A little about Charles Dickens…

A little about Charles Dickens... * Born in 1812 in Portsmouth to John and Elizabeth Dickens * On the 2nd of February, 1824 his father was arrested for debt and sent to the Marshalsea prison, where his family joined him. Charles, however, was separated from his family to Camden town and sent out to work at Warren's Blacking Factory at Hungerford Market. Eventually his family found him lodging in Lant Street close to them. * After his father's release on May 28, the family returns to Camden Town. Charles Dickens attends a day school in Hampstead Road, London. * In 1827, Charles is taken from school to become an office boy of an attorney. It is now when Charles decides to become a journalist. * 1833 - His first published story "Dinner at Poplar Walk" appears in Monthly Magazine * 1834 - Dickens works as a newspaper reporter under the pseudonym "Boz". * 1836 - His first series of "Sketches by Boz" are published for which he receives £150. On the 30th March his first number of "Pickwick Papers" appear. Dickens also becomes the editor of "Bentley's Miscellany" He also marries Mary Catherine Hogarth. * 1837 - The first of his 10 children, Charles Culliford Boz Dickens, is born * 1838 - His daughter Mary is born * 1839 - He resigns as editor of "Bentley's Miscellany". His daughter Kate is born. * 1842 - He travels through Canada and the USA (see page 4) * 1844 - His

  • Word count: 1320
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Scaredy cat Walking into the theme park, a smell of doughnuts, hotdogs and candyfloss drifted past. Two children raced each other

Scaredy cat Walking into the theme park, a smell of doughnuts, hotdogs and candyfloss drifted past. Two children raced each other aiming for the dodgems and other rides in the same direction. Flashing lights surrounded each ride as it whizzed round. Money rattled from the arcade. Rows of 2p and 10p machines were all lined up. With competitive parents trying to win something whether it was the money itself or a plastic figure which was hanging over the edge. Lucie and I must have been mad to line up for this particular ride, which caught our eye. As it looked the biggest and scariest in the whole park. The path went on forever, swirling up, over and around the rocky enclosure, like a maze. I pushed through the crowd of people desperately trying to edge my way to the front of the queue. Angry faces stared in my direction as if to send out a warning. Suddenly Lucie and I were being followed, not by an angry parent, but by a security guard. Our warning had been received!!! Someone had informed him that there were some queue jumpers. Soon we were frantically trying to rush to the front of the queue, a gust of wind hit, pushing us back; like a barrier blocking anyone from moving, even breathing. My chest felt wheezy and tight. I tried to grab the thin air. This was the worst pain any human being could ever experience and it was happening to me!!! Why??? Trying to catch my breath

  • Word count: 1234
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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By means of exercising refined style and accomplished structure, Dickens takes the reader through rapidly changing scenes, to the final climax.

Soon Shu Yi Trina 0107C39342 Eng OA-P3 Journal Entry 3 "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens Outline for Journal Entry 3 Main focus: Style and structure Introduction * Thesis: By means of exercising refined style and accomplished structure, Dickens takes the reader through rapidly changing scenes, to the final climax. * Contrast with Great Expectations' framework and plot Paragraph One: Style- metaphors, similes and realism * Metaphors are used aptly to describe in an exceptional and atypical way, so that the reader can envision each colorful scene * Similes are used in abundance, mostly to describe characters, giving the reader a chance to relate to the character, and get to know them better. * Realism is employed to enhance the setting and atmosphere, making it seem as though the reader is really at the scene in the book Paragraph Two * Life is like a theatre performance: so much is ignored. * Details are not observe, not considered important, as how details were the foundation of Dickens' secret to story-writing Paragraph Three: Structure * The structure Dickens uses to incorporate mystery * The reader doesn't know what the story is all about until the end, when Dr. Manette's paper is read Conclusion * A Tale of Two Cities is a story of secrets * Life has many secrets: we would never know why certain

  • Word count: 1201
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Resurrection in A Tale of Two Cities

