o giving public readings of his published works in his later years. Once again Dickens’ goal of being commercially successful played an important role here as his financial solvency was a factor in every literary enterprise he undertook. Dickens would pack the theaters and halls to the rafters for these public presentations which would last some several hours. During these readings Dickens would read excerpted material from his writing and deliver it in such a way as to highlight his own dramatic personality as an accomplished thespian—a career he certainly could have made illustrious.The serialization of his novels and the subsequent public readings of them by Dickens prompt this unit to attempt an additional task. I intend to draw upon other notable masterpieces by Dickens to further highlight family relationships of nineteenth century England and the brilliance of his writing. These additional works from which I hope to take excerpts and read aloud to my students include the highly autobiographical David Copperfield, the endearing Oliver Twist, the socially conscious Bleak House, and the time-honored classic, A Christmas Carol, which will not only be read in its entirety but will be explored in comparison and contrast to Great Expectations. In addition to this complete reading of A Christmas Carol and various excerpts from the other novels, I plan to show various visual representations of Dickens’ work including the 1946 movie of Great Expectations.I firmly believe that this method of concentrating on one theme, familial relationships, provided by one author, Charles Dickens, through a reading of Great Expectations and excerpts from his other stories will provide a worthwhile experience for my students. The use of this unit will afford teachers the opportunity to introduce one of the world’s great literary artists to their students in a relevant way that should pique students’ interest and cause them to ...
