Article On Teaching Dickens

Encouraging pupils to reap the rewards of reading Dickens has always been one of the most satisfying aspects of my teaching career. After all in most cases I will be the one responsible for giving them their first taste of a literally giant. At first students look slightly taken aback when I mention he is the focus of our next unit of work. Later they appear shocked when they discover that he didn`t actually write Romeo and Juliet or indeed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, (A common misconception I find, particularly amongst Key Stage Three pupils). Finally, when they realize that endless moaning will not actually change my mind, they settle down and allow me to take them on a journey into the past and a journey towards discovering literary greatness.

As we are all aware, context is everything. But with Dickens it is impossible to start anywhere other than with the nineteenth century. He is a writer whose social conscience was an integral part of his writing and whose passion for words was matched by his passion for social commentary. So I always begin at the beginning, with his birth and with his spendthrift father whose profligate ways ensured the family spent some time in Marshalsea, the debtor`s prison. This always grabs the attention of the pupils; they find it difficult to believe that debt was a `crime` punishable with prison and worse that the whole family could be imprisoned along with the person guilty of overspending and of non payment. Google Images has some fantastic illustrations of the way Marshalsea prison once looked, there is certainly something forbidding about its dark stone walls which appeals to the students as much as it repels them. The websites Southwark.gov and knowledgeoflondon.com also provide students with some excellent snippets of information and can help bring Victorian society to life. This is an ideal time to introduce pupils to some of Dickens` own writing by reading with them an extract from Little Dorrit. I find the opening of Chapter Six, Part One, particularly powerful. I ask pupils to pick out the words which provide them with the best picture of what prison life was like. Words such as `squalid`, `narrow, and `hemmed in` all contribute to a feeling of filth and claustrophobia. There is probably a case for putting the story of Dickens` father on a PSHE or Citizenship programme of study as his story certainly offers some sound advice about the need to budget wisely. Apparently when Dickens` father was about to leave for prison he warned his son that if a person had twenty pounds a year and spent only nineteen pounds, nineteen shillings and sixpence he would be happy, but if he spent a shilling over he would be in absolute misery. This observation later formed the basis of the words of wisdom that were spoken by David Copperfield`s Mr Micawber before his own term of imprisonment and we can once again see just how passionately Dickens felt about this type of wayward attitude towards money.

Some confusion for pupils often arises because of their lack of knowledge about the Victorian period. I usually begin by asking my pupils to put themselves into pairs and to make a list of ten facts about this era. I am often surprised by how many students believe Queen Elizabeth 1st was on the throne and that people were dying on a daily basis from the bubonic plague. Dorling Kindersley publishes an excellent resource on life in Victorian times called Eyewitness Victorian. It contains a fantastic fact filled poster about the era along with detailed yet easy to access information. I also find it useful to bring to the classroom a variety of Victorian memorabilia. Old coins, postcards and photographs can add a wonderfully tangible quality to the lesson and pupils begin to see the Victorians as less like shadowy ghosts from the past and more like individuals who actually lived albeit over a hundred and fifty years ago. Finding a postcard that has been written upon can also be something of a benefit; it provides wonderful fodder for the imagination, especially if you encourage pupils to create background lives and stories for any names that appear on the correspondence. Terry Deary`s Horrible History series also provides an excellent (if ruthlessly honest) introduction to life in Victorian times. Vicious Victorians concentrates on all the filthy, weird and wonderful aspects of life in the days of Queen Victoria. Pupils are often equally appalled and angry at the treatment of many Victorian school children, waifs and strays as well as those like Dickens who was forced to work in factories. For pupils who had previously dismissed Dickens as `too posh` it comes as a huge shock to discover that he too was once forced to give up his freedom and the chance of an education in order to be confined to a blacking factory for twelve hours a day. For many, this knowledge humanises Dickens, (always a great way to engage pupils) and they share his own indignation at such social injustices. Once the pupils have warmed to Dickens and have a more secure knowledge of the period in which he lived it is a perfect time to introduce them to more of his novels.

My pupils were particularly impressive in their responses to the character of Miss Havisham. Students often remain fascinated by her predicament, her clothes and often shudder at the thought that she gave up her life to remain forever locked in a room filled with the rotting remnants of her ill-fated wedding day. I typically begin my showing them an extract from David Lean`s adaptation of Great Expectations and even though many pupils are always quick to make obvious their dismissive attitude towards black and white films, many have also been captivated by Marsh Hunt`s portrayal of such a bitter and eccentric woman. The passage where Pip is first introduced to Miss Havisham is always the best place to start, particularly Pip`s initial reaction to what he sees. I usually get pupils to focus on the actual language; words such as `faded` `yellow` and `withered` give such a clear indication of the way she looks. Then I get pupils to focus on the way she first feels upon first meeting Pip and ask them to write her a monologue where she expresses her own feelings and thoughts. Mr Gradgrind from Hard Times is another character who engages the interest of the pupils. Even before reading any of Dickens` wonderful descri ptions of him pupils can usually infer from his name the type of teacher he is. Indeed name analysis is perfect when it comes to Dickens as so many of his characters have names which suit their personalities. Think of Estella for example whose name derives from the Latin for star and is therefore suggestive of the cold and of being distant, or of Mr Sowerberry, the undertaker who beats orphan Oliver before he flees to London. Gradgrind comes alive for the reader from the very opening of the novel, which begins with his demand for `Facts.` Dickens` oh so apt descri ption of him, with his `wide, thin and hard set` mouth and `square coat, square legs, square shoulders` gives pupils an astute insight into his character and students often enjoy writing about the type of man they think he might be before discovering the truth. Fortunately their understanding of him, with his penchant for calling pupils by numbers and not their names, is spot on. For me, no teaching of Dickens would be complete without an introduction to A Christmas Carol and the tight fisted Ebenezer Scrooge. I say introduction but many pupils will of course already have been introduced to him through one of the many film adaptations of the novel if not A Muppet Christmas Carol. This can have its hindrances (convincing some Year Seven pupils that Charles Dickens did not have a nose the size of Pinocchio`s has not always been easy!). But it does mean the pupils are less in awe of reading this wonderful novel. I find it particularly rewarding to begin by giving pupils a selection of extracts about Scrooge from the novel and asking them to turn these into a series of sketches. Dickens` language is so colourful and his dialogue so lively that it lends itself perfectly to scri pt writing activities. Lots of my pupils have also blossomed when asked to write a speech on behalf of the charity collectors who are treated so appallingly by Scrooge. The UK`s current economic climate makes pupils realise that Dickens` novels transcend time and that the problems faced by his characters foreshadow those faced by so many of us today. In writing such a speech they not only develop their persuasive skills but also their empathetic skills and this is something of which Dickens would certainly approve. No focus on A Christmas Carol would be complete without mention of the three ghostly spirits who hope to provide Scrooge with salvation. The descri ption of the final ghost always appeals to students as there is something so frightening about him. My pupils have produced some excellent work trying to imagine what the ghost of Christmas Yet To Come would say to Scrooge if he was given a voice. They also enjoy using Dickens` descri ption of the second of the spirits to inspire them to create their own benevolent character, one who aims to redeem and to save. My main aim has always been to inspire pupils and to encourage them to see that studying Dickens can be a rewarding and worthwhile experience. If I can convince just a handful of pupils to be appreciative of his genius and to want to read more of his work I always feel that my mission has been accomplished and for that, as Tiny Tim would say, `God bless us, everyone!`