How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from evidence?
Great Expectations
30 minutes total
ByCharles Dickens
Grade9-10
Time30 minutes
Essential question
How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from evidence?
Marked passage
Passage location
Chapter I
Start anchor
My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip
End anchor
The small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip.
Passage focus
Pip invents his family from gravestones
Ways to teach it
Listening
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
Solo
Read the exact passage independently.
Supported
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
Teacher guide
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
Evidence
Separate one observable grave detail from one conclusion Pip invents about appearance or character. Strong answers trace the inference back to the clue that prompted it.
Mark
Put E beside every fact Pip can directly observe on the gravestones. Put I beside every conclusion he imagines about what his parents or brothers looked like. Draw a line from each inference back to the detail that prompted it.
Instructional move
Separate evidence from imaginative projection
Notice
• Which things about Pip’s family are facts available to him? • Which conclusions are imaginative projections rather than evidence? • Why does Dickens begin Pip’s story by showing him invent knowledge from incomplete evidence?
Strong answer
Very little of Pip's 'knowledge' is direct evidence. He can read names, dates, shapes, and gravestones, but his images of his parents and brothers are imaginative constructions built from those sparse clues.
Think
Answer provisionally: How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from evidence? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not mock Pip for imagining. The lesson is about distinguishing evidence from projection, not about proving imagination worthless.
Why this passage
Pip has almost no direct memory of his parents, yet he constructs vivid ideas about them from the shapes and lettering on their gravestones. The opening makes it easy to separate the small amount of evidence Pip actually has from the imaginative story he builds on top of it.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response to: How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from evidence? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Mark
Put E beside every fact Pip can directly observe on the gravestones. Put I beside every conclusion he imagines about what his parents or brothers looked like. Draw a line from each inference back to the detail that prompted it.
Notice
Which things about Pip’s family are facts available to him? Which conclusions are imaginative projections rather than evidence? Why does Dickens begin Pip’s story by showing him invent knowledge from incomplete evidence?
Think
Answer provisionally: How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from evidence?
Write
Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage. Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.
Ready-to-teach lesson
TumbleTA 6-12 · TEXT-BASED LESSON
BATCH 01 · 9-10 · LESSON 23
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from
evidence?
TOTAL TIME
PASSAGE
30 minutes
Pip invents his family from gravestones
FIND THE ANCHOR TEXT
Use the Anchor Text Table of Contents in the Enhanced Reader to open the START anchor. Then use the dropdown to select the END anchor.
SECTION / LOCATION
Chapter I
START
My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip
END
The small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip.
PASSAGE ID
sec-ge-01
THE MOVE
Separate evidence from imaginative projection
WHY THIS PASSAGE
Pip has almost no direct memory of his parents, yet he constructs vivid ideas about them from the shapes and lettering on their gravestones. The opening makes it easy to separate the small amount of evidence Pip actually has from the imaginative story he builds on top of it.
MARK
Put E beside every fact Pip can directly observe on the gravestones. Put I beside every conclusion he imagines about what his parents or brothers looked like. Draw a line from each inference back to the detail that prompted it.
page 1
NOTICE
Which things about Pip’s family are facts available to him?
Which conclusions are imaginative projections rather than evidence?
Why does Dickens begin Pip’s story by showing him invent knowledge from incomplete
evidence?
THINK
Answer provisionally: How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from evidence?
Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
WRITE
Write a short evidence-based response to: How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from evidence? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
CLOSE
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
STRONG ANSWER
Very little of Pip's 'knowledge' is direct evidence. He can read names, dates, shapes, and gravestones, but his images of his parents and brothers are imaginative constructions built from those sparse clues.
EVIDENCE
Separate one observable grave detail from one conclusion Pip invents about appearance or character. Strong answers trace the inference back to the clue that prompted it.
WATCH FOR
Do not mock Pip for imagining. The lesson is about distinguishing evidence from projection, not about proving imagination worthless.
SOLO
Read the exact passage independently.
SUPPORTED
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
LISTENING
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
page 2
STUDENT PAGE · SAME PASSAGE, SAME THINKING
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes from
evidence?
START ANCHOR
My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip
END ANCHOR
The small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip.
Use the Anchor Text Table of Contents in the Enhanced Reader to open the START anchor. Then use the dropdown to select the END anchor.
OPEN THE MARKED PASSAGE IN TUMBLELIT
SOLO: read independently. SUPPORTED: use narration + highlighting. LISTENING: listen to the exact passage. The question and evidence task stay the same.
1.MARK - Put E beside every fact Pip can directly observe on the gravestones. Put I beside every
conclusion he imagines about what his parents or brothers looked like. Draw a line from each inference back to the detail that prompted it.
2.NOTICE - Which things about Pip’s family are facts available to him? Which conclusions are
imaginative projections rather than evidence? Why does Dickens begin Pip’s story by showing him invent knowledge from incomplete evidence?
3.THINK - Answer provisionally: How much of what Pip 'knows' in the opening actually comes
from evidence?
4.WRITE - Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage.
Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.
page 3
Original printable PDF
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