Make Blog entry in the style of a "Dialectical Journal." Choose three significant quotes from the novel so far. Typically a dialectical journal is done on paper and on one side is the quote, the other side has your remarks, comments and explanations of the quotes. Arrange it in some way on the Blog that separates the two sections.
Choose three passages that leave you thoughtful or in some way make you wonder about the deeper meaning that Dickens was striving for. Grapple with the meaning of the passage. As you write your comments, attempt to give us, your readers, your insight into the meaning of the passages and the themes of the book. You may also find a passage that has a particularly interesting literary style, such as humor, description, figurative language. You may choose one of those notable literary style passages. Tailor your comments to fit the passages you choose.
Possible themes to consider are:
The plight of the weak
Equality in marriage (especially in the social context of the time of the story)
Wealth and class (especially in the context of the time of the story)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
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1. "You know annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
Chapter XII
2. "Never," said my aunt, "be mean in anything; never be false; never be cruel. Avoid those three vices, Trot and I can always be hopeful of you."
Chapter XV
3. “Take care of him. He bites.”
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Response:
1. I feel that Mr.Micawber is telling David a rule to happiness and life. Though, Mr. Micawber has not followed the rule himself he feels the need to help David from making the same mistake. Mr. Micawber has a positive attitude but a lot of miss fortune and David can see that. It is believed that with happiness your life is very good! And Mr. Micawber says that money brings you happiness. It is odd though that Mr. Micawber has little money and said that advice to David when he was in prison for debt that he was still happy. Later in the book in chapter seventeen, David see's Mr. Micawber again. Later David received a letter from Mr. Micawber saying that no money is coming to him, and he doesn't have the cash to pay his hotel and room service bills. He is once again completely ruined. In the story what happened next was "I was so shocked by the contents of this heart-rending letter, that I ran off directly towards the little hotel with the intention of taking it on my way to Doctor Strong's, and trying to soothe Mr. Micawber with a word of comfort. But, half-way there, I met the London coach with Mr. and Mrs. Micawber up behind; Mr. Micawber, the very picture of tranquil enjoyment, smiling at Mrs. Micawber's conversation" Somehow Mr. and Mrs. Micawber always seemed to be happy and get through their troubles. Mr. Micawber shoes humor and relief to the story.
2. Though I feel Betsey Trotwood means business and doesn't tolerate nonsense, she cares for David. She only wants to see David do well and be to his fullest ability. Miss Betsey helps bring back sympathy and care for David which he did not get back at his old house. Trot, as she would call him is a mark in the story. It’s how we see David is moved on from his old life. Not being mean, not lying, or not being cruel are virtues that people should live up to and what his aunt is asking of him. Also, by David following these three vices, he makes his aunt proud. Betsey Trotwood can always count on David if he avoids those things.
3. This shoes Mr. Murdstone’s sweet revenge on David from when David bit him when he was being whipped. In a way symbolically, this shows how David was isolated. He was pushed out of his mother’s life at this point, starting with her life then their home. David is also powerless by what happens to him because he is only a boy.
1 "My...piece of advice, Copperfield... Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery... in short you are forever floored. As I am."- Mr. Micawber talking to David in chapter 12
ReplyDelete2 "'How much for the jacket?’ cried the old man...'half a crown,' I answered... 'Oh my lungs and liver’ cried the old man, 'no! Eighteenpence. Goroo!...'Well,' said I, ‘I’ll take eighteenpence...'Oh, my liver,' Cried the old man...'-Don't ask for money; make it an exchange." The haggling between David and the Goroo Man, Chapter 13
3 " Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall iron rails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as the great stone urns that flanked them, and were set up, on the top of the red-brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, like sublimated skittles, for Time to play at. He was in his library (I mean Doctor Strong was), with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly well combed; his knee-smalls unbraced; his long black gaiters unbuttoned; and his shoes yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug. Turning upon me a lustreless eye, that reminded me of a long-forgotten blind old horse who once used to crop the grass, and tumble over the graves, in Blunderstone churchyard, he said he was glad to see me: and then he gave me his hand; which I didn't know what to do with, as it did nothing for itself." Description of Doctor Strong, Chapter 16
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1 I believe that this passage is referring to the plight of the poor, in the struggle to support them, but to not spend so much as to go into debt. I think this to be Dickens making a note on the delicate balance of wealth and debt that occurred in the late 1800’s, and still occurs today.
