Great Expectations Stage One

Discussion questions. Information you should know for test purposes

CHAPTERS 1-2

* What is Pip doing when the story opens?

* How does the author hook readers immediately?

* What is Pip afraid will happen if he does not return with the file and food?

* Why do you think Mrs. Joe calls her stick “Tickler”? What does this irony reveal about her?

* From whose point of view is the story told? What is unusual about the way the author has used this point of view?

* Why is Pip living with Joe Gargery? What is their relationship?

* Where are the comical passages in these chapters? Why does the author include so many funny lines of dialog, most of them frightening, even in the first chapter?

* What does the author do at the end of Chapter 2 to keep readers interested?

CHAPTERS 3-4

* Who does Pip meet when he sets out to make his delivery?

* What is surprising about how the first convict acts when he hears about the second one?

* What does Mr. Wopsle say about “the prodigal”? Why did Dickens include this allusion?

* What is ironic about Mrs. Joe not attending church? Why doesn’t she go?

* Who attends dinner at the Gargerys’ house? What is funny about the dinner scene? About the scene when Joe and Pip go to church?

* How does Dickens characterize Mr. Wopsle? Uncle Pumblechook?

* What are Pip’s expectations at this point in the novel?

* How does the author build suspense at the end of Chapter 4?

CHAPTER 5

* How does the suspense of the previous chapter get resolved?

* How does the author characterize the sergeant?

* What accounts for the strange expression on the convict’s face as he looks at Pip?

* What seems to explain the anger existing between the two convicts?

* How does Joe react when the prisoner says he stole the pie? What does this reveal about Joe’s a person?

* Why does the narrator refer to the ship as “a wicked Noah’s ark” (p. 38)?

CHAPTERS 6-7

* At the beginning of Chapter 6, why does Pip feel bad?

* Why doesn’t Pip feel ashamed for stealing Mrs. Joe’s food when he does feel guilty for not telling the truth to Joe?

* What does Mr. Pumblechook make of the news that a convict had stolen the food? What does his explanation reveal about him?

* Pip says he was to be apprenticed to Joe. What is an apprenticeship?

* Where does Pip get his education? In what ways does the author satirize public education?

* What do readers learn about Joe’s childhood? Why didn’t he finish school?

* Explain Joe’s play on the two meanings of the word “hammering” (p. 45).

* What motivates Joe to stay with his wife?

CHAPTER 8

* How does Pumblechook treat Pip before his visit to Satis House? Why?

* Describe Satis House. Though it is a mansion, what other type of building does it seem to resemble?

* What does Pip conclude about why Miss Havisham and the room look as they do?

* How do Pip and Estella interact? What do their interactions reveal about each of them?

* After visiting Satis House, why does Pip feel ashamed?

* What does Pip see hanging by a beam as he leaves?

CHAPTERS 9-10

* Why won’t Pip tell the truth about what happened at Satis House?

* What details of the “story” did you find funny?

* Why do Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook believe his tale?

* How does Joe react when Pip tells him the truth? What does this reveal about Joe?

* How have Pip’s expectations changed? What does he expect now?

* Reread the end of Chapter 9. What changes do you expect the visit to make?

* Reread the first two pages of Chapter 10. Why is Pip dissatisfied with Mrs. Wopsle’s school?

Identify at least five reasons.

·  How do readers know that the bank notes came from the convict?

CHAPTER 11

* Who does Pip meet during his next visit to Satis House? (Identify and describe the characters.)

* What is meant by “toadies and humbugs” (p. 79)?

* Which relative do the others talk about? What do they dislike about him?

* How does Estella treat Pip when he arrives?

* Has her attitude toward him changed when he leaves? How do you know?

* What strange centerpiece does Pip see on the table? How does Miss Havisham explain it?

* Who does Pip meet as he leaves the mansion? What happens with this boy? Why do you think the boy is at Satis House?

CHAPTERS 12 -13

* Why do you think Miss Havisham manipulates and misleads Pip into thinking she is his

secret benefactor? What could she get from this behavior?

* What does Pip expect to be the outcome of his fight with the “pale young gentleman”?

* Why does Miss Havisham ask to see Joe?

* Why does Pip feel uncomfortable visiting Satis House with Joe?

* Who does Pip begin to confide in instead of Joe? Why does he do this?

* Who takes most of the credit for Miss Havisham’s gift? Who takes the money?

* What does Pip mean when he says, “I should never like Joe’s trade. I had liked it once, but once was not now” (p. 105)?

CHAPTERS 14-15

* Why doesn’t Pip run away if he is so ashamed of his home and the forge?

* Why does Pip go back to Satis House despite Joe’s advice that he shouldn’t?

* Why does Sarah Pocket treat Pip with such contempt?

* How does Joe get into a fight with Orlick?

* Why did the author make Joe such a “big” man? What might his size symbolize?

* Where is Estella?

* Who is George Barnwell? Why does Pip identify with him?