Analysis of Oliver Twist's extract

The extract speaks about an episode of a boy in an English workhouse: he asks for more food after having dinner.

The narrator is a third person omniscient and intrusive narrator, because he knows characters' thoughts and describes the story with connotative devices.

The grottesque is used to characterize the masters and hyperbole is used to describe the children: for example the decision to use the word “ council”, is not an adeguate lexical choice.

Children's description is also full of sad images to underline their bad condition and to convey the idea of pathos.

The grottesque figure of the master is built on his body mass, his authoritarian attitude and his reaction.

The effect on the reader is the absence of identification with the masters and a sense of pathos for the children.

Analysis of Nicholas Nickleby's extract

The extract speaks about a lesson in an English school for poor children: the method of the teacher reveals the behaviour of the middle class of the poor.

The narrator is a third person omniscient and intrusive narrator that speaks about the children's poverty and miserable condition. Their characterisation is built on pathos. Finally they are compared to Mr Squeers' son, who is strong and happy.

The first explanations reveal the teacher's ignorance and how he is superficially about religion.