Oliver Twist
What is the setting for Oliver's birth?
The workhouse.
What do respectability and morality mean in Victorian society?
Respectability and morality meant behaving properly, following strict rules, and showing self-control. Reputation was very important.
Who are the protagonists of "Oliver wants some more" by Dickens and "Rosso Malpelo" by Verga?
The protagonists are children.
What is Dickens's style?
He uses graphic and powerful descriptions of life and characters, with a careful choice of adjectives, repetitions of words and structures, juxtapositions of images and ideas, hyperbolic and ironic remarks.
What is the year when Oliver Twist was first published?
1837
What does the novel attack?
It attacks the cruelty of institutions, like the workhouse, and of individuals towards the poor children.
What were the effects of urbanization and factory work?
Urbanization led to crowded cities, pollution, and poor living conditions for workers.
Who are they opposed to?
What is the relationship between them?
Both Oliver Twist and Rosso Malpelo are exploited by the adults.
Who are the characters in his novels?
They are characters and caricatures who live in the English imagination. They are wise children in contrast with worthless parents and other grown-ups.
When and where was Dickens born?
He was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, England.
Why does Oliver ask for more food?
Because the boys are still hungry after their meal.
What impact did Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution have?
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution suggested that humans evolved over time, challenging the Bible’s creation story.
What is the setting in "Oliver wants some more" and in "Rosso Malpelo"?
Oliver wants some more: A stone room where the children have supper.
Rosso Malpelo: A cave.
What is the term for Dickens' use of exaggeration to create grotesque or comic characters?
HYPERBOLE
What happened to his family when he was young?
His family had financial problems, and his father went to prison for debt.
What is the setting of the novel?
The most important setting of the novel is London, which is depicted at three different social levels: the parochial world of the workhouse, the criminal world and, finally, the world of the middle class.
What is "the Victorian compromise"?
The Victorian Age was a time of progress and wealth, but also of poverty and social inequality.
What's the ending?
Oliver wants some more: Oliver is confined and five pounds are offered to anyone who wants to take him away.
Rosso Malpelo: The end is tragic: Malpelo agrees to explore an unexplored tract of the cave and never comes back. He leaves the historical dimension and becomes part of a legend.
Define the type of narrator and the narrative modes used in the passage you have read. ("Oliver wants some more").
There is a third-person narrator and Oliver’s point of view is adopted. The narration is developed through dialogues, descriptions and narration.
How did childhood poverty affect him?
Dickens had to work in a blacking factory as a child, which influenced his writing.
What did Mr Limbkins decide to do with Oliver?
He locked him up and offered five pounds to anyone willing to take Oliver as an apprentice.
Name at least three social reforms of the Victorian Age.
Explain the message of Dickens’s Oliver Twist and Verga’s Rosso Malpelo.
Dickens wants to attack the social evils of his times such as the exploitation of children in workhouses run by parishes. Verga denounces the exploitation of children (and adults) workers and the denial of childhood.
Focus on the narrative modes in the passage. Is the description detailed or vague? What is its function? What is the function of the narration? And that of the dialogues?
The description is detailed and the function of the description and the narration is to build up a realistic picture of the scene. The dialogues increase the reader’s interest in the scene.
Where is Dickens buried?
WESTMINSTER ABBEY