Tale of two City's

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid clichés.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

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1. Spanning the tumultuous twilight years of eighteenth century France, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a tale of redemption, of loss, and, even more, sacrifice. Beginning at the onset of the French Revolution in 1775, Charles Dickens’ legendary novel chronicles the exploits of various citizens over the course of the turbulent revolution. From the French Aristocrat/primary protagonist Charles Darnay to a vast menagerie of figures, A Tale of Two Cities is not merely a work of fiction but so to is it a chronicle, retelling of sorts of the turpitude and injustices that transpired during the French Revolution, wherein the common people the populace starved, wallowed in the streets of every city and the wealthy Aristocracy, apparent “nobleman” dined with fine wines and imported breads. In the service of avoiding full frontal spoilers by summary, Charles Darnay essentially epitomizes what would become the archetypical mold of a rich, at onetime ignorantly blinded in bliss aristocrat who eventually comes to realize and empathize with the suffering of those less fortunate, ultimately (with the sacrifice of an apathetic, goalless, attorney by the name of Sydney Carton) finding his own humanity while helping out hi fellow man. Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities is undoubtedly his magnum opus, a timeless tale conveying empathy, compassion for fellow man, as well as (what I believe) the authors purpose of the need for self-sacrifice for betterment of all. Indeed Charles Dickens tale is one of two different worlds, two cities.

2. Of the litany of thematical motifs flowing within the undercurrents of the novel, Charles Dickens’ primary “theme” accomplished with A Tale of Two Cities is, in my opinion, that of self-sacrifice, redemption. Charles Darnay was initially one of the wealthy, ignorant nobleman blinded by his fortunate, birth-right bliss but (thru his love for a “commoner” Lucie Mannette) ultimately sacrificed this social station to enjoy his life with the love of it. Even the invariably inebriated attorney Sydney Carton is a connoted symbol of the concept of self-sacrifice, he sacrificing himself so that Darnay could escape execution, thus as Sydney’s life is given purpose thru self sacrifice, the man achieving redemption for his self-motioned “worthless existence”.

3.

· “And now that the cloud settled on Saint Antoine, which a momentary gleam had driven from his sacred countenance, the darkness of it was heavy--cold, dirt, sickness, ignorance, and want, were the lords in waiting on the saintly presence--nobles of great power all of them; but, most especially the last.”

· “The faintness of the voice was pitiable and dreadful. Its deplorable peculiarity was, that it was the faintness of solitude and disuse. It was like the last feeble echo of a sound made long and long ago.”

· “Every pulse and heart in Saint Antoine was on high-fever strain and at high-fever heat. Every living creature there held life as of no account, and was demented with a passionate readiness to sacrifice it.”

A master of writing, the English language ecumenical, Charles Dickens’s utilization of rhetorical strategies is not limited to impeccable diction, unparalleled pacing, stylish structure but so to is his expert craftsmanship lent to tone. Gruesome and cold with dark diction and even darker descriptions, Charles Dickens’s tone within his A Tale of Two Cities can only be dubbed as grime. With grotesque, deprave actions being committed by man against man, and even more abominable acts being committed in the name of revolution or for the Old Guard Aristocracy, Charles Dickens paints a lonely and dark renditions of the French Revolution and the city/populace of Saint Antoine, depicting the disparity of two different peoples of the same city, yet two different cities all the same.

4. Here we go.

· Imagery: “And now that the cloud settled on Saint Antoine, which a momentary gleam had driven from his sacred countenance, the darkness of it was heavy--cold, dirt, sickness, ignorance, and want, were the lords in waiting on the saintly presence--nobles of great power all of them; but, most especially the last.” (Book 1, Chapter 5, Paragraph 6) You can feel the filth, the grime and tense darkness enveloping the city of Saint Antoine here, on the eve of revolution.

· Tone: “Every pulse and heart in Saint Antoine was on high-fever strain and at high-fever heat. Every living creature there held life as of no account, and was demented with a passionate readiness to sacrifice it.” (Book 2, Chapter 21, Paragraph 30) The grim tone is evident (as it was above) here with Dickens’ expert manipulation of diction such as the choice words of “demented” or likening of Saint Antoine to a state of fever madness.

· Imagery: “Far and wide lay a ruined country, yielding nothing but desolation. Every green leaf, every blade of grass and blade of grain, was as shriveled and poor as the miserable people.” (Book 2, Chapter 23, Paragraph 2)

· Paradox: “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 direct the other way. . . .” (Book 1, Chapter 1, Paragraph 1) Quite possibly the single most memorable/legendary openings to any work of the English language, Dicken’s entire novel is perfectly as well as concisely connoted in this paradoxical piece as the excerpt hints to the ironic existence of both extravagantly rich and an exasperated poor (amongst a hell lot of other things that could inspire an entire essay but I’d rather not :).

· Metaphor: “As an emotion of the mind will express itself through any covering of the body, so the paleness which his situation engendered came through the brown upon his cheek, showing the soul to be stronger than the sun.” (Book 2, Chapter 2, Paragraph 41) Testifying himself in front the French court, Darnay here thru Dickens’s describes his innocence, his constitution “stronger than the sun” metaphorically of course.

