Sam

English

2/16/11

Mr. Salsich

A Tale I Will Never Forget:

An Essay about A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities, has finally ended. With the end of the book come some bitter sweet feelings. It’s nice that the book is done, but I will miss it. I will admit that reading up to an hour and a half on the book each night was not fun, but there is a part of me that will miss it.

A Tale of Two Cities was the best book, it was the worst book, I liked it, and I disliked it. This novel was at many times boring to me, but there are many things I loved about it. First, I have improved as a reader tremendously. When I first started the novel, I couldn’t read a sentence, but now, I can read a chapter with few problems. Not only has this novel improved my reading, but it has improved my writing. Throughout reading this tough novel, I have been able to study Dickens’ style of writing. With the improvement of my reading comes the improvement of my writing. Because of this book I can honestly say I have improved my reading and writing skills dramatically.

Throughout the course of the book there have been a few characters and scenes I particularly enjoyed reading about. The character I loved to read about the most was Madame Defarge because of her wicked personality. Something I always found interesting about Madame Defarge was her OCD with knitting. She is constantly knitting, pretending to strangle people with each stroke, weaving them into her death list. A particular scene that I thoroughly enjoyed is at the very end when Carton tells his prophecy. I found these pages extremely powerful and motivating me to be a better person. Especially when he said, “I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy”. Both Carton, and Madame Defarge are extremely interesting characters that made A Tale of Two Cites the great book it is.

I will always remember this book, both the good and the bad. I had some times when I would get frustrated, but I know I have grown to be a better reader. I will remember Sydney Carton, I will remember Madame Defarge, and I will always remember how much I have grown because of this book.

I feel that this essay is one of my best. I had no problems writing it, and all the sentences seemed to flow together with ease. I am a little worried about my short sentences, which I continue to struggle with. I really want to improve on writing longer ones. I think my whole second body paragraph is a strong point in my essay because of how nicely it flows. Also, I like my first sentence of my second paragraph. I feel it fits in really well with the rest of my essay. Overall I think I deserve a B on this essay.