Dickens asked his readers to ‘have a heart that never gets hard’. As readers follow the life of Oliver Twist, a poor orphaned boy struggling against the dangers of life in 19th-century London, they can empathise with his childhood in a workhouse and his life with a gang of pickpockets. They can also share his relief that there were some good people, ready and willing to rescue a child in need.

 

Vocabulary areas

friendship, social class, feelings

Grammar and structures

Past simple (regular and irregular forms)

Past continuous

Can / Could

Comparative and superlative adjectives

Must for obligation

Question words

 

Games and language activities | Au audio recording of the story | A picture dictionary

 

Social issues | Knowing the past | Feeling empathy | Developing values