Name______Date______Block____
Humanities 9(2)
Guided Reading Questions – A Tale of Two Cities: Book the Second, Part II
VOCABULARY (optional)
Supplication discomfited laudable
Benevolent assiduous languished
Ruminate palpable disconcerting
Amiss offal edifying
REQUIRED Reading Questions: Write out THOUGHTFULLY on ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER.
1. Why does Sydney Carton believe that he is “like the one who died young?” What does Lucie think about him? What does he vow to Lucie?
2. It is interesting that Dickens named Chapter 12 “The Fellow of Delicacy” and Chapter 13 “The Fellow of No Delicacy.” To whom do these titles refer? What is meant by “delicacy?”
3. Jerry Cruncher, the “honest tradesman,” actually makes a living by doing what? Why do you suppose he thought his wife prayed against him the night he pursued Roger Cly? How do Jerry and his son make such an occupation more respectable?
4. What details are particularly deplorable about the punishment of Gaspard? What is significant about the location of his punishment?
5. What is so sinister about Madame Defarge’s knitting?
6. Explain Defarge’s analogy on page 133.
7. What is so significant about the news that John Barsad offers to the Defarges?
8. How is Madame Defarge’s knitting similar to Dr. Manette’s shoemaking?
9. What do you think Darnay said to Dr. Manette in private before the wedding?
10. Why did Dickens entitle Chapter 19 “An Opinion?” What’s the opinion about?
11. What is the “plea” for which the chapter is titled? How are Lucy, Charles, and Sydney each characterized in this chapter?
12. How does Dickens use imagery of the sea in Chapter 21? What is the meaning of the name of Chapter 22?
13. Why is Monseigneur’s servant named Gabelle? (Use your resources here, people) explain the purpose of his name in context.
14. What is ironic about the grumblings of those members of the Monseigneur class who have fled to Tellson’s Bank in England?
15. What expectations does Charles Darnay have of himself when he returns to France? What does this reveal about him?