This is a presentation on Diction and Syntax for Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations". Chapters 1-8
Chapter 1
Infant tongue
Denotation- Infant means newborn, or new, while tongue means the organ the human body uses when it speaks.
Connotations- What Dickens could try to mean in this small passage is that he doesn't have the mastery that he should have over his tongue because he is very young and doesn't know much about the world.
Simple Sentence
Declarative Sentence
It relates to the theme of social class, because Pip is a poor young boy at the time. Being a from the poor class, he doesn't know how to talk in the dignified matter that the richer classes speak in.
(Page 9, Paragraph 1)
Freckled and Sickly
Denotation-Freckled means that there are dark spots on one's face. Sickly means sick looking, or not healthy.
Connotations- What Dickens is trying to portray in this sentence is the condition of Pip's mother before she had died. She was very sick looking, and had freckles; since freckles come from the sun she could have been overworked.
Compound Sentence
Declarative Sentence
This sentence once again relates to the theme of social class. Pip's mother was "Freckled" and "Sickly" because she was in a socially lower class and thus had less money to take care of herself.
(Page 9, Paragraph 2)
"What fat cheeks you ha' got?"
Denotation-The denotative meaning of this sentence literally means, what fat cheeks have you got?
Connotations- Trying to convey that Pip has fat cheeks, Dickens tries to show his audience how Pip looks by revealing him with this character.
Simple Sentence
Interrogative Sentence
This sentence relates to the theme of social class again. The character talking to Pip uses simple language, thus showing that he is of a lower class.
(Page 11, Paragraph 1)
"Now lookee here!"
Denotation- The literal meaning of this sentence is "Now look here!" with "lookee" deriving from the word "look".
Connotations- None
Simple Sentence
Exclamatory Sentence
Social class is again the theme this sentence is relating too. Using simple, and slang
Infant tongue
Denotation- Infant means newborn, or new, while tongue means the organ the human body uses when it speaks.
Connotations- What Dickens could try to mean in this small passage is that he doesn't have the mastery that he should have over his tongue because he is very young and doesn't know much about the world.
Simple Sentence
Declarative Sentence
It relates to the theme of social class, because Pip is a poor young boy at the time. Being a from the poor class, he doesn't know how to talk in the dignified matter that the richer classes speak in.
(Page 9, Paragraph 1)
Freckled and Sickly
Denotation-Freckled means that there are dark spots on one's face. Sickly means sick looking, or not healthy.
Connotations- What Dickens is trying to portray in this sentence is the condition of Pip's mother before she had died. She was very sick looking, and had freckles; since freckles come from the sun she could have been overworked.
Compound Sentence
Declarative Sentence
This sentence once again relates to the theme of social class. Pip's mother was "Freckled" and "Sickly" because she was in a socially lower class and thus had less money to take care of herself.
(Page 9, Paragraph 2)
"What fat cheeks you ha' got?"
Denotation-The denotative meaning of this sentence literally means, what fat cheeks have you got?
Connotations- Trying to convey that Pip has fat cheeks, Dickens tries to show his audience how Pip looks by revealing him with this character.
Simple Sentence
Interrogative Sentence
This sentence relates to the theme of social class again. The character talking to Pip uses simple language, thus showing that he is of a lower class.
(Page 11, Paragraph 1)
"Now lookee here!"
Denotation- The literal meaning of this sentence is "Now look here!" with "lookee" deriving from the word "look".
Connotations- None
Simple Sentence
Exclamatory Sentence
Social class is again the theme this sentence is relating too. Using simple, and slang