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CHARLES DICKENS VISITS NIAGARA FALLS

History is a picture of the past based on written records.

Review Questions

Vocabulary: sanctify, entrance, spellbound, eternity, celebrated, intrigued, prying, justify, sitrring

1. Charles Dickens captured the popular imagination as no other novelist ever did, and his novels are still loved and widely read. One of his shorter works is seen on TV throughout the world at Christmas. What is it?

2. (a) What did he come to dislike about Americans?

(b) What does the word 'rancid' tell you about his perception of the press? (c) Why might he have felt this way?

3. (a) Why do you think Americans tired of hearing about two topics dear to Dickens' heart? (b) Dickens had a very personal interest in one of them. Explain it.

4.. (a) Why was he happy to arrive in Canada?

(b) What does this tell you about the Canadians of that time?

5. Describe Dickens' reactions to the Falls.

6. Dickens found Canada a bit too Tory. What did he mean by this?

7. Why do you think Dickens would have visited a jail while in Kingston?

6. Name three of Dickens' novels.

7. Explain these famous Dickens' quotations:(a) A man must take the fat with the lean;(b)Trifles make the sum of life; (c) a smattering of everything and a knowledge of nothing.

8. Sum up Dickens' concept of Canada.

9. Why do you thing Dickens felt jusfified in calling himself the inimitable after his trip to North America?

10 Explain: (a) tyranny of public opinion; (b)constant appetite for praise; (c)triumphal tour; (d) prying eyes of curious spectators.

11. What kind of picture of what he saw did Dickens leave for history?

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