A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay - 1393 Words

Winning critical acclaim, A Tale of Two Cities occupies a central place in the cannon of Charles Dickens’ work. A Tale of Two Cities, published in serial form starting on April 30, 1859, is a historical fiction novel. A dominant theme in this historical novel is the duality found in many of Dickens’ characters. Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is somewhat autobiographical; emphasizes the key elements of theme, plot, and character; and has received extensive criticism. A Tale of Two Cities is told in three parts and takes place in England and France before and during the French Revolution. The novel starts with the well known opening, â€Å"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.† The action begins with Mr. Jarvis Lorry, and elderly†¦show more content†¦Sadly this is when Charles’ life became less pleasant (Telgen). Charles Dickens was originally home schooled, and later attended a Dame School and Wellington Academy in London (Boro witz). In between attending a Dame School and Wellington Academy in London, Charles had to work (Shmoop Editorial Team). Since his father was in debt Charles worked at a bootleg factory, here he labeled bottles. He loathed his job. What made it worst was that his sister Frances was allowed to continue to study at Royal Academy of Music, and received much recognition (Telgen). After Charles left his job, and returned to school, he often found himself reading extensively at the British Museum. Charles was at the top of his class, and started up his writing career with â€Å"penny-a-line stuff.† He then got work as an office boy, and soon excelled in his literature. He wanted to be in theater; sorrowfully, he was sick on his scheduled day and never reapplied. He then used his incredible literary talent to start writing and became an author and play writer (Borowitz). Later, Charles found his first love, Maria Beadnell. Tragically, Charles’ attempts to â€Å"woo† Ma ria and make her his was a horrid failure. This massive rejection affected Charles so much that he could barely speak about it to his friend and biographer. Charles burned everything he had written for her, and later based a character off of her, Miss Havisham. She would burn in flames twice herShow MoreRelatedA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1420 Words   |  6 Pageshistory – the best of times and the worst of times. The violence enacted by the citizens of French on their fellow countrymen set a gruesome scene in the cities and country sides of France. Charles Dickens uses a palate of storm, wine, and blood imagery in A Tale of Two Cities to paint exactly how tremendously brutal this period of time was. Dickens use of storm imagery throughout his novel illustrates to the reader the tremulous, fierce, and explosive time period in which the course of events takesRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1024 Words   |  5 PagesAt the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens writes, â€Å"every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other (14).† Throughout the novel, Dickens incorporates the theme of secrets to connect characters and add mystery to the story. The three characters with the significant secrets are Charles Darnay, Alexandre Manette, and Madame Defarge. Darnay, Manette, and Defarge are all of French blood, living in either France or England in the heat of the FrenchRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1704 Words   |  7 PagesA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel set during the time of the French Revolution in England and France. The Revolution is a time of great danger and constant change. Dickens’ novel expresses the theme of fate through metaphors in many different ways. These metaphors connect the fates of Dickens’ characters that are intertwined in some way whether they are aware of how they are connected or not. Charles Dickens illustrates to his readers that fate is predetermined as shown throughRead MoreCharles Dickens Tale Of Two Cities1079 Words   |  5 PagesFated Coincidences Charles Dickens was a distinguished writer during the 1800s and was inspired by Thomas Carlyle’s book French Revolution. Dickens was influenced by this book to write his novel Tale of Two Cities. Even though he wrote the book seventy years after the French Revolution, he studied many different books from two wagons from Carlyle which he sent as a joke. Throughout the book Tale of Two Cities, Dickens has a recurring theme of fate. Dickens illustrates that everyone’s lives areRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1831 Words   |  8 Pagesthese horrific acts, there was a revival of French spirit after the Revolution had ended, in the sense that the French are resurging after being an inch from death. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens shows the reader that the general idea of resurrection can occur at any given point of time. The novel is set in two cities, London and Paris, during the French Revolution. The story begins with Mr. Lorry, an official from Tellson’s Bank in London, and Lucie Manette as they make their way to ParisRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens987 Words   |  4 PagesIn a Tale of Two cities. Dickens juxtapositions suspense and humor in a intricate tale of love and loyalty. The book takes place in the late 18th century, during the french revolution. the book is set in England and France, more specifically London and Paris. These are the two cities that the book centers around. In the city of London, the neighborhood of SoHo, and Paris, the french countryside, and city of Dover. b city houses, palace of Versailles. The