1.List all the words and phrases describing Mr. Bounderby
Mr. Bounderby was as near being Mr. Gradgrind's bosom friend, as a man perfectly devoid of sentiment can approach that spiritual relationship towards another man perfectly devoid of sentiment. So near was Mr. Bounderby - or, if the reader should prefer it, so far off. He was a rich man: banker, merchant, manufacturer, and what not. A big, loud man, with a stare, and a metallic laugh. A man made out of a coarse material, which seemed to have been stretched to make so much of him. A man with a great puffed head and forehead, swelled veins in his temples, and such a strained skin to his face that it seemed to hold his eyes open, and lift his eyebrows up. A man with a pervading appearance on him of being inflated like a balloon, and ready to start. A man who could never sufficiently vaunt himself a self-made man. A man who was always proclaiming, through that brassy speaking-trumpet of a voice of his, his old ignorance and his old poverty. A man who was the Bully of humility. A year or two younger than his eminently practical friend, Mr. Bounderby looked older; his seven or eight and forty might have had the seven or eight added to it again, without surprising anybody. He had not much hair. One might have fancied he had talked it off; and
that what was left, all standing up in disorder, was in that condition from being constantly blown about by his windy boastfulness.

'I hadn't a shoe to my foot. As to a stocking, I didn't know such a thing by name. I passed the day in a ditch, and the night in a pigsty. That's the way I spent my tenth birthday. Not that a ditch was new to me, for I was born in a ditch.'

'Cold? I was born with inflammation of the lungs, and of everything else, I believe, that was capable of inflammation,'

'For years, ma'am, I was one of the most miserable little wretches ever seen. I was so sickly, that I was always moaning and groaning. I was so ragged and dirty, that you wouldn't have touched me with a pair of tongs.'

'How I fought through it, I don't know,' said Bounderby. 'I was determined, I suppose. I have been a determined character in later life, and I suppose I was then. Here I am, Mrs. Gradgrind, anyhow, and nobody to thank for my being here, but myself.'

2. Collect the 4 phrases which explicitly convey the narrator's opinion of Mr. Bounderby's character and find in a dictionary adjectives of the same meaning.
a) A man made out of a coarse material which seemed to have been stretched to make so much of him
--> cold, selfish
b)A man with a pervading appearance on him of being inflated like a balloon, and ready to start
--> haughty, arrogant,
c)A man who could never sufficiently vaunt himself a self-made man 
--> ostentatious, conceited
d)A man who was the Bully of humility
--> presumptuous

3.Now go back to the list you made for exercise 1. which of the other items on it are connected with one or more of the author's comments.
Are connected to author's comments all of the items that reveal Mr. Bounderby personality. in this sense, thanks to the technique of telling, the narrator makes in the reader's mind a close characterisation of Mr. Bounderby.

4.The surname of the character contains the word bounder on purpose . Look it up in the dictionary. Which of the phrases you have listed reinforces the meaning of the surname?
bounder: a man who behaves badly or in a way that is not moral, especially in his relationships with women
the sentence that evokes his surname is "A man made out of a coarse material"

5. Mr. Bounderby is described as coming from a poor family, without , without education and self-made. In other contexts these attributes might be presented as worthy of sympathy and/or admiration. Why aren't they here?
it conveys the idea that there are no predefined / stereotype cause-consequences like "you come from a poor family so you are a humble person". In addition it conveys the idea of causes that had formed Mr. Bounderby personality.

6. Now go on reading and see if what Bounderby says is consistent with the description of his character.

Yes, especially in the last sentence "nobody to thank for my being here, but myself". But, if I had read the dialogue, without reading the narrator characterisation, I would say that Mr. Bounderby is a egoistic person because of all his sufferance, not only for his bad character.

7. Which aspect/s of Bounderby's character is/are emphasised in what he says?
Mr. Bounderby stresses his childhood difficulties and his being determinate and alone in the world to solve his problems, so, independent.

8. Does what he says confirm or modify his portrait in the previous text?
they confirm his portrait in the previous text.

9. Consider the way Bounderby speaks.
a) Underline any repetition of pronouns, words or sentence pattern in the extract you have read .
b) How would you define his way of talking
c) How does his way of talking fit in with his character as described by the narrator?
a) as a man perfectly devoid of sentiment; a man; ditch; inflammation; I was; I suppose; I
b) The way of talking of Mr. Bounderby is egoistic and anguished one. He had a difficult childhood and because of this he hade become a cold, selfish man,
c) It fits in his way of acting with Mrs. Gradgrind. He keeps his point of view, he stresses situations happened in his childhood and he stands himself out.