“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
by Charles Dickens
MS / ELA
Conflict, Human, Language, Paradox, Story
Discuss the idea of paradox. Read a common translation of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
(http://biblehub.com/esv/ecclesiastes/3.htm) from the Christian Bible. Discuss the
structure of the text and how it exemplifies the idea of paradox.
Distribute the text and go through the following steps without reading the paragraph:
1. Note that this is the first paragraph of the classic novel by Dickens titled A Tale of
Two Cities.
2. Have students count the number of sentences in the paragraph (1). Count the
number of words in the paragraph (119).
3. Discuss the implications of a paragraph this long that consists of one sentence.
What does it say about the paragraph and about the sentence?
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4. Based on this initial analysis, ask students what they think this paragraph will be
like and why?
Read the paragraph aloud slowly, while students identify any unfamiliar words or
phrases. Compile the words into a list and post them on the board.
Share as appropriate: Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social
critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as
the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity
during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognized him
as a literary genius.
A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris
before and during the French Revolution. The novel depicts the plight of the French
peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the
revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the
former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social
parallels with life in London during the same period.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens
Read the paragraph aloud again slowly, pausing at the end of each pair of phrases (i.e.
stopping at times, foolishness, incredulity, etc.); have the students identify any pairs of
words or phrases that emerge as important (include: best/worst, wisdom/foolishness,
belief/incredulity, hope/despair, everything/nothing, Heaven/the other way). Add these
pairs of words to the list on the board. Finally, add both phrase and sentence to the list
of terms to be defined (as you will use them during the Analytical Reading stage).
Assign the words and phrases to small groups of students to define: first assign the
paired words and then any other single words. Have the students create 8 ½ x 11 inch
“posters” that define their assigned pairs or words simply and directly. Post these
definitions where they are easily observable from the seminar circle.
Divide the class into pairs of students and have each pair divide the text first into
standard sentences (there are actually 15 sentences in the paragraph) by marking the
appropriate breaks on one copy of the text. Have students insert periods where
standard sentence breaks should be. Discuss any patterns they see in the text based
on this division.
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Now have the same student groups break the paragraph into logical pairs of sentences
(“It was the best to times, it was the worst of times,” etc.) according to the opposites
each pair describes. Have the pairs of students mark this set of divisions on the other
copy of the text by inserting a slash after each paradox. Discuss what patterns they see
now.
Distribute copies of the text that is broken into seven paradoxes plus the last
description, as follows:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
We had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—
In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest
authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative
degree of comparison only.
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 Of the seven paradoxes that open this paragraph, which is the most
challenging? (round-robin response)
 Why is that one so challenging? (spontaneous discussion)
 What does Dickens mean by “it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch
of incredulity”? How can it be both?
 Based on the text, what is the relationship between wisdom and Light?
Between foolishness and Darkness?
 Why do you think Dickens repeated the same rhetorical pattern seven
times to open the paragraph?
 What does Dickens mean (near the end of the paragraph) by the period’s
“noisiest authorities insisted” that it be described “in the superlative degree
of comparison only”?
 Why do you think Dickens chose to compose this entire paragraph as one
long sentence?
 Based on this famous opening paragraph, what do you think Dickens is
teaching us about the nature of paradox? Explain.
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Have participants take notes to brainstorm ideas that they heard, said, and thought
during the seminar related to the ideas under discussion—especially opposition,
complement, and paradox.
How does the repeated use of paradox set the stage for a story? After reading and
discussing the first paragraph of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, about London
and Paris at the time of the French Revolution, write the opening paragraph of a story
set in your school or community. Use Dickens’ opening paragraph (especially his use of
paradox) as a model for your own. (Narrative/Sequential)
(LDC Task#: 29 )
Invite participants to talk in pairs for two minutes to share thoughts about what the
writing task is asking and how they might respond.
Revisit the original paragraph by Dickens and discuss the structure that was the focus
of the Analytical Reading stage. Give students overnight to decide on a topic and a
more specific setting for their stories. Ask that they report to the next class with a
potential title and notes on relevant paradoxes.
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Challenge all to draft their opening paragraphs. Refer to the original paragraph by
Dickens as necessary.
Have participants work in pairs to read their first drafts aloud to each other with
emphasis on reader as creator and editor. Listener says back one point heard clearly
and asks one question for clarification. Switch roles. Give time for full revisions resulting
in a second draft.
Once the second draft is complete, have participants work in groups of three-four and
this time take turns reading each other’s second drafts slowly and silently, marking any
spelling or grammar errors they find. (Have dictionaries and grammar handbooks
available for reference.) Take this opportunity to clarify/reteach any specific grammar
strategies you have identified your students needing. Give time for full revisions
resulting in a third and final draft.
Over the next week, have students finish and revise their stories. Publish the collection
(under the title “Tales of Two Cities”) on the class website and as a paper collection for
circulation in the classroom and the school library. Ask a local book reviewer to read
and comment on the collection for the students.
Terry Roberts
National Paideia Center
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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
Charles Dickens
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it
was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was
the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were
all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period
was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its
being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
(Source – Chapter One, A Tale of Two Cities)
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