Living Fairly
Senior 6 · English (Languages)
Living Fairly
Lesson 4 of 4
35 min
Let's begin
Two skills sit at the heart of writing about a novel. A summary tells a reader what happens, briefly and fairly. A commentary tells them what it means and how well it is done. Examiners often ask for both, and students often blur them: a summary full of opinions, or a commentary that only retells the plot. This lesson gives you the language for each and practises them on one of the most famous scenes in English fiction, a scene about the unfair treatment of children.
Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist in monthly parts from 1837 to 1839. Its hero is an orphan born in a workhouse, an institution where the poorest people in England were housed and made to work in return for meagre food. A new law of 1834 had made workhouses deliberately harsh, so that only the desperate would enter them. Dickens attacks that system through satire. In Chapter 2, the starving boys of the workhouse draw lots to decide who will ask for a second helping, and the lot falls to Oliver.
Extract from Chapter 2
The room in which the boys were fed, was a large stone hall, with a copper at one end: out of which the master, dressed in an apron for the purpose, and assisted by one or two women, ladled the gruel at mealtimes. Of this festive composition each boy had one porringer, and no more—except on occasions of great public rejoicing, when he had two ounces and a quarter of bread besides. The bowls never wanted washing. …
The evening arrived; the boys took their places. The master, in his cook's uniform, stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared; the boys whispered each other, and winked at Oliver; while his next neighbors nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity:
"Please, sir, I want some more."
The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupefied astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear.
"What!" said the master at length, in a faint voice.
"Please, sir," replied Oliver, "I want some more."
The master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his arm; and shrieked aloud for the beadle. …
"That boy will be hung," said the gentleman in the white waistcoat. "I know that boy will be hung."
Glosses: copper = a large cooking pot; gruel = thin porridge; porringer = a small bowl; never wanted washing = never needed washing; short commons = too little food; temerity = boldness; pinioned = held tightly; beadle = a minor parish official.
Definition
Key terms
| Purpose | Expressions |
|---|---|
| Introducing the work | Oliver Twist (1837–39), by Charles Dickens, tells the story of … / The chapter describes … |
| Beginning the action | The chapter opens with … / At the outset, … |
| Moving through events | The narrative then turns to … / In the course of the scene, … / As a result, … / Eventually, … |
| Focusing | The episode centres on … / The main concern of the chapter is … |
| Condensing | In short, … / In essence, … / Broadly speaking, … |
| Purpose | Expressions |
|---|---|
| Making a point | What is striking is … / Dickens presents … as … / The scene exposes … |
| Bringing in evidence | This is evident in … / as when … / The phrase "…" suggests … |
| Analysing effect | This invites the reader to … / The effect is to … / By … , Dickens makes us … |
| Hedging and weighing | Arguably, … / It could be argued that … / However, some readers may feel … |
| Judging | Particularly effective is … / One weakness, perhaps, is … / Overall, … |
Worked example
A model summary (about 80 words)
"In Chapter 2 of Oliver Twist, Dickens describes the workhouse where Oliver spends his early childhood. The boys receive one small bowl of thin gruel at each meal and slowly starve. Desperate, they draw lots to decide who will ask for more food, and the task falls to Oliver. When he politely asks the master for a second helping, the master strikes him and calls for the beadle, and the workhouse board reacts with horror, one member predicting that Oliver will be hanged."
Notice: present tense throughout; third person; no opinions; own words, with no quotations; events in the order of the text.
Worked example
A model commentary paragraph
"What is striking about this scene is how Dickens turns a child's request for food into a revolution, and so exposes the cruelty of the system. The language is mock-heroic: Oliver is 'the small rebel', and the boys hold 'a council' and cast lots as if planning a war. The effect is to make the adults' reaction absurd: a 'fat, healthy' master turns 'very pale' and clings to the copper, as though a bowl held out by a starving boy were a weapon. Irony does the rest. The gruel is called a 'festive composition', which suggests how far the board's view of generosity is from the boys' reality. Arguably, the most damning line is the gentleman's certainty that 'That boy will be hung': the system punishes hunger as if it were crime."
Notice: a clear point; short, embedded quotations; analysis of particular words; a hedge (arguably) on the boldest claim.
Warning
Practice
Further reading
Sources and credits
