Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit - Debtors Prisons
An Internet WebQuest on Victorian London

created by Ms. C. LaMagna

Introduction | The Task | The Process | Conclusion |


Introduction
Everywhere you look, from newspaper reports, to television and radio journalism, to internet newsfeeds, you see stories of economic crisis. Many people are in debt in today's society. Credit card debt is common. People are filing bankruptcy and selling their homes to avoid forclosure. With high interest rates on personal debt, some people find it increasingly difficult to get out of debt. In Victorian England, it was even more difficult to get out of debt. Imagine that you were sent to prison because of your debts. Prison! How would you ever be able to earn the money to pay your debts and leave the prison if you could not leave the prison to go to work? In Charles Dickens' time, entire families were sent to prison over personal debt.

During the course of this web quest, you will explore how Dickens' own childhood experiences inspired his writing - including his creation of the character of Amy Dorrit in the novel we have just completed reading, Little Dorrit.

Task
Your task is to complete either a Power Point or Publisher digital journal with a minimum of ten entries detailing your daily life in a debtors prison as a family, how this experience may shape or change your attitudes about society, how it might affect your future life, how it may have caused conflict within your family, who (within your family) has taken on what responsibilities since coming to the prison, and how having to live in the prison may have affected the way you see your parents. Be sure to include how you are helping your family (employment), how you feel when people see you leaving the gates of the prison, and the difference between being outside the prison and being inside.

Process
You should conduct internet research by using the links provided below. You may also conduct research by using an internet search engine of your own choosing. Be sure to note how Dickens' experiences may have affected him throughout his life and career as this may parallel some of the things you will write about in your journal entries.


Your final product may be a Power Point presentation in the form of a digital journal, or you may use Publisher (I suggest using a Flyer template - adding pages as necessary, or a Catalog template) to create your digital journal. Your journal must include a Title page/slide. Use your own words - not the words of Amy Dorrit! You may work on this with a partner, if you choose. You will have one week to complete your project.


You may use images in your finished product, but no more than five images by a single artist or photographer may be used, or not more than 15 images or 10 percent (whichever is less) from a collection may be used. Images listed under a creative commons license may be freely used, but be sure to attribute the image in the manner specified by the licensor. Images in the public domain may be freely used.

Phase 1 - Background Information
The sites listed below are important because they will provide basic information about the topic as a whole. Everyone should explore these sites before starting your Task.

You may also refer back to the novel, Little Dorrit, if you wish to refresh your memory on what Dickens wrote about life in Victorian London and the debtors prisons.


Phase 2 - Roles
Your role for this web quest is that of a child living in London in the 1800s who has been forced to live in a debtors prison (like the Marshalsea) due to your parents' debt.

If you choose to work with a partner, you can be members of the same family in the prison, or simply inmates in the same prison who share their experiences. Each of you must complete his or her own journal entries. However, the entries may be part of the same finished product - you may each have your own journal entries within the same digital journal. Be sure to include information about your relationship (siblings, friends) and how this may have changed since coming to the prison.

Resources:

Be sure to explore the resources above before starting your Task.

Images:

The images listed at the above links are either in the public domain or they are listed under a creative commons license.


Phase 3 - Reaching Consensus
Peer Editing

Once you have completed your work, ask one of your classmates to review it before you submit it. This is where you help each other polish your finished product.

Your work will be assessed using following rubric:

Web Quest Rubric

Conclusion
Congratulations! You have read a piece of classic literature, learned more about another culture, time, and place, and you have completed a web quest! Make an entry in your classroom journal (you know, that thing with all the paper in it) comparing life today with life during Dickens' time.

After you have completed and submitted your final project, you may take the following challenge:

Survive Dickens' London

Good Luck!

created by Filamentality Content by Ms. C. LaMagna, carlamagna@spsk12.net
http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/webwebquescl.html
Last revised Wed Aug 31 8:45:53 US/Pacific 2011