What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what evidence is actually missing?
Great Expectations
30 minutes total
ByCharles Dickens
Grade9-10
Time30 minutes
Essential question
What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what evidence is actually missing?
Marked passage
Passage location
Chapter XVIII
Start anchor
Now, I return to this young fellow. And the communication I have got to make is, that he has great expectations.
End anchor
Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune on a grand scale.
Passage focus
Jaggers announces the expectations
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
List what Jaggers explicitly states, then identify the missing fact Pip supplies himself. Strong answers distinguish known conditions from the story Pip builds around them.
Mark
Box only the facts Jaggers explicitly gives Pip. In a different mark, underline every conclusion Pip adds about the identity or purpose of the benefactor. Put a question mark beside the first conclusion that Jaggers never confirms.
Instructional move
Catch an inference the text never confirms
Notice
• What does Pip know for certain after Jaggers speaks? • What does Pip believe almost immediately even though nobody has said it? • Why is Pip’s inference emotionally convincing to him despite the missing evidence?
Strong answer
Pip immediately assumes Miss Havisham is the benefactor and that the expectations point toward Estella, even though Jaggers never says either thing. The certainty is emotionally logical to Pip but evidentially unsupported.
Think
Answer provisionally: What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what evidence is actually missing? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not treat Pip's inference as foolish because the reader knows better. Explain why the inference feels persuasive despite the missing evidence.
Why this passage
Jaggers gives Pip genuine information—he has expectations and must leave for London—but never identifies the benefactor. Pip immediately fills that silence with Miss Havisham. The lesson lets students catch an inference forming precisely where the evidence stops.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response to: What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what evidence is actually missing? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Mark
Box only the facts Jaggers explicitly gives Pip. In a different mark, underline every conclusion Pip adds about the identity or purpose of the benefactor. Put a question mark beside the first conclusion that Jaggers never confirms.
Notice
What does Pip know for certain after Jaggers speaks? What does Pip believe almost immediately even though nobody has said it? Why is Pip’s inference emotionally convincing to him despite the missing evidence?
Think
Answer provisionally: What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what evidence is actually missing?
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 25
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what
evidence is actually missing?
TOTAL TIME
PASSAGE
30 minutes
Jaggers announces the expectations
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 XVIII
START
Now, I return to this young fellow. And the communication I have got to make is, that he has great expectations.
END
Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune on a grand scale.
PASSAGE ID
sec-ge-03
THE MOVE
Catch an inference the text never confirms
WHY THIS PASSAGE
Jaggers gives Pip genuine information—he has expectations and must leave for London—but never identifies the benefactor. Pip immediately fills that silence with Miss Havisham. The lesson lets students catch an inference forming precisely where the evidence stops.
MARK
Box only the facts Jaggers explicitly gives Pip. In a different mark, underline every conclusion Pip adds about the identity or purpose of the benefactor. Put a question mark beside the first conclusion that Jaggers never confirms.
page 1
NOTICE
What does Pip know for certain after Jaggers speaks?
What does Pip believe almost immediately even though nobody has said it?
Why is Pip’s inference emotionally convincing to him despite the missing evidence?
THINK
Answer provisionally: What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what evidence is actually missing? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
WRITE
Write a short evidence-based response to: What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what evidence is actually missing? 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
Pip immediately assumes Miss Havisham is the benefactor and that the expectations point toward Estella, even though Jaggers never says either thing. The certainty is emotionally logical to Pip but evidentially unsupported.
EVIDENCE
List what Jaggers explicitly states, then identify the missing fact Pip supplies himself. Strong answers distinguish known conditions from the story Pip builds around them.
WATCH FOR
Do not treat Pip's inference as foolish because the reader knows better. Explain why the inference feels persuasive despite the missing evidence.
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
What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what
evidence is actually missing?
START ANCHOR
Now, I return to this young fellow. And the communication I have got to make is, that he has great expectations.
END ANCHOR
Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune on a grand scale.
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 - Box only the facts Jaggers explicitly gives Pip. In a different mark, underline every
conclusion Pip adds about the identity or purpose of the benefactor. Put a question mark beside the first conclusion that Jaggers never confirms.
2.NOTICE - What does Pip know for certain after Jaggers speaks? What does Pip believe almost
immediately even though nobody has said it? Why is Pip’s inference emotionally convincing to him despite the missing evidence?
3.THINK - Answer provisionally: What does Pip decide the instant he hears the news—and what
evidence is actually missing?
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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