Charles Dickens

Adaptation, Dossiers and Activities by P. Massara
 One of the most famous works of fiction by Charles Dickens, a view on London and its slums and workhouses during the Victorian Age, a "novel of formation" with striking contrasts. It is the story of an orphan from his orphanage and workhouse days to his flight to London, where he happens to live with a gang of boys led by a thief. Oliver has only met misery and people with no scruples and humanity in his life. But one day he meets a gentleman who believes in his goodness of heart…
 The reader contains in-depth analyses on Victorian towns, children's exploitation, children in literature and the cinema and theatre performances of Oliver Twist. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Key to Summing-up Activities.
 
 Uno dei romanzi più famosi di Charles Dickens, spaccato della vita della Londra dei bassifondi dell’epoca vittoriana. Romanzo di formazione e di grandi contrasti, è la storia di un ragazzo dai giorni dell’orfanotrofio alla fuga verso Londra dove si trova a vivere con persone spesso senza scrupoli e nessuna umanità.
 Il reader contiene inserti sulla società vittoriana, sullo sfruttamento minorile, sulla figura del bambino nella letteratura, sul cinema e il teatro di Oliver Twist.

Chapter 1 – Oliver’s early life

Chapter 2 – Oliver’s first job

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Victorian towns

Chapter 3 – Oliver in London

Chapter 4 – Oliver’s life changes

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Children’s exploitation from Dickens to today

Chapter 5 – The robbery

Chapter 6 – New friends for Oliver

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Children in literature

Chapter 7 – Oliver is not alone

Chapter 8 – The end of all mysteries

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Extension: Oliver Twist performances

Summing-up activities

Glossary

2  Oliver s first job Chapter BEFORE READING 1 The following words are related to Oliver s first job. Match the two parts of the definitions. a. A coffin is .............................. 1. a person who organizes funerals. b. A grave is .............................. 2. when he / she stops breathing. c. A funeral is .......................... 3. a box for a dead body. d. A person dies ..................... 4. the place where a dead person is put. e. An undertaker is .................... 5. a ceremony that takes place when somebody dies. 2 Make guesses about the development of the story. Write true or false. T F a. Oliver will be happy in his new job. c c b. The undertaker likes him because his sad expression c c is suitable for funerals. c. He will sleep in a coffin. c c d. He will make new friends. c c e. He will learn something from this experience. c c f. He will leave the undertaker s house. c c 3 Which of the following behaviours do you think is more probable when children find themselves in difficult situations? c They help and protect each other from the abuses of adults. c They become selfish and bad like adults. Mr and Mrs Sowerberry with Oliver (performed by PCPA Theater fest, Santa Maria, CA, 2006). 14 

Oliver Twist Oliver s first job Chapter 2 When Oliver and Mr Bumble arrived, the undertaker stopped his work and took a candle to see Oliver better. Then he called his wife, a short, thin woman with a horrible expression on her face. She didn t like Oliver.  He s very small , she said.  You re right , replied Mr Bumble,  but he ll grow quickly!   Yes, when he eats our food , the woman said thinking about the cost of food. Then she ordered Charlotte, a young servant, to give him the dog s left-overs1. Oliver ate them quickly. Then Charlotte took him upstairs to the shop. It was full of coffins and Oliver s bed was a hole in the floor, very similar to a grave itself. That night Oliver was afraid of ghosts but, above all, he felt lonely in a wide and unfriendly world. He thought,  I would like to die , then he fell asleep. The sound of kicks2 at the shop door woke him up the next morning.  Open the door  a voice ordered. Oliver got up quickly,  Yes, Sir  he answered.  Are you the new boy from the workhouse?  said the voice behind the door.  How old are you?   Ten, Sir.   Then I ll hit you when I get in , said the voice. When Oliver opened the door, he saw a big boy of about fourteen. He wore the uniform of a charity school3.  Do you want a coffin?  asked Oliver.  Don t make jokes like that, Workhouse, or you ll need a coffin! I m Mr Noah Claypole and you must work under me!  the boy replied. After breakfast, Noah ordered Oliver to go upstairs because it was Oliver s job to look after the shop. He treated Oliver 1. left-overs: food not eaten at the end of a meal. 2. kick: the action of hitting something with the foot. 3. charity school: school for very poor children. 15 5 

Scopri "Oliver Twist" di Dickens, un orfano nella Londra vittoriana tra sfruttamento e speranza. Con inserti su società, sfruttamento minorile, teatro

Oliver Twist - Collana RAINBOWS

Level A2 • Elementary - Collana RAINBOWS

Oliver Twist

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