Tale of Two Cities Resurrection in A Tale of Two Cities Resurrection is a powerful theme found throughout the plot of A Tale of Two Cities. Many of the characters in the novel are involved with the intertwining themes of love, redemption, and good versus evil. The theme of resurrection involves certain aspects of all of these themes and brings the story together. Dr. Manette is the first person to experience resurrection in A Tale of Two Cities. He is taken away from his pregnant wife and then imprisoned for eighteen very long years. Over the years, his condition deteriorates until he forgets his real name and mindlessly cobbles shoes to pass the time. In Book the First, he is released by the French government and then put in the care of Monsieur Defarge. He is suddenly recalled to life(19, 35). However, his rebirth has just begun and does not become complete until he is reunited with his daughter; Lucy Manette. In Book the Second; The Golden Thread, the resurrection theme appears several times. At the start of this book, Charles Darnay is on trial for treason in England. He has been traveling back and forth between France and England and is thought to be a spy. The people in the crowd are sure that he will be found guilty, the punishment for this crime being death. Darnay is saved by the ingeniousness of Sydney Carton, and he too is suddenly resurrected or recalled to life.

  • Word count: 1176
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The fictitious novel Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.

In the fictitious novel Tale of Two Cities, the author, Charles Dickens, lays out a brilliant plot. Charles Dickens was born in England on February 7, 1812 near the south coast. His family moved to London when he was ten years old and quickly went into debt. To help support himself, Charles went to work at a blacking warehouse when he was twelve. His father was soon imprisoned for debt and shortly thereafter the rest of the family split apart. Charles continued to work at the blacking warehouse even after his father inherited some money and got out of prison. When he was thirteen, Dickens went back to school for two years. He later learned shorthand and became a freelance court reporter. He started out as a journalist at the age of twenty and later wrote his first novel, The Pickwick Papers. He went on to write many other novels, including Tale of Two Cities in 859. Tale of Two Cities takes place in France and England during the troubled times of the French Revolution. There are travels by the characters between the countries, but most of the action takes place in Paris, France. The wineshop in Paris is the hot spot for the French revolutionists, mostly because the wineshop owner, Ernest Defarge, and his wife, Madame Defarge, are key leaders and officials of the revolution. Action in the book is scattered out in many places; such as the

  • Word count: 1171
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A Tale of 2Cities Essay

A Tale of 2 Cities Essay Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellson's Bank, was sent to find Dr. Manette, an unjustly imprisoned physician, in Paris and bring him back to England. Lucie, Manette's daughter who thought that he was dead, accompanied Mr. Lorry. Upon arriving at Defarge's wine shop in Paris, they found Mr. Manette in a dreadful state and took him back to London with them. Mr. Manette could not rember why he had been imprisoned, or when he was imprisoned. He was in a state of Post Tramatic Stress Dis-order. All the years of imporisonment led to his insanity, his life was in danger almost every second of his imprisoned life. In 1780, five years later, Lucie, Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette were called to testify against Charles Darnay, a tutor who made constant trips between France and England and was thus accused of treason. During these times both governments were very paranoid about anybody who had the aperence of commiting treason. Darney, since he travled back and forth between countries was a perfect suspect for treason. The French Government had just been overthrown by the beggars, and middle class and now run by them, the British on the other hand was still a monarchy and had awful factories and many slums, like France did. Darnay was acquitted when a lawyer, Carton, looked much like him and an eye witness faltered to positively distinguish between them. Carton

  • Word count: 1157
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

A Tale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is one of the magnificent historical novels written by Charles Dickens. The two cities mentioned are London and Paris. It is based in the time of the French revolution. The story begins with the journey of Lucie Manette, Miss Pross, who took care of Lucie and Mr. Lorry to Paris. They went to meet Dr. Manette, Lucie's father, who had been held prisoner in the Bastille without a trial, for eighteen years and was now been taken care by his old servant Monsieur Defarge. They went to the wine shop in St. Antoine which was owned by Monsieur Defarge. They met Dr. Manette and took him back to England where his health improved in the love and care of his daughter. At the same time in Paris, a nobleman, the Marquis St. Evremonde was riding back to his palace in his carriage when he ran over a peasant boy. Gaspard, the father of the boy stepped forward and the Marquis threw out a gold coin at him. This was the value of a peasant's life for the noblemen of France. Defarge threw the coin back at the Marquis. Gaspard in his grief decided to take revenge. He quietly held on the chain at the bottom of the carriage and got off at the palace gates. Marquis St. Evremonde had dinner with his nephew who had come to meet him from England, where he lived under the name of Charles Darney. That night Gaspard climbed into the room of the Marquis and

