A Tale of Two Cities
二愛 31號
5號
11號
27號
葉書含
吳浩瑄
林佩妮
黃貞渝
29號 黃媛慈
34號 廖彩涵
40號 戴暐心
Author
Charles Dickens
Works
Born in Portsmouth,
England, in 1812
The difficulties and
the family
The success
 Marriage
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1836 Sketches by Boz;Pickwick Papers
1838-1839 Oliver Twist;Nicholas Nickleby
1840-1841 The Old Curiosity
1849-1850 DavidCopperfield
1852-1853 Bleak House
1859 A Tale of Two Cities
1860-1861 Great Expectation
1870 The Mystery of Edwin Drood
French Revolution
• French Revolution (1789-99), including the terrible period
between April 1793 and July 1794 when 40,000 people
died.
• After being declared guilty of conspiracy against his
country, Louis XVI was beheaded.
The book “A Tale Of Two Cities” shows the
causes of revolution and its effects on people’s
day-to-day lives.
Roles
• Characters introduction
• Dr. Manette: Lucie’s father. A kind person. He never mind
what others had done to him.
• Lucie Manette:A tender girl. Falling in love with Charles.
• Jarvis Lorry :An official of Tellson’s bank. Dr. Manette’s
friend.
• Charles Darnay: A noble. Lucie’s lover.
• Sydney Carton: A lawyer.a person who always thinks of
other people. Also loves Lucie.
• Defarge:Dr. Manette’s old servant. Very loyalty
An outline
• Dr Manette, a French doctor , has been held in the terrible
Bastille prison for many years .He is found , half crazy, by his
daughter Lucie and Mr Lorry, who had gone to Paris to
reach for him. They take him back to London, where his
health and his memory gradually improve. Five years later,
the Frenchman Charles Darnay is tried in London on
charged of spying. He is freed, partly because he is very
similar in appearance to the lawyer Sydney Carton; this
similarity becomes even more important later in story . Both
Darnay and Carton are in love with Lucie. At the same time ,
the Revolution is breaking out in France. Darnay is force to
put his own life in danger by going back there to help the
tax collector, Gabelle. Darnay is followed by Lucie and Dr
Manette, who are also caught up in the exciting events that
follow.
The vocabulary-1
• aristocrat: someone belonging to a very high social class.
• arrest: to take someone to a police station because they are
thought to have broken the law.
• bench: a long heavy table used for working on with tools
and equipment.
• barrel: a large woodn container with a flat top and bottom.
• carriage: a vehicle with wheels that is pulled by a horse.
• courtyard: an open space that is completely or partly
surrounded by buildings.
The vocabulary-2
• evidence: facts, objects or signs that make you believe
something is true.
• knit: to make, for example , clothes out of wool using two
large needles.
• Madame, Monsieur: French words for Mr and Mrs in
English.
• Marquis: Title of a French aristocrat.
• misery: great unhappiness and suffering.
• tale: a story ,usually containing some imaginary event.
Afterthoughts –書含
•
After reading the novel “ A Tale of Two Cities” and
watching the famous masterpiece musical “Les Miserable.”
I really thank both Dickens and Hugo to record such a
historical event and to portray the human nature so vividly.
It was a actually a difficult mission to read such a
complicated story in English. But after finishing it in both
English and Chinese. I’m so touched to see the bright side
of character. Why did Carton die for Darnay? It might well
for Carton to have jealousy and hatred with Darney. But
for the happiness he wanted Lucie to have, he rather die
for her. Whether it needed to sacrifice his own precious life.
What kind of love can push a man to do so? The unselfish
emotion writer wanted to express successfully move my
heart .
Afterthoughts –暐心
•
After reading the book” A TALE OF TWO CITIES”, I admire the
writer, Charles Dickens, very much.
Who can write such a touching story, too? You can find a lot of
different kinds of love, for a father, a daughter, friends and a lover,
During this story, different kinds of love let all characters be linked
with each other. Because of the true love in their hearts, they were
willing to sacrifice their all even their lives. In the story, two men have
a same face and they also fell in love with the same lady. The lady
chose one of them.
In the end of the story, the lady’s husband was almost going to be
killed, but the loser of the love game passed him and be killed in the
final scene. He said” I see the lives for which I lay down of my life,
peaceful, useful and happy, in the England which I shall see no
more.”and the words which vibrate me most is “It is a far, far better
thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go
to than I have ever known.’ I think it is the sincerest love I’ve ever
seen in the world.
Afterthoughts –浩瑄
•
I have read this story twice. One is when I am a junior
high school student, and the other time is now. Read this
story in different times gives me different ideas. Maybe I
am growing up, so the meaning inside is clearer than
before. Sometimes people will show their enthusiasm on
politics … etc. It’s really can’t use the intellect to explain
the reason why people will be out of control. But this is
also why our times can go on and be much better than
before. This story also shows that we can have a really
strong friendship in the disorderly era just like Sydney
Carton and Charles Darnay, and some beautiful love come
up, too. Look on the bright side, then everything will be all
right, because the bad luck won’t always follow you.
Afterthoughts –彩涵
•
Before I read “A Tale Of Tow Cities”, I had no idea
about the details of French Revolution in 1789. Perhaps
something was imagination, but I thought it was valuable
in the history. The book made me understand a large
number of impossible incidents. Although the
revolutionists challenged to a fight with royal government,
they did something wrong like taking aristocrats to die
under the cruel knife of the guillotine. I felt it was pretty
ferocious and had no humanities. However, Dickens told
readers there was still something warm between human
beings in the era. The character, Sydeny Carton, was the
best example of that. He not only loved Lucie but also
loved what she loved. He died under the guillotine in order
to save her husband, Charles Darnay, so that he could
escape from the prison to reunite with her. I was really
appreciative of his behavior. What a rare event!
Afterthoughts–佩妮
• I think the story was really a tragedy. Many of innocent
people died in French Revolution. The crazy crowds use
the guillotine on the nobles. Therefore, the main character,
Charles Darnay, who was one of the members of the
aristocracy in French, also be hustled to people. Although
he never did the worst thing, he still to be officially killed
as a punishment. Carton, the person who loves Darney’s
wife very much, volunteer to instead of Darney to died. He
is really a wonderful person. Nowadays, people in the
world tend to give up their own loves very quickly. We
can’t see so deeply love like Carton in A Tale Of Two
Cities. It’s really such a sad thing to us.
Afterthoughts –媛慈
• After reading the novel, I was really touched by the deep
love between these three young people. Unfortunately they
were born in a turbulent time. The problem they had to
face was not only their emotions but also the changes of
the world. I thought Carton was a brave person and he had
a kind heart. He rather died for Lucie’s happiness. It was a
very nobility activity of human beings. The author –
Dickens must experience a lot hard things in his life that
made him write down this story. The greatest love is one
can sacrifice to who they care about. This is what I learn
from this reading, and I want to recommend to all of you.
It’s a good story:)
Afterthoughts –貞渝
•
First, the writer, Charles Dickens is good at
haracterization. For examples, Lucie is strong, and Carton
is sloppy and so on. Maybe that’s why the story is so
touching.
Second, I have to say that the end really shocks me. It’s
really unbelievable to me that someone can die for the
people he loves. In this book,Carton Sydney even pretends
that he is Charles Darnay only because the woman he
loves, Lucie. Since she loves Charles, he doesn’t want her
to lose her love. But maybe Carton doesn’t think so. There
are so many beautiful things wanting for him after all,
aren’t it?
The end