TOPIC 47: The British Industrial Revolution.

Influence as a historical transformation

pattern. Social and Political changes through literature. Charles Dickens.

INTRODUCTION
1. JUSTIFICATION AND IMPLICATIONS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
2. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
-changes in agriculture
-new industries
-changes in transportation
-new urban and rural life
3. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGES: The Scientific Revolution
4. CHARLES DICKENS (Life, style and main works)
5. CONCLUSION AND DIDACTIC IMPLICATIONS
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

18th century in Great Britain: enormous transformations in all aspects of society. Origins of the
Industrial Revolution, historical background and consequences in economy and society.
-These changes came to us thanks in many ways to the work of Charles Dickens-portrait of part of
the English society and life at that time.
-Factory system: advances in industry, transformation in manufacture of cotton, substitution of
human effort and skills for machines, converting heat into work, use of new raw materials…that
meant increased productivity and increased standard of living.
-EVERYONE WAS TOUCHED, key to the origins of modern Western society (English, Europeans,
American societies were transformed).
-Industrial Revolution <-> Scientific Revolution

1. JUSTIFICATION AND IMPLICATIONS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

The relevance of this topic and the didactic implications in our teaching practice can be supported
with our current legal background.
Chapter III LOMCE, Art.23:
-i) students “are able to understand and express themselves in one or more foreign
languages in a suitable way”
-j) “to know, value and respect on one´s and other´s culture and history”
Chapter IV, Bachillerato, Art.33:
-f) “express with fluency and correction in one or more foreign languages”
-d) “reinforce reading habits as means of personal development”
-h) “know and value the realities of contemporary world and its historical
background”
English Language Curriculum according to Royal Decree 1005/2014:
Linguistic competence, social and civil competencies, cultural expression and conscience.
This topic seems ideal to unify criteria with other cross curricular areas (history, geography or
Universal Literatura) and work on CLIL in bilingual section.

This type of knowledge, graded and revised in our syllabus, can teach them not only to develop
productive and receptive processes but also knowing other cultures and getting involved in the
multicultural and globalised world we all are immersed nowadays.
TOPIC 47: The British Industrial Revolution. Influence as a historical transformation
pattern. Social and Political changes through literature. Charles Dickens.

2. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Different definitions but imprecise because there is no clearly defined beginning or ending.

In general, we can say that started at the end of 17th cent, rising during the 18th cent and
consolidated in the 19th century.
It implied changes in : agriculture, manufacture, transportation…thanks to transformations in
society both mentally and technically and the way society was organised.
Major changes by the use of new technologies applied to different fields:

Agriculture: revolution in England because they adopted new methods of farming and
experimenting with new vegetables-farming as a science.
-Changes in politics which meant that there were no labour obligations to the lord (no taxes).
-High productivity and low food prices, so families could purchase manufactured goods.
-New crops: turnips and farming technologies.
-Rotation system of planting, rather than letting the land lay fallow.
-Landlords appealed to Parliament so that peasant farmers were dispossessed of their land and
had to find work in factories=rising of towns and cities / poverty started to come.

New industries: low food prices->higher expending on consumer goods->newer industries.

-Need of more manufacture production because of the population explosion (nearly doubled).
-Inventions transformed the manufacture of cotton (innovations ->10 times faster).
-Steam power: the real breakthrough came with its developments, in different industries such as
coal or iron.
-James Watt: Scottish engineer who created an engine fired by coal and not water, so they could
locate these factories anywhere.

Transportation: construction of a nation-wide turnpike system, shortening trips and making

transportation up to 10 times faster than before.
-More ports: +commercial activity, Britain´s export market increased outside Europe, notably in
North America (Liverpool and Southhampton most famous ones).
-Discoveries: steam railway, steamship and sailing vessel.

New urban and rural life: new city planning (house numbering, squares restored…)
-First slums (created for the raising population coming from the countryside and settling in cities).
-Capitalist farmers: dominated the agrarian world, they employed landless labourers.
-Polarized society, due to revolut. in agriculture, transportation, communications and technology.

3. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGES: The Scientific Revolution

Scientific Revolution-> this transformation was mainly thanks to one single man, one of the
greatest founders of modern science Sir Isaac Newton. He contributed to the great age of
practical invention: construction of canals and roads for better transportation, new agricultural
methods, inventions like the steam engine.
-Renewed interest in the Renaissance (Ancient Greek and Latin)
-Darwin and his Origin of the Species (new system of knowledge about the world) this led to the
golden age of medicine, agriculture and industry.
-Political and social progress: England was nominally a monarchy, but in reality a plutocracy
(landed nobles, gentry and wealthy merchants).
-Universal vote for men.
-England became the most truly democratic of the great nations of the world.
-Education was developed and made compulsory -> great writers who broaden the vision and
elevate the ideals of the masses.
-Romantic literature also called “Victorian”: at the beginning intellectuals supported new
discoveries of science, but at end 18th century early romantics began to see emerging technology
as a threat to individual freedom and destructive force on contemporary culture.
TOPIC 47: The British Industrial Revolution. Influence as a historical transformation
pattern. Social and Political changes through literature. Charles Dickens.

4. CHARLES DICKENS (life, style, main works)

The rapid industrial growth that began in Great Britain during the 18th century provided a wide
range of material for many writers: essays, fiction, poetry… They reflected the “Mechanical Age”
in their writings.

-Social critics and novelists who provided a portray of the working conditions those ages: Charles
Dickens and Herman Melville (USA).
-Poets contemplated the artist´s role in such a world: Walt Whitman and William Wordsworth.

The issues surrounding the relationship between technology and culture have continued to interest
critics and writers well into the 20th century and specially nowadays: we just have to focus our
attention on our contemporary reactions found in magazines, newspapers, blogs…concerning the
use of technologies, specially teenagers, who cannot imagine themselves without a smartphone.

Charles Dickens: born in Portsmouth (England) during the new industrial age (18th century).
-Father: he was a clerk, used to have financial troubles -> family economic problems, so Charles
was forced to work in a factory in London.
-Attended a series of schools and was an eager reader (became a reporter and after that a
Parliament journalist).
-Knowledge about journalism and suspicious attitude towards unjust laws.
-Deep knowledge of London.
-Married and had 10 children but they separated.
-Spent time travelling and campaigning agains social evils of that time (gave talks, pamphlets..)
-His first short stories appeared in periodical: Sketches by Boz, The Pickwick Papers.
-Mainly known as a novelist, but wrote hundreds of essays and other articles for periodicals.
-Considered the best writer during the Victorian Period: his works are characterised by attacks on
social evils, injustice and hypocrisy. Reflects his childhood and injustice he suffered.
-Wrote fiction and non-fiction, his greatest works are characterised by: humour, belief that common
sense and good will are the only tools we need for a satisfactory living. Criticises attitudes and
behaviours.

Main works:

-The Pickwick Papers, stories about a group of odd individuals travelling around Britain.
-Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickelby: situation of children in a cruel society (attacks social injustice)
-A Christmas Carol: satire on debtor´s prisons.
-David Copperfield: he used his own personal experiences of work in a factory (autobiographical)
-Great Expectations: began as a series published in Dicken´s periodical. Pip, an orphan who
meets and escaped convict and helps him. Pip is educated with the money of an anonymous
benefactor.
-Hard Times: dealing with social reform, treatment of women, men and children during the
Industrial Revolution.

Writing style: florid, poetic with a strong comic touch. He shows a satiric portrait of British
aristocracy. Uses words in a simple way but conveying all meaning.

-Name of characters are carefully chosen to convey meaning.
-London is drawn as one character itself.
-His works are mainly works of social commentary. Fierce critic of the poverty and social
stratification of Victorian society.
-Significant the amount of autobiographical elements in his fiction.
TOPIC 47: The British Industrial Revolution. Influence as a historical transformation
pattern. Social and Political changes through literature. Charles Dickens.

5. CONCLUSION AND DIDACTIC IMPLICATIONS

British Industrial Revolution

Not difficult to link this topic with the teaching/learning process, dealing with other countries where
English is spoken+ culture+ history (crosscurricular areas). Cultural events such as the Notting Hill
Carnival or Diwali Festival in India.

Literature topics: reading is a pleasure for the senses and also helps us understand the culture and
society of the country whose language we are learning. Guided reading, movies, documentaries…
in order to develop a taste for literature.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

-Council of Europe (2001): Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning,
Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: CUP
-Organic La 8/2013
-Royal Decree 1005/2014
-Greenblatt, S. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Norton: New York. 2012.
-Ford, B. (Ed). The Pelican guide to English Literature. OUP, 1989.
-Morgan, K.O. (Ed) The Oxford History of Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
-Strong, R. The Story of Britain: A people´s history. Pimlico: London, 1998.
-http://www.britishempire.co.uk
-http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english