  • Word count: 1110
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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“A Tale of Two Cities”: Essay

"A Tale of Two Cities": Essay Throughout history, authors have used duality to illustrate different kinds of human nature and make characters more interesting. This tool was used in "A Tale of Two Cities", by Charles Dickens as a way to make the novel more melodramatic. It was apparent that he felt that it was important because it was clearly one of the main themes of the novel. Dickens used the device to show how good and evil affected the characters and to create situations throughout the novel. Two characters who were greatly shaped by this device were Dr. Alexandre Manette and attorney Sydney Carton. When the reader is first introduced to Dr. Manette they are led to believe that he is insane. When his daughter Lucy first meets him, he looks gaunt, has aged prematurely, and has taken up cobbling for no apparent reason. It is later explained to the reader that after 18 years in the Bastille (a French prison), he has become insane. He learns cobbling in an attempt to create a retreat from the harsh treatment in prison. Whenever Dr. Manette recalls his days in the Bastille, he breaks down again. When he is released, Ernest Defarge (a former servant) keeps him in a room so revolutionaries can view him. After he returns to London with Lucy, Jarvis Lorry (a representative of Tellson's Bank) attempts to put an end to Dr. Manette's insanity by destroying the cobbling

  • Word count: 1085
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"It is possible to admire Sydney Carton but never to like him" - How far do you agree with this statement?

"It is possible to admire Sydney Carton but never to like him". How far do you agree with this statement? In the end of "A Tale of Two Cities", when Charles Darnay is to be executed on the guillotine Sydney Carton takes his place and sacrifices his own life for Darnay. He took his place due to their strong similarity in appearance and died for a man he could even be considered to be jealous of. And for this, surely he would be admired. In order to fairly agree or disagree with this statement one should evaluate why someone would come to that opinion. Some may take a positive view that Carton's act is a triumph of his own love over the hatred of the people of the Revolution (even though it wasn't actually Carton they hated). Carton meets his death with great dignity. In fulfilling his old promise to Lucie Manette Carton could be said to be at peace as the spectators see "the peacefullest man's face ever beheld" at the guillotine die. The former "jackal" dies seeing a better world come out of the trouble times of the Revolution, a long life for Lucie Manette and her family - made possible by his sacrifice. In the fifth chapter of the second book, "The Jackal", Carton is described as a lazy alcoholic attorney who cannot manage to take even the smallest amount of interest in his own life, he'd rather drink it away. "Sydney Carton, idlest and most unpromising of men," Although

  • Word count: 979
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The influence of crowds in a tale of two cities

The influence of crowds in a tale of two cities. The dictionary describes a crowd as a large group of people or things. In the book the crowds are very inconsistent. At Darnay's trial in France the crowd disapproves of his actions. They booed and jeered at Darnay. Many male members of the crowd carried knives and were armed in various ways, also the women carried daggers. As we find out in the book the crowd changed their opinions very quickly and easily. Once the public's mind has been changed they cheer when Charles is let free, it depends on the crowd's mood. "so capriciously were the people moved, that tears immediately rolled down several ferocious countenances which had been glaring at the prisoner a moment before, as if with impatience to pluck him out into the streets and kill him." as you can see from this quote from the book the crowds change their opinions very quickly and immediately. This to me shows that they are very indecisive and unstable. The collective mentality of the people reduces with the bigger amounts of people. This is true with crowds today. "at every vote, the populace set up a shout of applause. All the voices were in the prisoners favour, and the President declared him free."."no sooner was the acquittal pronounced, then tears were shed as freely as blood at another time, and such fraternal embraces were bestowed upon the prisoner of by as many

  • Word count: 967
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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