Exercises pages 13-16

1.

In the extract the episode concerns children's hunger and meals in a workhouse; since one of the children wants more gruel, Oliver is obliged to stand up and ask for another food ration. His request provokes the master's anger and astonishment among the noble members of the board.

1. REALISM
1. Physical description of the boys  - details - accurate description of some actions/movements/reactions
2. The writer sides with the children: it can be understood considering some lexical choices (suffered, tortures), the justification of Oliver's naive action (desperate with hunger, reckless with misery), the juxtaposition of Oliver's humble attitude (please...) and the master's cruel reaction
3. It is Mr Limbrins because the writer emphasized the gap between children's hunger and poverty and his total cruel indifference for them from his high prestigious position (the high chair). The master is actually a person who has to obey to superior roles and conventions imposed by the upper class, that is the teal responsible.
4. The reader can't form a different opinion because the narrator is a intrusive: throughout his lexis and descriptions he affects the reader's opinion.

3.

a. the boy who threaten the others saying he will eat someone; the gruel disappeared

b. master :stupefied - astonishment - shriened

assistants: wonder

boys :    fear

Mr B.:     excitement

Mr L. :    horror,sense of superiority

The narrator resorts to hyperbole and he also repeats similar concepts more times.

c. sad - comic: after Oliver's request the master can't stand and he has to find a support.

 Details not necessary: the boys whispered ... winhed..nudgead

1.   -     Nicholas arrives at the school

• - breakfast
• - a long span of time without teacher
• - summon
• - questions and spelling
• - children's practical activities
• - recitation of stories
• - lunch

• 2 The pupils are strangely silent and motionless in the classroom - the bad treatment they receive is revealed by the description of the poor porridge they eat and by adjectives attributed to the pupils' manners: silent - sad - crouching - shivering - scarecrows - small voice

- The method is defined the practical mode of teaching - the practical philosophy: its aim is to render pupils useful. Mr Squeer explains it because he knows it is not a typical teaching method because theory is functional to practice. His words reveal he doesn't know what teaching means: his purpose is only to exploit children.

 - Mrs Squeer reflects the man's consideration of the pupils trough the poor meal she prepares; her son is arrogant and reveals a sense of superiority in front of the pupils.

 - Nicholas' opinion is not clear: he perceives the abnormal situation of Mr Squeer's school, but he agrees with Mr Squeer's statement that his method is efficient and useful.

3.Mr Squeer is a flat character because he corresponds to the traditional figure of the evil man without presenting a specific personality, complex identity or psychological features.

c. The narrator is a third-person omniscient intrusive narrator - he sides with the pupils he portrayed in a pathetic way; he singles up their negative, miserable condition while he emphasizes Mr Squeers cruelty; at the same time he seems to start with Nicholas who appears partly puzzled in front of the class.