The Life of Charles Dickens
"The Period"
"The Mail"
"The Night Shadows"
"The Preparation"
100
What is the year of his birth?
1812
100
Who is the "queen with a fair face?"
Marie Antoinette of France.
100
What is the itinerary of the mail coach?
From London to Dover on the east coast of England, directly on the English Channel (or the French La Manche).
100
What stylstic device does Dickens use notably in this chapter?
Repetition
100
To what earlier literature can you connect the description of Dover? "Small tradesmen, who did no business whatever, sometimes unaccountably realised large fortunes, and it was remarkable that nobody in the neighbourhood could endure a lamplighter."
Chaucer's Skipper who wears a dagger, draws wine at Bordeaux while the trader snores, ignores the nicer rules of conscience, and "knew all the havens as they were / From Gottland to the Cape of Finisterre, / And every creek in Brittany and Spain."
200
What is the year of his death?
1870
200
"Who is the "queen with a plain face"?
George's wife, Queen Charlotte.
200
Why are the passengers nervous?
B/c highway robbery occurs so frequently during this period.
200
For how long was a man apparently imprisoned?
18 years.
200
What is the name and standing of Mr. Lorry's bank?
Tellson's, a longstanding, imminent institution with a sister branch esin (of course) London and Paris.
300
What is the name of a very close friend of Dickens who proved a very distinguished and popular writer and with whom he staged plays
Wilkie Collins
300
In what year initially is the novel set?
1775.
300
What is the adjective used repeatedly in its various comparative forms to describe Jerry's voice?
Hoarse, hoarser, hoarest
300
What might the repeated references in this chapter to secrets portend?
More secrets to be revealed later.
300
Why does it prove difficult for those who work at the inn at which Mr. Lorries stays in Dover distinguish the passengers when they first arrive?
B/c they are wrapped up vs. the cold, weather and covered with mud and straw.
400
What are the dates of Dickens's two American reading tours?
1842 and 1867-68.
400
How does 'The Period" reflect and support the title of the novel?
It compares and contrasts England and France, home to London and Paris.
400
What, if anything, might Jerry's hoarseness of voice portend?
?
400
Do the coach passengers trust each other? If so, why? If not, why not?
No, b/c highway robberies often were believed to involve an "inside" accomplice and the passengers were strangers to one another.
400
How does the narrator signal Mr. Lorry's pensiveness?
Lost in his thoughts, still and quiet by the fire.
500
How many children did Dickens have for sure, and how many children might Dickens have had?
10 and 11
500
What is the future the narrator predicts for trees then growing in the woods of France and Norway, and "rude carts, besmattered with rustic mire"?
To be used in the construction of guillotines; to be used as tumbrils in which to carry the condemned to their execution during the Reign of Terror.
500
With what arms has the coachman armed himself, in light of the prevalence of highway robbery?
A blunderbuss, supplementary pistols, and swords.
500
Do the shadows conjuring a longtime prisoner suggest that he remains eager to live?
No. "You know that you are recalled to life?" "They tell me so." "I hope you care to live?" "I can't say." (14)
500
What is Mr. Lorry so nervous about?
Breaking the news to Lucy Manette that her father is still alive despite his long imprisonment.
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