Foreign Language

Reading Workshop - Stage 1

"Oliver Twist's Early Life"

July 21st - 24th, 2020

Appendix I

 Reading between the lines

Inferences

Look for the quotes below in chapters 1 to 3. Then read through them carefully and write: Who said this? To whom?  and  who or what are they talking about?

1.“You must not talk about dying yet.” (chapter 1, page 1)

The doctor to Oliver's mother. He is talking about the last wish of Oliver's mother, about seeing her son.

2." Poor dear!” (chapter 1, page 1)

The nurse to the doctor. She is expressing her pity for Oliver and Oliver's mother due to the tragedy they experience.

3.“... so why shouldn’t I be able to make use of them in my work?” (chapter 2, page 7)

Mr Sowerberry to himself. He is talking about the announced for taking Oliver to work.

4.“ It’s just that I’m so lonely, sir!” (chapter 2, page 7)

Oliver to Mr Bumble. He is talking about his feelings and why he is crying.

5.“ I knew I was too generous to him.” (chapter 3, page 14)

Mrs Sowerberry to Mr Bumble. She is talking about the change of Oliver's attitude, she speculated that the food made him aggressive.

Fernando Javier Ampié Conrado

Kristopher René

Amador Uriarte

B. Conclusions: Critical Thinking

After reading chapters 1 to 3 and searching about Charles Dickens’ life and work, analyze and draw your conclusions on the following aspects:

-In what ways chapters 1 to 3 are influenced by Charles Dickens’ life experience (support your answer by quoting from the text).

-Write a five-line paragraph describing the influence of the Victorian Era in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist (chapters 1 to 3).

The writer Charles Dickens wrote the novel Oliver Twist based on his childhood experiences, the author had a hard childhood, he had to quit studies to help his family, because they were very poor. In the novel on the first chapter page 5, the protagonist, Oliver Twist, says "Please sir I want some more" this represents the hunger that Charles Dickens experienced on his hard childhood. Then on chapter 2 page 7, Mr Sowerberry says "so why shouldn't I be able to make use of them in my work", this represents that Oliver like Charles Dickens had to work from a young age. On page 9 we can identify that Oliver suffered bully from another boy called Noah, it is possible that Charles Dickens had lived similar experienced. On chapter 3 page 16, the Artful Dodger ask Oliver "What's the matter then" and Oliver said "I´'m very tired and hungry", this represents the feelings of Charles Dickens when he worked at a young age on a fabric, this tired the body of the young Charles and in the novel he represents the terrible memories of his childhood on the character Oliver. Fernando Ampié

 -Influence of the Victorian Era

The author Charles Dickens lived in the Victorian era (1837-1901), and finished writing his novel "Oliver Twist" in 1838, so the social context of the moment is reflected in the setting of the novel, this is represented with the concepts of workhouse and beadle. The novel took influence from idealized hard work, perseverance and a moral lesson, characteristic of Victorian literature, that's why Oliver is always trying to survive with perseverance. In the end Charles Dickens teaches us a moral lesson, don't give up and always fight for your goals as Oliver fights for survival. Fernando Ampié

Victorian Era Literature Characteristics.. Recover July 31 of 2020, from http://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-literature-characteristics.html

Chapters one through three are largely influenced by Dickens' childhood, the first data that we can relate to Dickens' childhood is about the poverty and hungry in the page 5# chapter 1 when Oliver says "I want some more " Dickens living in precarious conditions, he was hungry, therefore said phrase exclaimed by the protagonist represents his situation of famine, both when he lived with his parents and when he had to work in factory, this being related to point number two, child labor, we can see this when Mr Sowerberry said to Mr Bumble "Why shouldn’t i be able to make use of them in my work?" in chapter two page seven buys Oliver to use him as an assistant in his work at the age of 10, while Dickens was sent to work in a factory at an age close to that at approximately 12 years.

