David Copperfield Lesson Plan

What Happened to Little Em'ly?

Kind of Activity:

Individual Writing

Objective:

Student will study Dickens's philanthropic work among "fallen women" and consider how this affects their understanding of the novel.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1

Structure:

Students who are unfamiliar with Victorian sexual norms may be confused by the chapter on little Em'ly's departure. The reason for her running away is never explicitly explained, but it would have been immediately clear to the novel's original audience: Em'ly had a sexual relationship with Steerforth.

In Dickens's time, a woman...