1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

literature review

dickens，has been studied by lots of scholars from different perspectives，including the featuring of characters，the reference of his works to that society, the theme of humanitarianism，realism and reformism．

some scholars considered the story full of educational elements.

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

methods and procedures of the study

in the hope of figuring out what great expectations tells about, i have first of all read the chinese version. in this way, a shorter period of time is needed for getting familiar with the content of the novel. another modernized tool---internet also does me a great favor, providing me with abundant background information. as education is receiving more and more attention those days, much attention has been paid to the relevant theories of education construction and reform. without doubt, traditional libraries and e-libraries are indispensible, too. i can either integrate similar viewpoints over great expectations or make a comparison between two opposing viewpoints, aiming at backing up my opinions. the 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 the internet and the libraries, and discussing with my supervisor are the main methods of this study.

the thesis consists of five parts. 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 and summary), literature review and the purpose of the study. the second part is the focus of the thesis. in this part, the study will firstly give brief introduction on the existing problems in british in the 19th century together with the big background of educational theory and its development. subsequently, a detailed analysis, different educational theory in different stages together with the studies followed it, will be made. part three will focus on the different education methods mentioned in the novel, and make a detailed analysis of the relationships between the methods and their outcome. part four is the distillation of the theme of the novel, since the relationship between education and harmonious society construction will be made. part five will draw a conclusion, stressing the importance of education.