house in Paris where the Darnay s stayedRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1363 Words   |  6 PagesTale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities is a 19th century novel that conveys the terror of the French Revolution through the story of the Manette and Darnay family. Charles Dickens intertwined characters throughout the novel to convey the equivocal viewpoint of the citizens throughout England. The ambiguous characters of Charles Darnay, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Carton, work to show both the innocence and savagery of the revolution. Charles Darnay spent the early years of his life as nobilityRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1426 Words   |  6 Pagesanxiety, and misery, the French Revolution was a trying time for all involved, even the characters crafted by Charles Dickens’ imagination. Charles Dickens’ strongly enforces the hardships of this arduous era in his remarkable novel, A Tale of Two Cities, while exhibiting his keen ability to leave hints for the readers, allowing them to predict upcoming events in his skillfully fashioned plot. Dickens utilizes vivid imagery to construct menacing settings. He presents his characters as impulsive to indicateRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1398 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Cruelty is a Result of Hatred Charles Dickens is a very famous novelist, who was born on February 7, 1812, in his home of Portsmouth, England. He was a very dedicated man with a great imagination, and he shows his writing skills in his book A Tale of Two Cities, a historical fiction that focuses on the French Revolution. In this book Dickens uses both atmosphere and imagery to describe how brutal and inhumane men can be to each other. He uses scenes of a man’s need for tyranny, a man’s needRead MoreA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1381 Words   |  6 PagesOf the extraordinary amount of literary devices available to authors, Charles Dickens uses quite a few in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, which is set during the French Revolution. One of his more distinctive devices is character foils. The five sets of foils are Carton and Darnay, Carton and Stryver, Darnay and the Marquis de Evremonde, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Lorry and Jerry Cruncher. Dickens uses foil characters to highlight the virtu es of several major characters in order to show the theme of

Profile Essay - 1981 Words

Profile Essay My best friend Leah Nepomuceno is one of the strongest people I know, especially when it comes to family. Family to her is everything and she has done all she can to try and keep hers together as a whole. We were in sixth grade swinging on the swings outside at recess, whispering and giggling about our usual gossip when she received news from one of our teachers that we knew was serious by the look on her face and fear in her voice. She came up to us and told her she needed to go the office and that she was being dismissed, she gave me permission to walk with her inside. On the short but long felt walk inside Leahs heart was pounding, her hands were sweating, and her eyes were slowly filling with tears. Her mom was†¦show more content†¦This hurt a lot, it was like my mom didnt care, never cared, how could she leave me with all those responsibilities I was only 15 years old she said when I asked her how it made her feel (Nepomuceno). This was truly heart breakin g to see, especially being so young and watching all of this happen to my best friend when there wasnt much I could do besides be the best friend I could. Ron soon couldnt be in the house anymore and had to be moved into a hospital with a rehab facilitation. This made it extremely hard on Leah because the hospital was an hour away limiting the time she got to spend with her dad. I started visiting every weekend making it extremely hard for me to have a social life or a boy friend. I started getting extremely depressed which was making my attendance at school and work suffer. After Leah put herself through drivers ed and got her license she used the old car they had to make these hospital visits. The gas money was becoming a problem so she knew there was only one thing she could do, get a part time job working downtown. I hated asking my dad for money and my mom was never there for us, so I decided to work instead of get back into track, Leah said when I asked her what she did to aff ord the hospital visits (Nepomuceno). Leah hated being in the hospital all the time though, she said it felt empty and always smelt like rubber gloves. When Ron was moved to a better hospital that wasShow MoreRelatedprofile essay1041 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Profile essay New York City How do you describe New York City in other words? I can describe New York City that never sleep. This is the biggest and the most wonderful city I have ever visited. New york is realy big city. Everybody imagine to live or visit there. That is the dream city. Constructions are so high and well organized especially in Manhattan. The buildings are so astonishingly tall and eye-catching. These buildings encompass the most distinctive architectureRead MoreProfile Essay1441 Words   |  6 PagesPaige Plantier Profile Essay Brother Gagon Eng 101 10 June 2010 It’s Meatloaf Night! â€Å"Pick up the pace guys, its meatloaf night!† Exclaimed Pleasant Grove High School track coach Bill Saunders. You could see the pain and agony that the athletes were experiencing as they made their final laps around the track in attempt to finish off that day’s workout. The mid afternoon sun was beating down on the young adults and you could see tears of sweat running from their faces. Bill Saunders has been theRead MoreProfile Essay1466 Words   |  6 Pagesam an honest honorable hoarder. I honor the smallest piece of item I have even if it is trash. I don’t have much and what I do have I keep.