1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

a great expectation out of expectation

---analysis of the gothic elements

in great expectations

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

with the purpose of figuring out the gothic elements and unexpected development in great expectations, i have first of all read the chinese version to get a basic comprehension about the whole plots. after that, i read the english version to receive more details. in addition to the most traditional way of getting information, another modernized tool---internet also did me a great favor, providing me with abundant background information. in this study, i adopt literature research to collect a number of relevant documents and study the subject systematically. the relevant documents include gothic literature, evaluation of charles dickens and his works, etc. last but not the least, my supervisor helps me a lot with this thesis. she constantly gives some grammatical suggestions. reading books, taking notes, turning to library and the internet, and discussing with my supervisor for more help are the main methods of this study.

the thesis consists of four parts in total. the first part will primarily provide the background information, including a general introduction of charles dickens (his personal experiences, literary career, literary reputation and masterpieces), the novel great expectations (reception, background and summary), literature review and the purpose of the study. the second part is the highlight of the thesis. in this part, the study will firstly give brief introduction on the social background in victorian era together with the definition of gothic literature and its development. subsequently, a detailed analysis, all the gothic elements and techniques in this novel, will be made. part three will focus on the aesthetic of the gothic writing, its influence. part four will demonstrate the conclusion, stressing the relationship between dickens#8217;s writing genre and the social background and his experience.