Great Expectations

"After darkly looking at his leg and me several times, he came closer to my tombstone, took me by both arms, and tilted me back as far as he could hold me; so that his eyes looked most powerfully down into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his.
`Now lookee here,' he said, `the question being whether you're to be let to live. You know what a file is?'
`Yes, sir.'
`And you know what wittles is?'
`Yes, sir.'
After each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger.
`You get me a file.' He tilted me again. `And you get me wittles.' He tilted me again. `You bring 'em both to me.' He tilted me again. `Or I'll have your heart and liver out.' He tilted me again.
I was dreadfully frightened, and so giddy that I clung to him with both hands, and said, `If you would kindly Please to let me keep upright, sir, perhaps I shouldn't be sick, and perhaps I could attend more.'
He gave me a most tremendous dip and roll, so that the church jumped over its own weather-cock. Then, he held me by the arms, in an upright position on the top of the stone, and went on in these fearful terms:"

Dickens demonstrates the adult in the conversation as the powerful participant by setting the agenda with the use of interogatives, "you know what wittles is?". This supports the ideas based on Fairclough's principles of ideological assumptions we make towards society; particulary in Vicorian society, when the book was set, children could not speak unless spoken to. Acooriding to Fairclough, we would expect adults to be the powerful participant over children as this is the "assumption" we make. Furthermore, as it is a closed question there is an implication that if the child does not no the answer to the question they are stupid and if they do then they are liked.