Friday, December 4, 2009

Question of the Week (12/4/09)

This weekend you are reading pages 1-20 of A Tale of Two Cities. Post what you know and what you want to know about this text and the historical events surrounding it. Monday we will discuss and look at these posts. Post by Sunday and for this week ONLY you do NOT have to respond to a classmate's response. Enjoy your weekend.

32 comments:

Katie Callahan said...

I have not yet read Tale of Two Cities, so my knowledge of the text itself is very limited. I know that the book is set in England in the 1700s. At this time, aristocracy and social class were important. I would like to thoughouly understand the main themes and overall plot and characters of the book.

Kelsey said...

Like Katie, I have never read A Tale of Two Cities, and I really know nothing about it. After just reading the back cover of the book though, I learned that (as Katie said) that book takes place in England,in the mid-1700's. It captures events and images from the French Revolution. I would like to learn more about the "real" or "personal stuff" that happened during this period (unlike our history textbooks which mainly just give facts and historical events, rather than people's personal stories.)

Michaela Helble said...

I've also never read this book before. However, I've heard from other people that some of the book takes place during the French Revolution- and that's all I knew about it before picking up the book. I don't know very much about the French Revolution, except that lots of people were killed from the guillotine. I would like to learn more about the French Revolution, and what it was like for the people who were a part of. I also want to know how England comes into the book, and I'd like to understand (like Katie) any themes in this book.

Sonya said...

I haven't read the book before either. But, from looking at the back cover, I know that it takes place during the French Revolution, and in both France and England. We've learned a little bit about the French Revolution in other classes. Many people, mostly aristocrats, including the king and queen were killed by the guillotine. The time around then was known as the reign of terror, and France was in chaos. As other people have said, I'd like to know more about the normal people who lived during this time, since I mostly just know the events that took place. I'd also like to know (like Michaela) how England comes into the book.

Unknown said...

I am so excited to read this book! Last year my sister took this class, and it was her enthusiasm for this book that inspired me to sign up for this course.

I know only the basics about this book; it takes place in both France and England (from the title, i'm guessing it takes place specifically in two cities within those countries...?) during the time period of the French Revolution. I guess I'm just excited to experience Dickens' writing, and how he weaves people and themes into his plot.

Erin Donohue said...

Sonya commented on the fact that we have studied the French Revolution in prior years, which is true. With all the material that we covered, I will be honest in saying that I can't recall a whole lot about that subject, but from what others have mentioned it is starting to ring a bell...

That said, I would like to have a better understanding about the social classes that were established during that time. I think that I could understand the book much better if I knew simple things like that.

Jeff said...

I know that this book has to do with two cities, Paris and London. My dad really likes this book, and so he gave me an overview of it. I don't want to say anything that might give the book away. I also know that Dickens' books are really hard to read and understand because one, it is in old english, and two he wrote for the money. I think he received money for every word he wrote, so his sentences would always run on. I also know that this was during the French Revolution, in the the 18th century. That's really all I know. I tried reading Great Expectations but didn't understand that, so maybe I'll understand this one a little better.

Lauren Hoh said...

I have not read A Tale of Two Cities and I have only heard the title, so I am not sure what it is really about. I do know that it is about two cities, but other than that my knowledge is limited. I am excited to read more of it because I have heard good things about it.

I think to understand the book I would like to know what exactly is going on in the time period of the book and its role in the story.

Alice.Rottersman said...

Everybody has already said what I know, so I'll just restate it. A Tale of Two Cities takes place in mid-1700's France and England, during the French Revolution. People got quite carried away in said revolution and ended up guillotining the aristocracy and the king and queen of France (Let them eat cake?). I also know that my older sister did not like this book.
As for what I'd like know...what is a Cock-lane? It's on the first page and it's not in the dictionary. Is it a name? A type of chicken? A Rooster-Road?

Daniel Alberta said...

I have also never read this book. Based on what other people have said this book takes place in the 1700's in England during the French Revolution. I am looking forward to reading about this book

lynda said...

Like most others, I have never read the book "A Tale of Two Cities" and all I really know is that it took place in England in the 18th century. I do not know what cities these are, and so I would like to learn what two cities this tale is about

Emily Lohr said...

I haven't read this book before, but my dad told me that Dickens is a nightmare to read and is difficult to understand. I'm hoping he's wrong because that would really ruin the book for me. Freshman year we learned about the French Revolution and I was never a fan of learning the revolutions. Hopefully this book will not be like that. The only information I really retained about the French Revolution is that it took place in the late 1700s and it happened in France.

Ella Kaplan said...

As people have said, I have never read the Tale of two cities before. I know that it is written by Charles Dickens who was an english writer in the 1800s. I also know by judging the cover (like sonya) that it takes place during the french revolution and there is probably people who die because there is a guillotine on the front of the cover.

Daniel G said...

All the little that I know about this book and a lot more has already been said. All that I really know is that it appears to be about the French Revolution and/or surrounding events. During the Fench Revolution, I know that the gullotine was used commonly and there were many rebellion type things that occured, like the storming of the bastille, for example. Other events were the tennis court oaths and many others that were done in porder to give more fair representation to the lower class, the third estate. That is all I know, and I don't even know if any of it is really related to the story.

