Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A Tale of Two Cities Notes

- Dicken's first conceived the main idea while acting with his children and friends in the drama Of the Frozen Deep
- 1857 Dicken's assisted his friend in writing Of the Frozen Deep
- Fell in love with a minor actor in Of the Frozen Deep and left his wife for her
- 1858 Dicken's began series of public readings for profit, he continued to do some charity public readings
- In 1859 the first three chapters of A Tale of Two Cities were published
- Dicken's visited Paris at least forty times
- Dicken's was drawn to a morgue in Paris, it was a major tourist attraction
- Work for A Tale of Two Cities was viewed as below his standards
- Pleased with the way the novel turned out
- Calls it the best story he had written
- Manages to build suspense and tension in a marvelous way

Thursday, February 2, 2012

*Great Expectations Group Notes*

-Miss Havisham wears a wedding dress because her fiance left her at the alter
-She makes Estella get close to people and then push them away
-Some literary techniques used were irony, symbolism, foreshadowing, metaphor, theme, and satire
-Pip thinks hes better than everyone when he becomes rich
-He completely ignores Joe when he goes to visit
-Miss Havisham tells Pip to stop going over and that she will pay for him to become a blacksmith
-Joe sends Pip to Miss Havisham to get an education
-Pip was forced to drink tar water as punishment for various things

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Practice Questions on Great Expectations

1. How did Pip receive his nickname?
 - His first name is Phillip and last nameis Pirrip so he started calling himself Pip and the name stuck.
2. What happens when Pip is sitting in the churchyard?
 - A man in chains jumps out and commands Pip to bring him food and to find something to help him break out of the chains.
3. What happens when Pip tells the convict about another convict he discovered?
 - The convict grows angry and seems to be frustrated by the news.
4. What are Pip's thoughts when he returns home?
 - Pip grows paranoid that the police will be waiting for him. When police go to the house when they are eating dinner he thinks that it is to arrest him for helping the convict.
5. What happened when the police found the convicts?
 - The two convicts were fighting. Pip is worried about "his" convict, but the convict actually protects Pip by claiming to have stolen the food.
6. Who is Miss Havisham?
- Miss Havisham is a rich lady who Pip's guardians believe will help him make money.
7. Describe Estella.
- Estella is cold and rude. When Pip goes to Miss Havisham's home she rudely dismisses Pumblechook and when Miss Havisham orders her to play with Pip she speaks to him with a degrading tone, loking down on him because of his social class.
8. What did Pip tell Joe and Pumblechook happened at Miss Havisham's home?
- He tells them that Estella fed him cake and that dogs were fighting for a piece of food. He later tells Joe what really happened.
9. Who did Pip see at the pub?
- Pip saw a strange man who was stirring his drink with the same file Pip gave to the convict so long ago, this man gave Pip money which he later gives to Joe.
10. What happens at Miss Havisham's?
- Pip meets her relatives and is asked to fight by a man. He knocks the man down and Estella then permits him to give her a kiss on the cheek.