Studying Dickens
The Shalampax school board has decided to raise the academic standards of the English literature classes in Shalampax’s school. The new program will phased in over several years.
The school board will begin this year by upgrading the curriculum in grade nine, which includes students ranging from 15 to 37 years old. Starting this year, grade nine students will study Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
The first half of the term will be spent considering how unfortunate Dickens was to have his name and how likely it was that he was teased with taunts such as, “Hey Dickens, when you were a kid, I’ll bet your parents beat the dickens out of you if you were bad.” And, “Hey Dickens, I’ll bet you’re having a dickens of a time writing your book.”
In the second half of the term, students will go on to discuss what Dickens probably meant by the first two clauses in the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
The remainder of the term will be consumed with an evaluation of which is better, the best of times or the worst of times, and why.
That will end the term. Students will then be granted a four-month break to recuperate from their studies.
Students will not be required to read all of A Tale of Two Cities. However, for those who are foolish enough to attempt it, the school board offers the following hint so students won’t get frustrated when they fail to understand the deeper hidden meanings in the book: Everything—repeat, absolutely everything—foreshadows the French Revolution.
This brings back fond memories; I did actually have to read “A Tale of Two Cities” in ninth grade. I think an excellent exercise for your students would be to determine which present-day actor would make the best Sydney Carlton. That could easily take up a semester.
@Patricia: That does sound like an excellent idea, but it is probably way too challenging for Shalampaxian students. It’s unlikely that many students will make it past the opening paragraph or two. We wouldn’t want to hurt the little buggers’ self-esteem, now would we.
You know, I read a book called Tail in Two Cities, but it didn’t seem like a classic, although I enjoyed it very much. It was written by a guy named Huge Dickens, and it did foreshadow the French sexual revolution, though, so maybe it was the same book. I think your planet’s students will enjoy it, too.
As a small kid, when I would ‘help’ my grandfather in his garden, he would often refer to me as a “little dickens”. I’m not sure what he meant since I’ve never written any books, much less a classic.
@MikeWJ at TooManyMornings: I’ll recommend that to the school board. There’s a chance that our students would actually read that book. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens doesn’t stand a chance with our students.
@David: I’m sure that he was anticipating a future writing career for you. Yeah, that’s it. Even thoug it might not have happened yet, it’s not too late.