† Doug may not be the best citizen that this country offers but he is just as important as anyone else. His profile can inspire people to either help someone they know or just others in need of this condition that haunts so many people. The world and the people in it can help individuals like this simply by caring enough to help. Doug was fortunate to find a so lutionRead MoreProfile Essay1311 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Meeting† The room is silent other than the steady hum of the air conditioner. Businessmen and location supervisors all sit around a large rectangular table, waiting for the man in charge. There is a projector screen at the head of the table with an opening slide displayed. It reads â€Å"Monthly Safety meeting† in plain black text on a white background. A few of the men lean back in their chairs and relax. Two start a casual conversation. Even in the silence of the room I cannot understandRead MoreEssay Profile722 Words   |  3 PagesThe plan was to write a profile that conveyed completely heartfelt honesty and insert it into some dating site if she could find one out of seemingly hundreds, and try to get it done by the end of the evening before a change of mind. This entailed quite a bit of thought to say everything just right without sounding pathetic or wanting which was not the case at al l. Fifteen minutes later, nothing came out right so she opened up a search engine instead to choose out a dating site and soon found outRead MoreEssay on Profile of a Person1649 Words   |  7 Pages but most important, different methods of thinking. When I realized that I would need to write a profile of someone else, I thought it would be the easiest essay that I have ever done. Contrary to my expectations, I realized that to write someone elses profile is kind of hard, because it is not only a simple thing such as just write the entire life of the person. A lot of stuff is behind the profile of a person. When I first thought about who I should interview, I was kind of lost, because I doRead MoreA Profile of Facebook Essay1579 Words   |  7 Pagescomes a false and heightened sense of importance. It is not uncommon to see users with over 1,500 â€Å"friends† on Facebook. It is obvious that an individual could not actually stay in touch with this amount of people but see ing this number on their profile makes some people feel well liked and important - seeing as they expect that these friends truly care about what they have to say. Since users feel that people care about what they are doing in their life, they post statuses, opinions, and theirRead MorePersonality Profile Essay1107 Words   |  5 Pages Personality Profile MGT/360 Personality Profile In modern business, it is important to have a mindset of sustainability and environmentally friendly business practices. Two fundamental characteristics of an effective and sustainable leadership model are having the foresight of what the company is trying to attain and identifying the worth in the process and supplying the leadership to reach the companies goals. Leadership begins with trusting in the process, and adhering to theRead MoreChild Profile Essay711 Words   |  3 PagesFor this project we had to collaborate and create a presentation that models a child profile. Our student was 17 year old Aaron, who is apart of Chatsworth Senior High School’s Life Skills program. This program is a transitional program designed for students to receive education in the morning and obtain job experience for the last half of the day. Aaron is currently working at his father’s business, but it has been reported that there are numerous problems with Aaron’s behavior and s kills. His father

An Examination of Southern Dialect Essay Example For Students

An Examination of Southern Dialect Essay In the writings of William Faulkner, the reader may sense that the author has created an entire world, which directly reflects his own personal experience. Faulkner writes about the area in and around Mississippi, where he is from, during the post-Civil War period. It is most frequently Northern Mississippi that Faulkner uses for his literary territory, changing Oxford to Jefferson and Lafayette County to Yoknapatawpha County, because it is here that he lived most of his life and wrote of the people he knew. Faulkners stories focus on the Southeastern United States at a time period when old traditions began to clash with new ideals. This is an era in American history with which most people can quickly identify, whether they are Southern or not. The South in Faulkners works are complete with all the expected features: an agricultural society, Southern belles and gentlemen, racial tensions, and especially the common characteristics of Southern speech. Faulkner strays from the normal customs of Northern literature to present a realistic portrait of the South that he grew up in. In doing so, he comes up with an excellent sample of the Southern language, including linguistic qualities of both black and white speech. Faulkner establishes a unique literary voice which is recognizable due to variances from standard English in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical form, while juxtaposing speech elements foreign to anyone not familiar with Southern heritage. The works of William Faulkner succeed in creating a literary dialect which is relatively consistent throughout all of his stories. A literary dialect is best defined as an authors attempt to represent in