Lesson 6

Vocabulary

1. Match the words with the definitions.

1. blacksmith, f. person who makes things from iron, especially horseshoes
2. commit a crime, b. do something which is illegal
3. convict, a. someone who is in prison for a crime
4. file, e. metal tool with rough surfaces for shaping or smoothing metal
5. grab, h. get hold of something suddenly or roughly
6. got away, i. to have escaped
7. handcuffs, d. two metal rings linked together which are locked around a prisoner’s wrists
8. leg-irons, c. two metal rings linked with a chain, which are attached to a prisoner’s ankles
9. marsh, g. low ground which is usually wet
10. set off, j. begin a journey

Reading

2. Which of the people in Chapter 1 …

1. is often grumpy with Pip? Pip’s sister / Mrs Joe
2. was always very kind to Pip? Joe.
3. has no family except for one sister? Pip.
4. jumped out and frightened Pip in the graveyard? a man dressed in grey clothes / the convict.
5. asked Joe to help them fix something? one of the soldiers.

3. According to what you read in Chapter 1, answer true (T), false (F) or not mentioned (NM).

1. Pip was fond of his sister’s husband. T

2. Pip’s sister was much older than her husband. NM

3. Pip was very glad to get back home after visiting the graveyard. T

4. Pip took food from the fridge that had been prepared for Christmas lunch. F

5. Pip told Joe about the food he had taken because he felt guilty. F

6. The guests didn’t know why the soldiers had come to the house. T

7. Pip admitted to the soldiers that he had seen the convict the previous day. F

8. The soldiers knew that Joe was a good blacksmith. NM

Writing

4. Refer to Chapter 1. Write answers to the questions in your notebook. Give examples from the text.

2. How does Dickens use the natural environment to reflect the characters’ feelings? Use examples to explain.

Dickens used nature as a mirror that relects and expresses the characters’ emotions.

In this chapter, Pip’s unfortunate circumstances and feelings are introduced through nature round him; his afternoon was “cold” and “grey”, and it was the middle of winter, just like this period of his life that was dark and sad.

He felt lonely, and being an orphan, he missed family warmth.

Next, the marshes become “dark and frightening” as the sun sets; and while Pip was running after he met the convict, he saw him standing against the “angry red sky”.

The setting sun is often seen as beautiful or calming, but here it was “angry”. We learn about Pip’s untold emotions and thoughts from this.