A Tale of Two Cities Reading Log

There are four reading log assignments. Each assignment will cover a chunk of reading assignments and is due the day the reading assignments are due. You will type up the reading logs and turn them in on the day the readings are due.

Reading Log #1—Book I – chapters 1 – 6

Reading Log #2—Book II – chapters 1 – 13

Reading Log #3—Book II – chapters 14 – 24

Reading Log #4 – Book III – chapters 1 – 15

Each assignment will follow the same format listed below:

MLA HEADING (correctly formatted)

Your name

My name

Class Name (Honors English 10 – Period ____ )

Date (Written Out)

Reading Log #

Questions

Create three higher level thinking questions (think of these as Socratic Seminar type questions) related to this section of reading. Your questions should not just be recall, but require synthesis and evaluation in the answers. You must answer these questions with a well-thought out response including textual evidence.

Example Question:

What does Dickens establish with his list of parallel constraints?

Example Answer:

Dickens hopes to give a the idea that both England and France are similar in many ways by u sing parallel structure to describe both countries. For example, when Dickens states, “it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” he uses the structure to show the similarities between the countries and social classes, but also the wide division between to the two with spring and winter.

Motifs

Choose two of the following motifs to follow throughout the novel:

• Weather; sunrise and sunsets

• Shoes/footsteps/echoes

• Nature (trees, insects, ocean, water etc.)

• Darkness and light

• Red (including blood and wine)

• Imprisonment/release

• Other? See me with ideas

Provide textual evidence of your motif using MLA format and then explain why Dickens uses that

particular motif. What does he hope to achieve?

Literary devices

Find TWO examples of literary devices and cite the textual evidence correctly using MLA format. List the type of device and explain the purpose and effectiveness of the author’s use of it in the novel. Some ideas to look for in the novel:

• Foils

• Antithesis

• Allusions

• Metaphor

• Paradox

• Foreshadowing

• Comic relief

Themes

Find textual evidence (cited using MLA format) of two of the themes listed below. Following your textual evidence, please explain how your quote is representative of this theme.

• Resurrection

• Revenge

• Redemption

• Justice and judgment

• Sacrifice