writing a speech that is restricted regionally, socially, or both Ives 146. In Faulkners writing, this can be described by such traits as an intentional misspelling, like marster for master, or in the use of Miss along with the given first name of a female, as in Miss Corrie. These, amongst countless other examples, are distinctly Southern speech traditions. Anyone not from the South may need explanations of much of Faulkners pronunciations, words, usages, and language customs which the author himself takes for granted. Because Faulkner has employed such a vast and complex Southern dialect in his stories, the language he uses has become a microcosm of Southern language as a whole. As one critic has noted, local forms of speech maintain ones individual dignity in a homogenizing world Burkett vii. In Faulkner, this local speech is a mixture of Southern American and Negro dialogue with all the folklore from Virginia to Louisiana, Florida to Texas Brown 2. Faulkners dialect is effective both as a literary device and as a link between the American English language and American culture and history, specifically in the Southeast. The South is probably the most linguistically diversified part of the nation. Blacks and whites from Atlanta to Charleston to Nashville speak a different form of standard English in a different version of the Southern accent. Part of this linguistic diversity is reflected in the way that the Southern  aristocracy can shift not only vocabulary and pronunciation, but even grammar, according to the audience 1McDavid 219. This technique is very much alive in Faulkners work. For example, in The Reivers, the upper-class grandfather character Boss is an educated man of high social standing in the community. Yet, when he is in the company of only his grandson Lucius, as part of a lecture, he says the safe things aint always the best things 2Faulkner 117. Throughout the book, Bosss speech moves from the formal to the informal, largely depending on the intimacy he feels with the person or persons to whom he is speaking. Such a case illustrates that Faulkner is well aware of the prestige norms that exist in Southern speech, and he takes advantage of this knowledge. As Feagin points out, in the Southeast, the way in which nonstandard English is employed demonstrates a symbol of intimacy and local loyalty, as well as a gauge of the level of integration into a close-knit network Feagin 222. Faulkners characters reveal a tendency to speak in a slang-like or non-prescriptive grammar when they converse with other characters that they know well, often apparent in the form of jokes and metaphorical language. Similarly to the aristocratic speaker, the less educated Southern speaker often attempts to improve his or her speech when in a formal setting. McDavid asserts that the common way to do so is by using bigger words and longer sentences, sometimes resulting in the ridiculous 2McDavid 265. A good example of such in Faulkner occurs in As I Lay Dying when Anse, a rural, farming man, attempts to sound eloquent at a time of utmost solemnity. During a funeral speech, Anse states the following: The somebody you was young with and you growed old in her and she growed old in you, seeing the old coming on and it was the one somebody you could hear say it dont matter and know it was the truth outen the hard world and all a mans grief and trials 1Faulkner 511. It is obvious that Anse intends to speak formally in this situation, thus Faulkner follows McDavids rule of Southern speech about the elongation of sentences and its irregular result. This passage is successful in two ways. First, it reveals a realistic trait common in the Southeast, reflecting the solidarity norm based on local non-standard speech Feagin 219. Second, it serves as a very powerful literary technique because the oration captures the high level of sincerity in the speaking character. Writing and the Holocaust EssaySome important questions arise when examining the language of Faulkner or any similarly dialect-oriented author. These questions surround the actual nature of a dialect, and the way in which it is manifested by the writer on to the page. Dialects are patterns of communication by which all people in an exclusive region recognize. People, even without a written language, understand these speech conventions, or patterns to which actual noises conform even though they may not be systematically analyzed and recorded in a grammar Ives 150. A group of people who speaks a dialect will commonly have uniform variations from other dialects that are noticeable by people outside their speaking class, as in the differences between black and white Southern English. A writer like Faulkner, then, presents a very special affinity with his own dialect because he writes in it without having to rely on research or background study. His storytelling language is pure, when he needs something, he searches the lumber room of his head for something to serve his purpose Brown 4. The literary dialect in the works of William Faulkner is almost a carbon-copy of the Southern dialect he truly speaks. Moreover, although Faulkner is not commonly regarded as a great historian, his  writing reveals a great deal of Southern history and culture.Though probably not all of these accounts are entirely accurate, it is quite possible that Faulkners descriptions of historical events alight directly from his own experience with the Southern tradition of oral storytelling. Faulkners representation of Southern speech in his writing, follows the actual linguistic parameters of the Southern Lowland dialect very closely, or Southern Proper by Raven McDavids classification. Faulkner makes a strong effort to display the various