Work pack on part two
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Chapter 16
1.
What do you learn from the narrator about how the characters have changed
now that 16 years have passed since Eppie’s arrival?
2.
What changes have occurred at Silas and Eppie’s
cottage?
3.
What is the significance of this quotation at this point
in the novel? How has Silas’s reputation changed
over time in Raveloe?
‘Nobody was jealous of the weaver, for he was regarded as an
exceptional person, whose claims on neighbourly help were not to be
matched in Raveloe.’
4.
Why is it significant that Silas confides in Dolly about his past in Lantern Yard?
What is her view of the treatment that he received?
Chapter 17
5.
What has happened to Nancy and Godfrey in the intervening years and how
have they dealt with it?
Write at least one paragraph about each of the characters, using quotations to
support your ideas.
Chapter 18
6.
Godfrey reveals the truth about Eppie to Nancy in this
chapter. Write a diary entry for Nancy in which she
expresses her thoughts about her husband’s revelatory
disclosure.
You might like to include:

your (Nancy’s) immediate reaction to the truth about Eppie

how you feel about your husband having kept a secret for so long

how knowing the truth would have changed your behaviours regarding
adoption

how you feel about adopting Eppie now that she has grown up.
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Work pack on part two
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Chapter 19
7.
Look closely at the following extract which reveals Silas’s reaction to the gold
being returned. How does George Eliot present Silas as a changed man in this
extract? How does she use language to convey those changes?
Before you start your answer, annotate the extract carefully, paying close
attention to:



sentence structure
descriptive vocabulary
use of dialogue.
Silas's face showed that sort of transfiguration, as he sat in his armchair
and looked at Eppie. She had drawn her own chair towards his knees, and
leaned forward, holding both his hands, while she looked up at him. On
the table near them, lit by a candle, lay the recovered gold – the old longloved gold, ranged in orderly heaps, as Silas used to range it in the days
when it was his only joy. He had been telling her how he used to count it
every night, and how his soul was utterly desolate till she was sent to him.
‘At first, I'd a sort o’ feeling come across me now and then,’ he was saying
in a subdued tone, ‘as if you might be changed into the gold again; for
sometimes, turn my head which way I would, I seemed to see the gold;
and I thought I should be glad if I could feel it, and find it was come back.
But that didn't last long. After a bit, I should have thought it was a curse
come again, if it had drove you from me, for I'd got to feel the need o’
your looks and your voice and the touch o’ your little fingers. You didn't
know then, Eppie, when you were such a little un – you didn't know what
your old father Silas felt for you.’
‘But I know now, father,’ said Eppie. ‘If it hadn't been for you, they'd have
taken me to the workhouse, and there'd have been nobody to love me.’
‘Eh, my precious child, the blessing was mine. If you hadn’t been sent to
save me, I should ha’ gone to the grave in my misery. The money was
taken away from me in time; and you see it’s been kept – kept till it was
wanted for you. It’s wonderful – our life is wonderful.’
Silas sat in silence a few minutes, looking at the money. ‘It takes no hold
of me now,’ he said, ponderingly – ‘the money doesn’t. I wonder if it ever
could again – I doubt it might, if I lost you, Eppie. I might come to think I
was forsaken again, and lose the feeling that God was good to me.’
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Page 2 of 6
Work pack on part two
Silas Marner by George Eliot
8.
When you have finished reading the novel, answer one of the questions that
follow based on the same extract (choose the appropriate exam board).
You should use the extract and your knowledge of the whole novel to
answer this question.
Write about how Silas Marner’s faith is presented in the novel.
In your response you should:



