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Sympathy for Magwitch
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. In this extract, Pip accompanies the badly injured Magwitch back to London.
Explore the ways in which Dickens presents sympathy for Magwitch in this extract and elsewhere in the novel.
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Marking points
- 1 Maintain a critical, personal response focused on sympathy for Magwitch in the extract and the wider novel.
- 2 Use relevant textual references and quotations from both the extract and elsewhere in the novel.
- 3 Analyse Dickens’ language, form and structure rather than only retelling events.
- 4 Use relevant contextual understanding to support interpretation of the text.
- 5 May discuss Magwitch’s treatment as a prisoner and Pip’s changed view of him.
- 6 May connect sympathy for Magwitch to earlier and later moments in the novel.
Why this answer loses marks
Only narrates what happens to Magwitch or moves quickly away from the extract.
The examiner report notes that some candidates found the extract challenging and focused more on action than language; strong answers should analyse Dickens’ methods in the extract as well as the wider novel.