Unit 1 Activity 1.6

"Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond, was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip."

Task 1: Answer the following questions on your blog

a) In the passage above, underline any words that you do not know, and look up their meaning in a dictionary. Define them in the glossary section of your blog.

Bleak-  lacking vegetation and exposed to the elements.
Aforesaid- spoken of or referred to previously
Leaden- lacking liveliness or sparkle; dull:

b) In your own words, write out a short explanation of the excerpt. Include the following details: who is talking; where is he; whom was he visiting; what is he doing and why?
Pip is talking, he's remembering his past with Magwitch, and his family.

c) Although Dickens wrote in Late Modern English, there is one thing about Nineteenth Century writers' work, which makes it quite difficult for Twenty-first Century readers to understand - the length of their sentences! Read and highlight the one that begins, "At such a time...". How many words are in this sentence?
There are 124 words.

d) What piece of punctuation does Dickens use a lot to allow himself to write such long sentences?
Dickens uses a lot of semi-colons and commas.

e) Research the several hobbies and pastimes of the Victorians. Compare the things they did at home in the evening with the kind of things you do - does this explain why Victorian authors wrote long, complex novels with verbose language? Explain why or why not.
Several pastimes of the Victorians reading, writting, sewing, and children played with dolls. This does explain why Victorians wrote such long, complex novels. This is because that was their hobby, and they spent all their time writting, and reading.