2 This excerpt I believe is a statement in which even those who aren’t in the right position take advantage of others, especially in hard times. The cough of the Goroo Man reminds me of a greedy old man, like Mr. Creakle, the type of which you can imagine sitting in a leather armchair in a sitting room, staring down at you with tiny eyes. I personally find it hard to believe that an old man in that state would act that way to anyone, which leads me further to believe that these are desperate times.
3 I find this description to be one of the easiest things to imagine. When I read this passage I can practically hear his “rusty” bones creak with age. I gather from this passage rather indistinct imagery of the clothing of the time period, with a way to wear it “with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly well combed;…his long black gaiters unbuttoned; and his shoes yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.” I also can imagine his eyes sort of filmed over with cataracts, causing his eyes to look like “a long-forgotten blind old horse” with his “lustreless” eye.
P.S. Sorry for my being late, couldn't get to my flash drive, was next door but it was about 12'o at night till my parents were home.
1."Let the wretched man who now addresses you, my dear Copperfield, be a beacon to you through life. He writes with that intention, and in that hope. If he could think himself of so much use, one glean of day might, by possibility, penetrate into the cheerless dungeon of his remaining existence--though his longevity is, at present (to say the least of it), extremely problematical." Mr.Micawber’s letter to David- Chapter XVII
ReplyDelete2. “There were great changes in my old home. The ragged nests, so long deserted by the rooks, were gone; and the trees were lopped and topped out of their remembered shapes…” Chapter XXII
3.”… But fashions are like human beings. They come in, nobody knows when, why, or how; and they go out, nobody knows when, why, or how. Everything is like life, in my opinion, if you look at in that point of view.” Mr. Omer speaking to David in Chapter IX
1. I feel this quotation expresses the humbleness and sorrow of David’s life as a whole up until this point in the story. As Mr. Micawber expresses the way he feels through this final letter to David before he leaves David’s life forever, he writes the way to happiness though he doesn’t follow it himself he talks about “… penetrate into the cheerless dungeon of his remaining existence.” which I think in this case means escape the sorrow and grieve at this point in his life to find a brighter side to the world he’s living in and finally find happiness in a place where grieve will never find him and his family.
2. To think about the changes David has faced in his life; I believe this quotation from the story is a representation that things are finally changing for David, that he has finally left the life he left behind and found a new path to follow, his own path. As he starts to feel better about his life he starts to see the world in a new point of view by taking in all of the people he has lost in the worlds motto for life, and by abiding the guidelines Mr. Micawber had set for him to find happiness.
3. Mr. Omer in the story is a very cheerful man only looking at the bright side of things, though he owns a funeral company, which I see as irony. In David Copperfield you see the extremes in the lives the characters live in, in the characters themselves. In example there are the extremely sorrowful characters and the extremely happy characters, the angry characters and the characters that only see the bright side of things like Mr. Omer. Though I have used this example in earlier questions regarding this blog I feel strongly that this is symbolic theme of David’s life.
1. "But fashions are like human beings. They come in, nobody knows when, why, or how; and they go out, nobody know when, why, or how. Everything is like life, in my opinion, if you look at it in that point of view."
ReplyDelete2. "Her first proceeding there was to unlock a tall press, bring out several bottles, and pout some o the content of each into my mouth. I think they must have been taken out at random, for I am sure that I tasted aniseed water, anchovy sauce, and salad dressing.
3. "My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time."
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1.When Mr. Omer says that "fashions are like human beings", he is commenting on the speed that both human beings and fashions pass by this earth. Compared to the life of the Earth, a human life is minuscule and unimportant. He follows this up by saying "Everything is like life, in my opinion, if you look at it in that point of view." At this point he is commenting on how everything has a fleeting impression on this earth, including human life, such as David's mother's of brother's life.
2. The second time that Aunt Betsey Trotwood meets David Copperfield, she starts pouring liquids down his throat. It is undoubtedly a fact that she did this to stop his crying. But why random liquids? It could be that she thought that the shock of some of these going down his throat would stop him crying, or she could have thought that one was a liquor that would shock his brain and also cause him to stop. Still, this really shows the character of Miss Betsey because it shows her to be a rather rash person.
3. This passage explains the character of Micawber. If you are passing information such as this on than you must have experienced it first hand. This thus shows that Mr. Micawber himself is a procrastinator and cannot get things done in a rather timely manner, but waits till the last minute before starting a job.