A TALE OF TWO

CITIESAn Introduction…

What events from Dickens’ childhood most clearly had an impact on his literary career?

QUESTION #1

Father’s issues with money

Being separated from family—debtor’s prison/employment

Death of sister-in-law

What qualities make a character Dickensian?

QUESTION #2

Vivid characterization

Melodramatic, outlandish, comic

Archetypes (classic, iconic, bordering on stereotypical)

Describe Victorian England at the time of Dickens’ career.

QUESTION #3

Time of CHANGE

• Democracy• Educating the

masses• Progress of

industrial enterprise

• Rise of materialistic philosophy

• Plight of the industrial worker

To what extent can the Industrial Revolution be seen in the works of Dickens?

QUESTION #4

Dickens’ writing provides a sympathetic chronicle of the plight of the urban poor in 19th Century England.

What are some critical comments concerning Dickens’ work?

QUESTION #5

PRO• Complex plots• Vivid characterization• Beautiful, complex

command of language

CON• Published in

installments• Melodramatic/over-

the-top

BEGINNING AND ENDING WITH

SOME OF ENGLISH LITERATURE'S MOST FAMOUS

LINES, CHARLES DICKENS' A TALE OF TWO CITIES

THRIVES ON TENSION AND

CONFLICT, ALL SET AGAINST A

BLOODY BACKDROP OF THE

FRENCH REVOLUTION.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done…”

A BRIEF PLOT-BASED OVERVIEW

LOVE

ROMANCE

MYSTERY

SACRIFICE

BEAUTY

FAMILYBETRAYAL

DISCOVERY

WAR

REVOLUTON

It is late in the year of 1775...

After 18 years as a political prisoner in the Bastille in France, the aging Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter, the beautiful and kind

Lucie Manette, in England.

There, the lives of two very different men—Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton,

a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer—become enmeshed through their love for the lovely Lucie.

From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the treacherous

streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the shadow of the guillotine.

HINTS FOR READING DICKENS

Though Dickens' techniques can be dense and layered, there are some helpful hints to keep in mind while exploring his work.

Similes: These are not subtle, but they are colorful.

Allusions: Dickens goes to the Bible often in this work.

DICKENS’ FAVORITE TRICKS…Apostrophe: Dickens likes to talk directly to his readers and his characters

Rhetorical Questions: Dickens will ask these only where the answer is blatantly obvious.

Repetition: Dickens will repeat ideas over and over again until you get it. Sentences and phrases get repeated until they begin to mean the opposite of what they seem to intend.

DICKENS’ FAVORITE TRICKS…Alliteration: Dickens will let the first letters of the words run in a string. Note the way he plays with sounds. Generally, sibilants (S sounds) connote gentle things, while harsh sounds (k’s, t’s and the like) connote bad things.

Sentence Games: Dickens will run sentences far beyond the point of basic utility, but generally to underline a content point. He will also use a parallel construction in matching sentences. Remember that long sentences generally build emotion, while short ones dissipate it.

DICKENS’ FAVORITE TRICKS…