A sharp contrast to the extreme poverty conditions that you read about yesterday

Yesterday, you spent some time reading about the deplorable conditions of the destitute population of Charles Dickens’ time. What you maybe did not know was that Charles Dickens also wrote another popular classic, A Tale of Two Cities. The book opens with these words: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us… This type of sharp contrast is also part of Dickens’ style in A Christmas Carol.

Check out these pictures of Victorian Décor... What the wealthy would want in their houses. interiors-decor/ Check out these pictures of Victorian dress... What the wealthy would strive to wear. n.htm n.htm Look to the next slide for questions to guide you in your thinking.

1. Based on these pictures/images, what inferences can you make about what is important or valued? 2. How would you describe this style? Guess what?? Dickens’ writing matches the era because it is: formal ornate cluttered Part of our job, is to find the meaning in amidst all of the “wrappings and trappings” of his words.

Think about each of the following questions before we discuss? What do you already know about A Christmas Carol? What do you already know about Charles Dickens? What are you expecting while reading this book?

In what ways is this novel simply a traditional Christmas story? What elements of a feel-good holiday story do you see? In what ways is this novel a critique of the times? What elements of Dicken’s opinions of the treatment of the poor do you see?

I am going to read pages 1- 8 aloud. As I read, be looking for: Evidence of Victorian Style. Evidence that he was critiquing the times. Evidence that he was trying to tell a simple Christmas story.