Inside Out

Charles Dickens WORKSHEET A

Charles Dickens (1812-70) is widely considered to be one of the greatest writers in

the history of the English language.
His novels provide a vivid description of life in nineteenth-century England, and tell
wonderfully engaging stories that are full of memorable characters. Many of the
people in his books have exaggerated characteristics, often being either extremely
benevolent or extremely unpleasant, and some of his most famous works are ‘morality
tales’ in which good people end up being rewarded and bad people punished. All his
stories make the reader desperate to know what happens next, and during his lifetime
most of his novels came out in separate weekly or monthly parts, so people had to
wait patiently for the next instalment.
Another feature of Dickens’ work is his social conscience, particularly his awareness
of the poverty and bad working conditions suffered by the urban working-class
population of nineteenth-century England. At a time when Britain was the world’s
richest and most powerful country, he focused on the people who didn’t seem to be
receiving any of the benefits.
This sympathy came from personal experience, as at the age of twelve he had to
support his family by working ten hours a day in a filthy London factory, sticking
labels on jars of polish. During this period his parents and brothers and sisters were in
a special prison for debtors, because his father had spent too much money. Charles
used to visit the prison at weekends, and the awful conditions probably provided him
with inspiration for his future writing.
In his twenties Dickens started a career as a political journalist, and his special talent
for storytelling soon became obvious. In his spare time he started to do other kinds of
writing, including his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, which became a great success
as soon as it was published in 1836-7.
Over the next twenty-five years he wrote masterpieces such as David Copperfield,
Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist is the story of
a kind-hearted young orphan who gets tricked into joining a gang of pickpockets on
the streets of London before eventually being rescued from his life of crime. In the
1960s it was made into a much-loved musical, first for the theatre and then later as a
film.

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 Inside Out
Charles Dickens WORKSHEET B

Exercise 1
Here are some simple definitions for words or expressions that appear in the text on
Worksheet A. Find the words or expressions they refer to and fill in the gaps.

1. _______________ (adjective) kind and helpful

2. _______________ (noun) a child whose parents have died

3. _______________ (noun) a substance that you rub onto an object to make it shine

4. _______________ (adjective) very dirty

5. _______________ (noun) one of several parts of a story or article that are

published at different times in a magazine or newspaper

6. _______________ (noun) someone who steals money and other things from
people’s pockets and bags, especially in crowded places

7. _______________ (noun) a long written story about imaginary or partly imaginary

characters and events

8. _______________ (noun) an excellent painting, book, piece of music etc, or the

best work of art that a particular artist, writer, musician etc has ever produced

9. _______________ (noun) a piece of paper or material fastened to an object that

gives information about it

10. _______________ (verb) to provide money, food, or other things that someone
needs in order to live

11. _______________ (noun) a group of young people who spend time together and
often cause trouble

12. _______________ (noun) someone who owes money

13. _______________ (adjective) very bad

14. _______________ _______________ (noun) a knowledge or understanding of

what is morally right in a society

15. _______________ (adjective) having or producing very clear and detailed images
in the mind

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 Inside Out
Charles Dickens WORKSHEET C

Exercise 2
Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F), or if the text doesn’t
say (D).

1. Like the character Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens was an orphan.

2. There is music in the 1960s film version of Oliver Twist.
3. Dickens had already earned a lot of money before he started writing novels.
4. Dickens’ work only became very popular after he died.
5. Dickens didn’t write about people who lived in towns or cities.
6. He kept all the money that he earned from working in the factory.

Exercise 3
Below are some excerpts from the text, but not all of them have been copied correctly.
Decide if they are correct (C), or incorrect (I) and then bet a minimum of 10 points up
to a maximum of 50 on your choice.

Points Points Points

C/I
bet lost won
1 ‘Charles used to visit the prison at weekends …’
2 ‘ … he had to support his family by work ten
hours a day …’
3 ‘ … Britain was the world’s richest and most
powerful country …’
4 ‘ … people had to wait patiently for next
instalment …’
5 ‘All his stories make the reader desperate to
know that happens next …’
6 ‘His novels provide a vivid descrition of life...’
7 ‘ … his special talent to storytelling soon
became obvious.’
8 ‘Many of the people in his books have
exaggerated characteristics …’
Total points lost and won
Final total (subtract total points lost from total points won)

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.