5th-period students, last names A-L: Respond to one of the blog posts from third period.
3rd-period students, last names A-L: Respond to the following prompt. "What is the most confusing or effective thing Dickens does with his narrative in the first book of Tale of Two Cities?"
5th-period students, last names A-L: Respond to one of the blog posts from third period.
29 Comments
Sarah Gustafson
4/5/2010 10:50:53 am
The most confusing thing Dickens does with this narrative is his use of anaphora in Book 1. On page 13 he refers to Monsieur Manette as "recalled to life." On page 18 he implies that hes been dug out of a grave and on 60 that he was brought from prison. What happened to Monsieur Manette??
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Mara Baldwin
4/5/2010 05:23:32 pm
For me, the most confusing thing was the entire third chapter. It was written from the point of view of a completely new character (which completely threw me off) and then it just seemed so out of place, and I didn't really understand what the whole buried-alive-for-eighteen-years thing was about until I read further on. I'm guessing that it's about prison, but it was worded in a really strange way. I mean, normally, don't you ask, "How long have you been in prison?" instead of, "Buried how long?"
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Alex Buescher
4/6/2010 07:51:16 am
I think the whole thing about being buried alive dealt not only with Dr. Manette being in prision for 18 years, but also how he seems to be lost in his own mind. That's why I think that Charels Dickens chose to ask "Buried how long?", as to "How long have you been in prision?". It's like asking "How long have you had to lose your sanity".
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Nicola Brooks
4/6/2010 09:43:34 am
I found chapter 2 relatively confusing. I didn't really see why we needed to talk about the messenger and the other passengers in the carriage. All of these details not related to Mr. Lorry was just too much extra information and made the chapter confusing and wordy.
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Stephen Ficek
4/6/2010 10:14:05 am
What i found to be the most challenging part of Tale of Two Cities, is Dicken's use of anaphora. It tends to make the reading a little confusing with the repetitive use of the phrase, for example page 37. Another hard part is the transitions between each character or part of the story. When chapter 3 came i was a little stumped on what was going on, and it turned out to be a dream Mr. Lorry was having. It throws this buried alive thing at you as well which in fact is about a prison.
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Michelle Klaue
4/6/2010 11:16:11 am
The hardest thing to get used to is the language Dickens uses and the plots jump around a lot. Its hard to realize how he is connecting them all. I think one of the most effective things is how he bases the book on events and struggles that happened previously in France and England during the 18th century. It makes the story line and the characters seem more realistic.
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Breanne Denlinger
4/6/2010 11:22:46 am
The thing that is most confusing for me is how Charles Dickens writes. He uses complex words that I have never seen in a novel before and worst still he often uses at least two difficult words in a row so I get twice as confused. He also writes in an old way; things are in third person and the subject of the sentence is in a funky place, something I’m not used to. Once I can interpret Dickens’ language into my own I understand most of the things he says but it takes me a while; I had to listen to the book on tape for the last 3 chapters to get a little extra help. I actually kind of like this story just not the way it's written.
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Erin Hanson
4/6/2010 12:00:12 pm
I happened to find the use of “hunger” on page 37 to be a very intelligent way of using anaphora. The repetitive use of “hunger” doesn’t only represent the fact that “hunger” was in every thought, smell, and action the people experienced. But “hunger” also represents the desire for a new way of life, justice a longing for freedom and in a way “hunger” is also used as foreshadowing for what happens later on in the French Revolution, because “hunger” drives a person to do anything to quench the thirst per se.
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Carson Fuller
4/6/2010 12:31:27 pm
The most confusing thing for me to understand was chapters 2 and 3. I didn't understand the point of view he was using because it was a whole new character. I didn't get what he meant by "being buried alive for 18 years" and the whole idea of this "Ghost" symbol he was using. Dickens always uses very challenging language that makes the story hard to follow without being completely bored out of my mind. It is an entertaining plot i just don't care for how he wrote it.
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John Fallquist
4/6/2010 12:32:25 pm
I felt that charles dickens saying being burried alive refered to Dr.Manette being in jail for 18 years because being in jail is a lot like being burried alive due to the fact you are trapped in both cases without freedom, or and connection to the world.
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Maria Everett
4/6/2010 12:34:35 pm
I thought that the most confusing thing so far in the narrative is when you meet Mr. Manette. At first I was not at all sure who he was or why Mr. Defarge and Miss Manette where there to see him. Mr. Manette doesn’t say his name when Mr. Lorry asks for it, he just says that his name is “One Hundred and Five, North Tower.” I was confused by what they were doing there and who he was already, so I had to read that chapter several times to understand, and even then I didn’t really get it until we were talking about it in class today and Mr. Powell pointed out that Mr. Manette had been in prison. I guess I missed that. I understood about the father daughter connection, but it didn’t really make sense that he would be in some room making shoes, and why were there people looking at him? It was a very strange passage.
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Megan Davis
4/6/2010 12:36:27 pm
I didn't think that it was too bad but it was definitely harder than any other reading I have done. I felt it was kind of like Shakespeare how it takes you a little bit to understand just his language or style or writing, but once you got used to it that made it a lot simpler. The chapter with the whine spilling in the middle of the street and everyone fighting over it was probably the most confusing part for me because it was pretty random from what the rest of the story seemed to be talking about. But now after talking about some of the writing elements in class today I feel that helped me understand that it is probably some type of foreshadowing, and also just part of Dicken's style of writing. I like the book so far especially after talking about it in class more today because it helped me to realize that there is more to his writing that just an interesting story.
