Book I - Chapter III. The Night Shadows Quiz — A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

Comprehension Quiz: Book I - Chapter III. The Night Shadows

What philosophical idea does Dickens explore in the opening paragraph of Chapter 3?

  • The inevitability of revolution
  • That every person is a profound secret and mystery to every other
  • The corruption of the English legal system
  • The superiority of rural life over city life

What message does Jerry Cruncher carry back to Tellson's Bank?

  • Wait for further instructions
  • The prisoner has escaped
  • Recalled to Life
  • Send reinforcements to Dover

How does Jerry Cruncher react to the message he is carrying?

  • He is excited and rides faster
  • He is indifferent and falls asleep
  • He is perplexed and mutters it wouldn't suit his "line of business"
  • He is angry and considers destroying it

Which detail about Jerry Cruncher's appearance does Dickens emphasize most?

  • His tall, thin frame
  • His stiff, spiky black hair standing jaggedly like a spiked wall
  • His missing front teeth
  • His scarred hands from manual labor

In Mr. Lorry's dream, how long has the buried man been imprisoned?

  • Ten years
  • Fifteen years
  • Almost eighteen years
  • Twenty years

What does the buried man in Lorry's dream look like?

  • A healthy man in his thirties
  • A man of forty-five with a prematurely white head, sunken cheeks, and emaciated figure
  • An elderly woman with grey hair
  • A young child wrapped in rags

How does the spectre respond when Lorry asks, "I hope you care to live?"

  • Yes, desperately
  • No, let me die in peace
  • I can't say
  • Only if she forgives me

What happens each time Lorry imagines successfully digging the man out?

  • The man embraces him gratefully
  • The man runs away into the darkness
  • The man suddenly fans away to dust
  • The man transforms into a different person

What does the rattle of the coach harness become in Lorry's half-dream about Tellson's Bank?

  • The sound of chains
  • The chink of money
  • Thunder from an approaching storm
  • The beating of drums

What does Lorry exclaim when he fully awakens at dawn?

  • "What a terrible night!"
  • "Gracious Creator of day! To be buried alive for eighteen years!"
  • "We must hurry to Dover!"
  • "Recalled to Life — what can it mean?"

What is the title of Book I of A Tale of Two Cities?

  • The Golden Thread
  • The Track of a Storm
  • Recalled to Life
  • The Night Shadows

What metaphors does Dickens use in the opening to describe the unknowability of other people?

  • A locked door and a sealed envelope
  • An unreadable book that shut with a spring and unfathomable water
  • A dark forest and an impenetrable fog
  • A foreign language and a coded message

What natural scene greets Lorry when he awakens at dawn?

  • A stormy sea with crashing waves
  • A snow-covered village with smoke rising from chimneys
  • A ridge of ploughed land, a coppice-wood with red and golden leaves, and a clear sunrise
  • A dense fog obscuring the road ahead

Why does Jerry Cruncher's discomfort with "Recalled to Life" contain dramatic irony?

  • Because he is secretly a French spy
  • Because he is actually Dr. Manette's jailer
  • Because he is secretly a resurrection man (body snatcher)
  • Because he plans to betray Mr. Lorry

How does Jerry Cruncher's hat compare to a common object in Dickens's description?

  • A bird's nest
  • A three-cornered spittoon
  • A broken umbrella
  • A soldier's helmet

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