OLIVER TWIST - NOVEL - Grades 11, 12

Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens

Orphaned at birth, Oliver finds himself a naive youth in London’s seedy slums with depraved villains as associates. Will his basic good nature overcome their influence or is he destined to swing from the gallows with them?

Book Summary (419 pages)
Category: Classic
Theme: Outrage against poverty
Setting: London, 1800s

Related Studies: Poverty, homelessness, social responsibilities, crime
Enrichment/Writing Focus: Writing devices including caricature, exaggeration, foreshadowing, hyperbole, irony, personification, sarcasm, satire, and understatement; setting tone; plots and subplots

Of all Dickens’ books, Oliver Twist is most relevant for today’s world. It is an early work expressing his outrage against the treatment of the poor.