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Introduction: A Tale of Two Cities

Introduction: A Tale of Two Cities. How do Dickens’ diction and syntax choices reflect the overall tone of each of these passages? How can you tell that TTC is political in nature whereas Great Expectations is about character?. Opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities:

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Introduction: A Tale of Two Cities

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  1. Introduction:A Tale of Two Cities

  2. How do Dickens’ diction and syntax choices reflect the overall tone of each of these passages? How can you tell that TTC is political in nature whereas Great Expectations is about character? Opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, We had everything before us, we had nothing before us, We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going the other way – In short. The period was so far like the present period…” VS. “My father’s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.”

  3. Tips for Close Reading • Translate archaic vocabulary into modern usage/idiom • Re-read (using traditional sentence structure) sentences which are inverted • Listen to how dependent phrases and clauses become secondary to the main idea Identify the subject and verb of a highly complex sentence. Students who understand complex syntax have a higher rate of comprehension.

  4. A Tale of Two CitiesChapter One – part one • Reading strategies: read footnotes, review study guide questions, background information, word definitions • Summarize the events/ “plot” of each page • Identify historical references • Identify words you do not know

  5. A Tale of Two CitiesChapter One – part two Define and identify the following rhetorical devices: Parallelism Antithesis Paradox Juxtaposition Euphemism Repetition (anaphora) Shift in tone/narrative stance How do such strategies help Dickens create such powerful social commentary? What does such an opening say about Dicken’s thematic intent for this novel?

  6. Topical/historical referencesin Chapter One Royalty:The two kings with “large jaws” and their queens, one fair, one plain, are the monarchs of England and France - George III and Charlotte Sophia (England), Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (France) Visions, spirits, and spectres: -Mrs. Southcott was a religious visionary -The “Cock-lane ghost” was an 18th century poltergeist - Moving to his own time, Dickens involves the “spirits of this very year past,” meaning those spirits raised by D.D. Home, a popular Victorian medium

  7. Topical/historical referencesin Chapter One “Congress of British subjects in America” Refers to the Continental Congress, which sent a petition of grievances to the British Parliament in 1775

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