OLIVER TWIST

INTRODUCTION  Have you ever wondered how life in the 19th century was? This webquest will help you to find out more about it. We are going to discover how Dickens' life was and how he tries to relate his own life by means of his book Oliver Twist. Are you ready? Let's learn more about it!

TASK After completing this activity, you will have to prepare a project where you will have to find information about these aspects:  1- DICKENS' LIFE When was he born? Why didn't he go to school at the age of ten? What happened to his father in 1824? and why ? Where did Dickens work then? Was that period important in his life? Where did he go to live with his wife? How many children did he have? Did he always stay in England? When did he die? and how old was he? Where is he buried? 2- HOW WAS LIFE IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND? WHAT WAS A WORKHOUSE? 3- OLIVER’S LONDON Create a map of Oliver’s London and draw the journey that Oliver took in his adventures throughout the city as described in the novel. 4-CHILDREN LABOUR 5- MAIN CHARACTERS IN OLIVER TWIST. HOW ARE THEY DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK? Before describing the characters, find out who is who in Oliver Twist:

6-AFTER READING THE BOOK, HOW DOES DICKENS REFLECT THE SOCIAL SITUATION AT THE TIME BY MEANS OFOLIVER TWIST? Choose at least one of these items  to help you: principle of good surviving, money and materialism, charity and love, woman as nurturer, poverty, hypocrisy, sanitary conditions, population increase, search for employment, etc. Use quotations from the book. 7.- OLIVER TWIST  Find 4 reasons why he was not lucky. a) ……………………………………………….......................................... b) ……………………………………………….......................................... c) ……………………………………………….......................................... d) ………………………………………………......................................... What did Dickens want to show with that novel ? ………………………………................................................................ 8. David Copperfield (Complete your information with another page.)  Sometimes he was miserable. Explain (4 reasons at least) - …………………………………………………………………………………... - …………………………………………………………………………………... - …………………………………………………………………………………... - …………………………………………………………………………………... 9. Find 5 of his themes (see that page too) - …………………………………………………………………………………... - …………………………………………………………………………………... - …………………………………………………………………………………... - …………………………………………………………………………………... - …………………………………………………………………………………... B. Victorian times  1 - Victorian England saw great expansion of : 1) ……………………. 2) ……………………… 3) ……………………… 2 - Technological advances What began in Great-Britain and continued through the 19th century ?   …………………………………………………………………………………... Changes were seen in many areas. Give examples : …………………….……………………………………………….................... …………………….……………………………………………….................... 3 - Name the three social classes and associate the following words with them : aristocracy - ethnic minorities - growing control of the economy - city merchants - the underclass - gentleman 1)……………………(………………………+……………………………) 2) ……………………( ………………………+……………………………) 3) …………………… (………………………+……………………………) 4 - Child labour (Visit this site too.)  What was unbelievable ? - ………………………………………………………………………………… - ………………………………………………………………………………… - ………………………………………………………………………………… Which job was the most tiring, in your opinion ? ……………………………… 5 - Who wrote what ? Write the right letter in the second column.  Mary Shelley   a) Alice in Wonderland Charlotte Brontë   b) The Picture of Dorian Gray Lewis Carroll   c) Ivanhoe Thomas Hardy   d) The Jungle Book Robert Louis Stevenson   e) Portrait of a Lady Rudyard Kipling   f) Frankenstein Arthur Conan Doyle   g) Tess of the D'Urbervilles Walter Scott   h) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Henry James   i) Treasure Island Oscar Wilde   j) Jane Eyre 6 - The British Empire (also see here and there)  Right or wrong ? Justify your answer. It was not very big under Queen Victoria.……………………………………………………………………………………. She reigned over one-fifth of the world.……………………………………………………………………………………. It contained more than 410 million people. ……………………………………………………………………………………. 7 - Make your own Victorian timeline  with the following dates corresponding to important events :1812 - 1819 - 1826 - 1837 - 1840 - 1859 - 1861 - 1870 - 1877 - 1879 - 1885 - 1888 - 1901 PROCESS 1-You are going to work in groups of 4 or 5 students and you will look for information about the different aspects we ask you. 2- Search for the information using the links we provide you and look for the most important information. 3- Make a summary of the information (try to use your own words) 4- Prepare your work, you can include the information you have found and some interesting images. 5- Finally, you will have to make a presentation in class about your work.

RESOURCES Here you have different links where you can search for the information we ask you. LIFE IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND - http://www.aboutbritain.com/articles/life-in-victorian-england.asp - http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor4.html - http://www.hiddenlives.org.uk/articles/poverty.html - http://www.judandk.force9.co.uk/workhouse.html WHAT DID THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION MEAN FOR POOR PEOPLE? - http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vindust.html CHILD LABOUR - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/victorians/flash/full_flash.shtml - http://ecole.pagespro-orange.fr/college.saintebarbe/victoria/children.htm MAIN CHARACTERS - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/oliver/characters.html DICKENS LIFE VIDEO - http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/bleakhouse/animation.shtml DICKENS LIFE  - http://www.fathom.com/course/21701768/session1.html - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/olivertwist/dickens_timeline_text.html OLIVER’S LONDON - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/olivertwist/olivers_london.html - http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/dickens_london_map.html

EVALUATION Students will be evaluated by the teacher: -Individual Evaluation rubric :  Each student will be graded on the following aspects: Presentation and elaboration of project work, oral presentation and class discussion. -Team work evaluation rubric:  The teams will be evaluated in different areas: Balanced discussion within the team, Organization, Focus on the topic, Accuracy of the facts,Creativity, collaboration, Resolution and Interest.

CONCLUSION Through this webquest you have learnt more about Victorian times and Dickens' life and work. Now you are ready to discuss in class your opinion about the book and if you think Dickens tries to show part of his life and how Victorian way of life was.