A Tale of Two Cities
Study Guide Book the First: Recalled to Life
Directions: Use the following questions to help locate important details in your reading.
Quizzes, tests, and class discussions will reflect the topics below.
Chapter 1: The Period
1. What literary device is employed in the opening paragraph of this chapter?
2. Which two locations are compared in this chapter?
3. What year is it when this story starts?
4. Describe the conditions of the two locations as described in this opening chapter.
5. How is the title of this chapter reflected in the events that occur within the chapter?
Chapter 2: The Mail
1. (Setting) What time of year (month/season) is it as this chapter opens? Why is this important
to notice?
2. In what year is this chapter set?
3. Where is this chapter set?
4. What details of the setting, time, and place create a mysterious atmosphere?
5. Who is Mr. Jarvis Lorry? What is he doing in this chapter?
6. Who is Jerry Cruncher?
7. What message does Mr. Lorry give to Jerry Cruncher? What do you think this message
might mean?
8. How does Jerry react to the message that Lorry gives him?
9. How is the title of this chapter reflected in the events that occur within the chapter?
Chapter 3: The Night Shadows
1. Describe Jerry Cruncher’s appearance.
2. What does Mr. Lorry imagine while sleeping in the coach?
3. What was Mr. Lorry on his way to do?
4. For how long had the person been buried? Do you think this person has been literally
buried? What other possibilities are there for describing somebody as being buried?
5. How is the title of this chapter reflected in the events that occur within the chapter?
Chapter 4: The Preparation
1. How long has it been since Mr. Lorry went to France?
2. Describe Miss Manette.
3. (Paraphrase) What story does Lorry tell Miss Manette?
4. Why are Mr. Lorry and Miss Manette going to Paris?
5. Who has been “Recalled to life”? What does this phrase really mean?
6. How is the title of this chapter reflected in the events that occur within the chapter?
Chapter 5: The Wine Shop
1. What is a wine cask?
2. What does the action of the people running to drink the spilled wine tell us about the living
conditions that they endure?
3. Dickens writes, “The Wine was red wine, and had stained the ground of the narrow street in
the suburb . . . .” What might this red wine be a symbol of or foreshadow?
4. Where is this chapter set?
5. What word was written on the wall? What does this mean/foreshadow?
6.
7.
8.
9.
What are all the people of Saint Antoine suffering from?
Describe Madame Defarge.
What name do the three men talking to Defarge call themselves?
What is Madame Defarge doing while Monsieur Defarge talks to Mr. Lorry and Miss
Manette?
10. How is the title of this chapter reflected in the events that occur within the chapter?
Chapter 6: The Shoemaker
1. What does the shoemaker look like?
2. What is the shoemaker’s name?
3. Why does the shoemaker collapse?
4. How is the title of this chapter reflected in the events that occur within the chapter?