella and Pip had gotten married at this point in the story, would she have the power love Pip

or did she need to be with somebody less appreciative like Drummle to appreciate Pips love?

gardner-great expectations seminar questions- 2

Documents