· Symbolism: “The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there.” (Book 1, Chapter 5, Paragraph 5) A classic likening of wine to the color of blood, blood itself is symbolized here, if not foreshadowed to be spilled unto the streets cobblestones as the Revolution revs in haste.

· Simile: “With a roar that sounded as if all the breath in France had been shaped into the detested word, the living sea rose, wave on wave, depth on depth, and overflowed the city to that point. Alarm-bells ringing, drums beating, the sea raging and thundering on its new beach, the attack began.” (Book 2, Chapter 21, Paragraph 36) Creating the image of the commoners, revolutionary people as a raging, rising sea, this simile is striking in its imagery.

· Setting: “It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven.” (Book 1, Chapter 1, Paragraph 1) Time-stamping, the setting of the book is smack dab right on the beginning/eve of the French Revolution and thus a grim and gruesome time, place to be, place to read.

· Allusion: “I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (Book 3, Chapter 2, Paragraph 1) this is a direct rip from the Bible wherein Christ says the quote upon raising Lazarus from the dead.

· Irony: “Jerry you are an honest tradesman." (Book 1, Chapter 1, Paragraph 10) Its ironic that Jerry Cruncher is called an “honest tradesman” in that the character ultimately becomes/is later revealed to be one of the undercover revolutionaries.

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CHARACTERIZATION__________________________

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
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1.

Direct Characterization

· EXAMPLE 1:

· “I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.” – Sydney Carton

· EXAMPLE 2:

· “Monseigneur had one truly noble idea of general public business, which was, to let everything go on in its own way; of particular public business, Monseigneur had the other truly noble idea that it must all go his way--tend to his own power and pocket. Of his pleasures, general and particular, Monseigneur had the other truly noble idea, that the world was made for them.” – A description of Monseigneur

Indirect characterization

· EXAMPLE 1:

· “In any of the burial-places of this city through which I pass, is there a sleeper more inscrutable than its busy inhabitants are, in their innermost personality, to me, or than I am to them?” – Charles Darnay


· EXAMPLE 2:

· “He knew very well, that in his horror of the deed which had culminated the bad deeds and bad reputation of the old family house, in his resentful suspicions of his uncle, and in the aversion with which his conscience regarded the crumbling fabric that he was supposed to uphold, he had acted imperfectly. He knew very well, that in his love for Lucie, his renunciation of his social place, though by no means new to his own mind, had been hurried and incomplete.” – Charles Darnay’s internalized thoughts

As I’ve said in nearly all of my literature analyses, any writer worth their royalties utilizes both direct and indirect characterization. As a foremost figure of the written English language, Charles Dickens’s masterfully utilizes both methods to characterize his characters. With the direct characterization examples above we are learned Sydney Carton’s seeming mantra of purposeless existence as well as the capricious, disgustingly haughty character of the aristocrat Monseigneur. With indirect characterization example one Charles Darnay contemplates on his social station as a more fortunate aristocrat/begins to characterize himself as a sympathetic character to the poor lower classes as example 2 further solidifies. Indeed, Charles Dickens’ like any worthwhile writer, employed both direct and in characterization to flesh out his characters.

2. Yes. Dickens’s grim/dark tone shifts to a lesser gruesome, but sometime even moreso, tone when characterizing characters. As a relevant example, look at indirect characterization example 2, as Darnay contemplates his relationship to his fellow Saint Antoinians, Dickens’s tone, while remaining drenched with dark diction, to a simpler more expedient style in order to lend unmistakable gravitas to the internal monologue.

3. Charles Darnay is dynamic for a character of this literary period. Charles Dickens conveyed the character as one initially blinded by birth-right blessings to the unfortunate circumstance of the lesser fortunate lower class Frenchmen. Darnay ultimately sheds his aristocratic tidings, sacrificing them, for love, happiness with his to be wife Lucie and thus not only fulfills the most prevalent thematical motif of A Tale of Two Cities but also depicts dynamic change unlike many other protagonists of the early nineteenth century forward.

4. I’m surprised, though Charles Dickens and his legendary A Tale of Two Cities predates my birth, our time, by hmmm… over one hundred years the characters don’t seem like dated shells of old timey powdered wig wearing archetypes. Charles Darnay, even Sydney Carton, are as human as any non-book binding bound individuals, the former and latter both flawed but ultimately by the end of their respective tales, seek redemption, sacrifice aspects of themselves to achieve betterment, somewhat topple their flaws, how impossible this ultimately is. Indeed, though a few characters seem just that, hollow archetypes (I.E. Monseigneur as a stereotype arrogant and cruel aristocrat) others like that of Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton prove their worth if not actuality as people for they, as we all are, are flawed each endeavoring to defeat their flaws, just like us “real people”, how impossible it might actually, ultimately may be. For something flawed can only ever be. Doesn’t mean we can’t keep trying anyways, hell it only means we should try even more. :)


Thanks Hayden Robel
http://hrobelrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/2013/02/dickens-claqs.html?m=1