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Tom Geranios
4/6/2010 12:46:54 pm
The first paragraph confused me because i couldn't figure out its significance. At this point it seems to have been randomly placed there while you know that it has to be important to the story. Is it foreshadowing opposites? every time something good happens something bad accompanies it. Hence best of times, worst of times.
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Amber Arbanas
4/6/2010 12:57:59 pm
One thing I didn’t understand was why Dickens had Mr. Lorry repeating the word “business”. I don’t know about anyone else, but that word was getting on my nerves. It wasn’t until class today when I realized the significance of it, how Dickens used the repetition to develop the character Mr. Lorry. I thought the passage on page 47, “‘A-a-a-business, business!’ he urged, with a moisture that was not of business shining on his cheek” was a great example of how Mr. Lorry expressed to others that he wasn’t going to get all emotional and attached -that he was all strictly business- when really he was. The repetition of this word was one way Dickens showed the reader how Mr. Lorry was a different person on the inside than the outside.
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Tori Fennessy
4/6/2010 01:53:24 pm
After reading the first book and then discussing it in class, I find Dickens' symbol of "recalled to life" a very clever one. At first I was confused but I later realized that he was being released from prison, which in a way is like being recalled to life. This symbol made me think a little before I understood it but I think it's a creative way to describe being released from prison and it was a thought provoking symbol.
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Vanessa Hanson
4/6/2010 03:06:24 pm
I think that the most confusing thing is the way Dicken's wtrites. For example, in chapter 3, how he words, "how long have you been buried?" instead of just saying, "how long have you been in prison." Also, his use of anaphoras and motifs are really confusing. Like in the first paragraph when he just says it was good, it was bad over and over. Its confusing because its really wordy.
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Chris Beaulaurier
4/6/2010 03:09:20 pm
@ Megan: I think Dickens put the spilled wine scene into the book to show how deep the poverty was at that time. At that point in time, it wasn’t uncommon to see someone eating food off the street. The story was simply to create a more vivid and complete setting for the story.
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Alex Burandt
4/6/2010 03:22:37 pm
(pg 37) It seems like Dickens demonstrates that hunger dominates every aspect of the
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Nathan Galgalo
4/6/2010 05:22:32 pm
I also agree with carson. In chapter 2 and 3 for me was difficult and confusing. Dickens story (Tale of two Cities) is hard to understand but, within each page of the book the plot is interesting and entertaining.
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Sarah Gustafson
4/7/2010 01:26:46 am
I was just kidding about the anaphora thing. I had the wrong definition of anaphora. But I was still confused about what happened to Monsieur Manette, but now I know.
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Makayla Jones
4/7/2010 01:58:53 am
The most confusing thing for me was the third chapter. The most part that was hard to get was that he made it sound like the Dr. was buried instead of just, which really threw me off!
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Kole Heidinger
4/7/2010 11:36:58 am
*Amber- I was confused as to why Mr. Lorry was continually using the "business" word over and over again while talking to Lucy. However my classes discussion really made sense to me. We talked about how Mr. Lorry has raised Lucy since she was a little girl, and therefore it is very hard for him not to become emotionally attached. Therefore he uses this "business-man" approach to give himself a false sense of reassurance that even though he is so close to Lucy he wants to keep emotions as much out of it as possible, even though he isnt very good at this!!
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Briauna Inglis
4/7/2010 01:21:55 pm
I thought that the tale of two cities is somewhat confusing because Dickens uses such complex word choice and he doesn't get to the point of things. For example when he talks about Dr.Manette being "buried" instead of just saying he is in prision. I had to reread alot of this because if I didn't I would of understand some of the things. Plus I was confused on the part that introduces Dr. Manette. Why were the people looking at him?
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Cassy Noe
4/7/2010 05:25:23 pm
Okay I know my last name starts with an "N" which is deffinantly NOT between A-L But I just have one question. Is Lucie Manette married or not??? The book calls her MISS Manette which makes me think she is not, but today in class some people were pointing out the fact that she was. So I was really confused.
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Athina Brown
4/8/2010 07:56:44 am
I also agree that Dicken uses the phrase "Recalled to life" as a reoccuring idea through out all of book 1. He foreshadows the meeting between Dr. Manette and Miss Manette by continually using images of digging someone out of a grave. Which leads question, is it possible for Dr. Manette to actually function in the world after being in prison for 18 years?
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Joe Arguinchona
4/9/2010 12:29:47 am
I think the use of anaphora by dickens is merely him trying to create a mood. his use of repetition creates a somewhat crazy mood especially in the first passage of the book. this is important because it represents the chaos of the time and the divide between social classes. i would agree that the chapter 3 dream is confusing but i think the first three chapters are meant to be somewhat difficult to understand. as you continue to read things start to come together like a good mystery and the idea of being recalled to life or raised from the grave becomes evident in more than one way. Most evidently, in how the doctor,believed to be dead by his daughter is still alive.
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Nick Eddy
4/9/2010 05:07:14 am
well, I don't really understand the book much myself and can't really help much there, but im trying and kind of getting it. one of the biggest misunderstandings for me is the mail cart scene where some guy rides up and he is a ghost or something like that...
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Mario Atacador
4/12/2010 01:55:05 am
I think Charles uses anaphora to stress important points such as, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." This anaphora is probably the most important one in the book because it is where he really shows the views that the different people had during the early stages of the French revolution. And that anaphora is important in itself since he started out the book with it.
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