Great Expectations Introduction Summary

          The novel began at a scene of a graveyard, in which an orphan named Pip is visiting his parents’ grave sites. An escaped convict approaches Pip, demanding food and a file to be brought to him the following day, or else a lunatic man will find Pip in his home and eat his liver and heart. Pip managed to steal some food from his sister, Mrs. Joe, and a file from her husband, Joe, who is a blacksmith. Upon receiving the stolen goods, the convict began sawing at the chain on his leg. Pip left home, obviously unaware that the convict was merely trying to intimidate him into bringing him what he wanted. Pip felt extremely guilty afterwards, afraid of what his stern sister would do if she discovered his act of theft.

Great Expectations Title

Charles Dickens named his novel Great Expectations because the story was of a young boy named Pip whom had great expectations for his future and aspired to become a gentleman and a man of high status, rather than a blacksmith’s apprentice. The title also hints that great things are to come for Pip in the future. 

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I selected The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost because of the complexity and depth of the poem. At first glance, it would appear as if when the narrator appeared in front of a fork in the road, he walked the road less traveled. Upon further analyzing the poem, it appears the two roads were equally untraveled and although he had told himself he would come back another day and travel the other road, he knew he wouldn’t. Therefore, he told himself he took the road less traveled by, but he knew that was not true. The common misconception about this poem made it intriguing to opt and analyze.