facets of this dialect even though many of them cannot really be sensed through writing alone. For instance, the only true aspects of language that are excluded in writing are facial and bodily expressions accompanying speech, pauses and changes in pitch or volume, and speed of articulation. Generally speaking, however, these features are secondary in comparison with pronunciation, grammar, and word usage. Faulkners literary dialect is consistent with several of the prevailing trends of Southern speech. For one, it supports the theory of Southern language diversity due to the fact that Faulkners is a distinctly Southern dialect, yet has many differences from other Southern dialects, including the use of phrases like trade days days set aside for auctioning only used in the immediate area Brown 202. Also, Faulkners writing presents the large quantity of archaic and folk utterances in the Negro dialect, which are the result of years of insufficient educational opportunity. One other trait of Faulkners language that is common to the popular conception of Southern dialects is the occasional loss of postvocalic /r/, as in the words baun for born, and bastud for bastard. These words, along with dozens of others appearing in many of Faulkners stories. Faulkner, quite simply, delineates a place rich in the tradition and pride of the average Southerner. Consequently, the speech in his text also carries some of the stigmas attached to Southern life itself. First and foremost of these blemishes is the pervading tone of racism, automated by the appearance of the word nigger in practically all of Faulkners works. Although the word does represent the authenticity of Faulkners dialect, it will always carry with it an arresting level of shame and disgrace. The feeling of racism is perpetuated by the fact that most of the Negro speech in Faulkner is slightly less standard than white speech, giving it a hint of inferiority. Although Faulkner explores the issue of racism with an open mind and even attempts to repudiate some of the negative connotations associated with blacks, his genuine Southern tongue cannot completely detach from the very real evils of racial injustice in Southern American history. Finally, the dialect in these stories, in all of its originality, continues to uphold the popular belief that Southern English is, in many instances, bad English employed by less intelligent speakers. This setback is mainly attributable in Faulkners writing to the double negatives, use of aint, and use of third person dont. Contrary to these negative opinions however, most of the cases of bad grammar  here are actually remnants of archaic proper English rather than unintelligent corruptions of modern English. Thus Faulkners storytelling dialect creates a lasting impression of his Southern world, encompassing both the common and unique, the positive and the negative. In demonstrating his ability to author such a realistic, yet original world, drawing on his own natural dialect, Faulkner insists that life is narrative, based on the preeminence of language in our lives Lockyer xii.

Unicorns Have Wings Essays - Rainbow Sherbet, Rainbow,

Unicorns Have Wings One day a long, long time ago, a beautiful white horse came trotting through the wood that lead to a marvelous rainbow waterfall. When a flash of beautiful colors caught her eye. Then, the white horse looked more carefully and she realized that it was a Rainbow Bird, gliding over the Rainbow Lake that had caught her reflection. The white horse came closer and the bird flew closer and landed on a nearby log. "Hello, my name is Fleece," exclaimed the bird. "Hello," said the white horse. "Don't you have a name?" whined the bird. "No,I'm afraid I don't," said the horse. "Well, may I have the honor of naming you?" asked Fleece. "Why, yes, of course!" exclaimed the white horse. "Well, let me see. How about Narina? Yes, I'll name you, Narina. Do you like your name?" asked Fleece. "Yes, I do!" said the horse. "Fine, then it is settled." said Fleece. Narina and Fleece played almost everyday together. They were the very best of friends. They liked playing under the waterfall and the went swimming in the crystal clear lake almost every day. One evening Fleece told Narina that he was sick and might not see the morning light again. This broke Narina's heart. She tried not to worry, but she had to. To please Fleece, Narina went to the waterfall and fixed him his favorite meal, his last meal.Fleece's favorite meal was Rainbow water, with Cherry, Strawberry, Vanilla Cream pie. In the morning, Narina checked on Fleece. He was dead, but peaceful. While she was looking at here friend Fleece, Narina felt something funny on her right and left hip. When she looked, she saw Fleece's rainbow colored wings. Narnia was happy that she had a part of her best friend. After a few years, Narina got over the loss of her best friend and was very excited to be a winged horse. Narina still lived in the wood by the waterfall and thought of Fleece every day. One very, very sunny morning , Narina heard the soft bells of an ice cream wagon. A very grouch owl (probably because he's supposed to be sleeping at that time of the day) bought rainbow sherbet in a cone. The grouchy owl took his sherbet and flew up into a tree over Narina's head. Next, a greedy pigeon came and headed straight for the owl's cone! The pigeon knocked the cone out of the owls grip and it landed on Narina's head. The rainbow sherbet was sticky and made beautiful rainbow stripes all over Narnia's body. The sherbet was so sticky that Narina couldn't get the cone off her head. And the beautiful sticky stripes wouldn't come off either.........And now you know why Unicorns have wings and a horn.