Jennie said...

I know that A Tale of Two Cities is a story that takes place in both England and France, starting in 1775. Both places are going through a rough period. France is on the brinck of (or having?) a revolution. In England, there has been so much violence that people prepare to draw a weapon when somone wants to stop the mail carrier. No one knows who to trust, and everyone has to be considered a threat. I would like to know what exactly is going on in these two countries. The backround given in the book is helpful, but still very vague.

Sarah McAndrew said...

All I know about A Tale of Two Cities is that it is set in the mid 1700's in England as well as France. The 1700's were roughly the 18'th centruy which was in between the death of Louis XVI and the French Revoloution. The time period in which this book is set is in the midst of the industrial evoloution so I am asuming that this book will have alot to do with social class as well as the modernization of England and France. I look forward to starting the new book!

Sam said...

From what I know, this book takes place in the 1700's in England and France. There is probably going to be a lot involving the French Revolution and those leaders involved. I would like to know more about the history of the time. Who are the important people, who was against whom, and for what reason are they against eachother. In terms of the book, I would like to know more about the plot, theme, and characters. Also, as others mentioned, I'd like to learn more about the importance of social classes.

Unknown said...

I have come to find that the book takes place in england and france in the late 1700s. I have learned about france during that time. The nation was very violent and soon after invented the guiotine. What i have not learned is how england was at the time. Was it a saker place, or, was it deep in turmoil?

Lupi Linehan said...

So far in the Tale of Two Cities I don't exactly get what's going on. The book takes place in England and France in the late 1700s. The book will probably have something to do with the French Revolution, but I would like to learn more about the characters and how the story developed. As Sam said, I would like to learn more about the importance of social classes.

mallory patton said...

The book is about England and France in the 1700's, also during the french revolution. France was in a lot turmoil but it is unclear England's state at the time. I want to find out more about the story and it's characters. And how their relationships develop throughout the story.

christopher.harwick said...

Like most of the class I have never read this book and do not know anything substantial about it. It takes place in england in the 1700's or so others have said. I am interested to see what happens and if I will like the book

Nathaniel brown said...

The Tale of two cities is about England and France in the late 18th century. The two cities are obviously Paris and France. I think it is mostly about the French revolution. Otherwise I do not know much about the book, and look forward to learning more.

Alex Krass said...

It seems that this book will take place in both england and france. The two cities being Paris and London. It starts in 1775 and i know that this time period it had some very troubled times, lots of killings and hanging and such as we learned in our reading. The first 20 pages we very confusing because the language was different than modern language and I am interested to see if the book gets more clear and more interesting.

Meghan Licciardi said...

I have, unlike the majority of the class, read this book. I could tell you an entire plot summary, but I do not feel like that would be fair to anyone who reads the blog later. The book is set during the period of the french revolution in London and Paris. I am really afraid of giving away to much information, so that's all i am going to say. I do love this book, it is one of my favorites.

Robin Smith said...

I have not read a Tale of Two Cities before, and know very little about it. Just from looking at the back of the book I learned that it is about the French Revolution and that it includes some very important historical events such as the storming of the Bastille. I am looking forward to reading such a famous story.

Kiana said...

I know this book takes place in the 1700s, and the French Revolution is happening during this time. I have learned some about the French Revolution in French clas, but I don't remember all that much about it. I am interested in how the Revolution is important to the book, as well as finding out more about the plot and characters.

Chris W said...

I have read portions of this book, just the beginning parts, so I don't really know what it's about, but I'm familiar with how a few of the characters are in the beginning. As many have said, 1700s, Europe...basically, I've heard that you'll either love the book or hate it, so I dunno...that's all I've got...

Bryce said...

This book takes place around the 1770s. During this time the French Revolution and other hardships made life not so luxurious for anyone who was not an aristocrat. The setting for this book is England and France, I'm, guessing that these are the two cites in the title. I am interested in what is happening in England during this time and how what is happening in these countries affects the characters.

George Papa said...

What i know about this before having read any part of it is that it is discussing events that happened before the american revolution in the 1700's that is about all i knew about it and what i am wanting to learn about this book how the plot is structured and what the meaning of the title is.

mason vogt said...

I would be very interested to learn in depth about the french revouloution, and about the classes that society then is divided into. I don't really know anything about the book so far, apart from that one of the cities is Paris.

Anonymous said...

I want to know what class that charles Dickens belonged to because if he enjoyed success as a writer he might not have been as poor as the people he was trying to convey.
Also i want to know how Dickens was able to get his historical information
I also want to know if any of the information that he recieved is not necessarily accurate right now.
I know that there is a movie called Garfield: Tail of two kitties
in this movie garfield and a royal cat switch places
which sounds like the Prince and the Pauper
I also know, from Dickens other works, that there will be alot of social commentary by dickens himself

Megan Pattison said...

I haven't read this book before, but I know Charles Dickens is responsible for writing many "classics." I know that this book takes place during 1775, because that's what it keeps saying. I know the French Revolution was occurring or occurred around this time. I'm really curious to find out the character and the plot to this story, because the first couple of chapters really don't give that information. I was to know what is going on because i'm kind of confused right now, so I hope that becomes clear.