Another reflection of Dickens's life that we can see in the novel is during the end of chapter 3 specifically on page 16 when the narrator tells us "His feet were bleeding and he was covered in dust. He was too tired even to beg" This part is based on the author's life during his stay in London, since in his biography it is revealed that when he lived in that city he always kept wandering the streets, full of dust, his clothes as well as his shoes in poor condition. and he was also very tired all the time due to the precarious conditions in which he lived. Once the previous facts were exposed, we can conclude that the first three chapters of "Oliver Twist" are based on the life of Dickens.

Kristopher Amador

-Influence of the Victorian Era

The novel Oliver Twist was written in 1838 and published in 1840 during the Victorian era, therefore the influence of this period on it is obvious, especially when we talk about realism. In his first chapters we can appreciate the difficult life that the poor people spent in England at that time, Dickens having experienced this first hand, has no qualms in telling us about the injustices applied to the poor, child exploitation (which is demonstrates on pages 6 and 7 of the book how much Oliver is put up for sale and bought to be used as a worker) and discrimination(Chapter 3 page page 12 when it says that Mrs Swerberry was Oliver's enemy because her husband was his friend) . Taking into account all the aforementioned, we can demonstrate the great influence that had the Victorian era in Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist".

Kristopher Amador

Information recovered from:

http://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-literature-characteristics.html

Foreign language 

Reading workshop- Stage 2

August 13th-21st,2020

Apendix II

a. Questions to the author

1. What was the inspiration for creating the different characters in the book?

2. Why is the protagonist a young boy?

3. What was the inspiration to make Fagin's gang?

4. Why hasn't Oliver turned into a thief yet? Despite he's constantly interacting with them.

5. Why did you decide to set the story in England?

a. What worked well along this second stage?

I think that the responsibility and teamwork worked well along this second stage because my partner and I turned in all the assignments in time, we were working with responsibility all the time and collaborating with each other allways.

 b. Is there anything I could improve or change?

I think that we can change the esthetic of the book to make it more striking, we could also use another application to have more tools.

 c. What skills do I consider to have brushed up on?

I consider that I have to brushed up on all my skill, but the esthetic is the one I have to work on the most to make my .

B. Self assesment

d. How can I apply what I have learnt to different contexts?

During this second stage, I learned more from the context of England during the 1830s, with this, I expand my learning and allow me to develop a conversation about the topic.

 e. How can I do better next time? 

I think that to make better work I should select a better application with more facilities and tools, this will allow me to make a striking book.

f.  What  I have learned meaningfully and what I enjoyed doing?

I learned meaningfully about Charles Dickens and about the social context of London during the 1830s and I really enjoyed making all the redaction activities because it allowed me to put my ideas in order.

Fernando Ampié

a. What worked well along this second stage?

I think that in this job I was responsible, I got my time well and I managed to deliver works with quality content

b. Is there anything I could improve or change?

Yes, I think I always have think that I could improve, in that case  are the skills related to the reading: comprehension, fast reading and summarize information, I’m a person who easily lose his concentration and for that is a little difficult  for me understand the  information correctly, so I consider that I have to improve my concentration. Talking about the process I would not change anything, it   was very entertaining and educational. 

c. What skills do I consider to have brushed up on?

I think I have brushed up my reading and writing skills , especially when we are  talking about summarizing and understanding information, also there are other abilities that I've improved such as fast reading.

B. Self assesment

d. How can I apply what I have learnt to different contexts? 

What I learned in this part of the process can be applied to different jobs that are related to the reading and analysis of documents or any information.

e. How can I do better next time?

I Think that the only thing in which I failed significantly  is regard to the aesthetic of the different  activities, so to do better activities I should work in a more aesthetic way.

f.  What  I have learned meaningfully and what I enjoyed doing.

Regarding the book, I was able to learn that despite the difficulties one should never forget his values and ideals, I learned how to optimize the time in which I read a page or chapter of a book to do it as quickly as possible without missing any relevant details.

Kristopher Amador

September 2nd-11th, 2020

Reading workshop- Stage III

Chapter 9