refer to the extract and the novel as a whole;
show your understanding of characters and events in the novel;
refer to the contexts of the novel.
(WJEC style question)
Explore how Eliot presents the theme of faith in this extract and elsewhere in
the novel.
(Edexcel style question)
9.
After this moment in the novel, there is a conversation between Godfrey,
Nancy, Silas and Eppie. Read this, then with a partner or small group, prepare
questions to put to the characters in a hot-seating activity. Consider their
different views on duty, social class and morality.
Chapter 20
10.
How is your view of Godfrey’s character altered by his discussion with Nancy in
this chapter?
Chapter 21
11.
Why does Silas feel the need to return to Lantern Yard after 30 years of living
in Raveloe?
Group research task
Lantern Yard is located within a northern industrial city and has been changed
by the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Working in groups, complete some
research on this significant period in British history. You might like to consider:




effect on society
effect on the working classes
effect on the weaving trade
factory conditions
Present your findings to the rest of the class.
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Work pack on part two
Silas Marner by George Eliot
12.
Complete the following grid to summarise the changes to Lantern Yard:
Past
Present
society
working
classes
weaving
trade
factory
conditions
other ideas
13.
Symbols of light and darkness are used throughout the novel to reveal wider
themes of goodness and evil, religion, love, childhood, truth and
dishonesty.
a) Working in pairs or groups, make a poster for one of the following
quotations, with annotations as detailed below.
b) Pass your poster to another pair/group to see if they can add any further
details.
c) Present your ideas to the class.
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Page 4 of 6
Work pack on part two
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Annotate the quotation with notes about the following:




characters
themes
plot details
George Eliot’s language.
NB The number in brackets refers to the chapter number.
i.
‘The little light he possessed spread its beams so narrowly, that frustrated
belief was a curtain broad enough to create for him the blackness of night.’ (2)
ii.
iii.
(2)
‘… the future was all dark, for there was no Unseen Love that cared for him.’
‘Silas walked homeward across the fields in the twilight, he drew out the
money, and thought it was brighter in the gathering gloom.’ (2)
iv. ‘But now the mist, helped by the evening darkness, was more of a screen
than he desired, for it hid the ruts into which his feet were liable to slip...’ (4)
v. ‘… the pale thin figure of Silas Marner was suddenly seen standing in the
warm light, uttering no word, but looking round at the company with his strange
unearthly eyes.’ (7)
vi. ‘Suddenly, as the child rolled downward on its mother’s knees, all wet with
snow, its eyes were caught by a bright glancing light on the white ground, and
… it was immediately absorbed in watching the bright living thing running
towards it, yet never arriving.’ (12)
vii. ‘It was an apparition from that hidden life which lies, like a dark by-street,
behind the goodly ornamented façade that meets the sunlight and the gaze of
respectable admirers.’ (13)
viii.
‘“Everything comes to light, Nancy, sooner or later. When God Almighty wills
it, our secrets are found out.”’ (18)
ix. ‘“And Mr Paston was a man with a deal o’ light – I want to speak to him
about the drawing o’ the lots.”’ (21)
x. ‘“O, what a dark ugly place!” said Eppie. “How it hides the sky! It’s worse
than the Workhouse.”’ (21)
xi. ‘“Since the time the child was sent to me and I’ve come to love her as
myself, I’ve had light enough to trusten by …”’ (21)
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Page 5 of 6
Work pack on part two
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Chapter 22/Conclusion
14.
Write a front page newspaper report about the wedding of
Eppie and Aaron for the Raveloe Reporter.
Extension activity
George Eliot uses sophisticated vocabulary in the novel and some of the words
that she has used might be unfamiliar to modern readers.
a) Match the following words with their meanings: (This is also available as a
Teachit interactive activity)
Word
Meaning
cupidity
devotion to God
folly
roomy or spacious
felicitous
incapable of being pacified
ruminating
inactive or lethargic
torpid
wastefulness or extravagance
malignity
pondering or thinking about
capacious
the condition of being deadly or
evil
profligacy
greed for money
implacable
pleasing or fortunate
piety
foolishness
b) Compile your own list of unfamiliar words from the novel then create your
own matching activity for the words and their definitions.
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