Activity 1.6
Task:
Q. In the passage above, underline any words that you do not know, and look up their meaning in a dictionary.
A. bleak: Bare, desolate, and often windswept: a bleak plain.
nettles: Any of various hairy, stinging, or prickly plants.
aforesaid: Said or mentioned earlier or previously.
dykes: An embankment of earth and rock built to prevent floods.
leaden: Inertly heavy like lead; hard to lift or move: a leaden weight; leaden feet.
Q. In your own words, write out a short explanation of the excerpt. Include the following details: who is talking; where is he; whom was he visiting; what is he doing and why?
Q. Although Dickens wrote in Late Modern English, there is one thing about Nineteenth Century writers’ work, which makes it quite difficult for Twenty-first Century readers to understand – the length of their sentences! Read and highlight the one that begins, “At such a time…”. How many words are in this sentence?
A. 124
Q. What piece of punctuation does Dickens use a lot to allow himself to write such long sentences?
A. Commas ( , )
Q. Research the hobbies and pastimes of the Victorians. Compare the things they did at home in the evening with the kind of things you do – does this explain why Victorian authors wrote long, complex novels with verbose language?
