Book III - Chapter XV. The Footsteps Die Out For Ever Quiz — A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

Comprehension Quiz: Book III - Chapter XV. The Footsteps Die Out For Ever

What political argument does Dickens make in the opening of Chapter 15?

  • The Revolution was entirely caused by foreign interference from England and Prussia
  • The Revolution's horrors are the inevitable fruit of centuries of aristocratic oppression and cruelty
  • The French people are naturally violent and the Revolution was always destined to happen
  • The Revolution could have been avoided entirely if the monarchy had made minor tax reforms

How many tumbrils carry prisoners to the guillotine in this chapter?

  • Three tumbrils carrying twenty-six condemned prisoners to the execution site
  • Six tumbrils carrying the day's fifty-two condemned prisoners through Paris
  • Twelve tumbrils carrying over a hundred prisoners on this particularly deadly day
  • Two tumbrils carrying only the most important political prisoners to the guillotine

Why does the crowd press toward the third tumbril specifically?

  • It carries the most famous aristocrats, including the former finance minister of France
  • It carries the man they believe is Evremonde (actually Sydney Carton posing as Darnay)
  • It carries a group of nuns and priests whose execution is controversial among the crowd
  • It is decorated with revolutionary symbols that make it the ceremonial lead cart of the day

Who watches from the steps of a church as the tumbrils pass?

  • Mr. Lorry, who has stayed behind to ensure the escape plan is working correctly
  • Dr. Manette, who has come to witness what he believes is his son-in-law's death
  • Barsad the spy, confirming that the substitution of Carton for Darnay has not been discovered
  • Jerry Cruncher, keeping watch while Miss Pross prepares the escape carriage nearby

Why is The Vengeance upset at the execution scene?

  • She discovers that Evremonde has been switched with another prisoner at the last moment
  • She cannot find Madame Defarge, who has never before missed an execution and is now absent
  • She has been denied her usual front-row seat by a group of higher-ranking revolutionaries
  • She realizes the guillotine is malfunctioning and the executions will be significantly delayed

What does the seamstress tell Sydney Carton before they die?

  • She begs him to escape with her and promises she knows a secret passage to safety
  • "I think you were sent to me by Heaven" -- she believes his presence is divinely ordained
  • "I know who you really are" -- she reveals she has discovered the identity switch in prison
  • "Tell my family I died bravely" -- she asks him to deliver a message to her relatives

What does the seamstress ask Carton about the afterlife?

  • Whether God will forgive the revolutionaries for the blood they have spilled in Paris
  • Whether the wait for her cousin in the better land will seem long to her there
  • Whether she will be reunited with her parents who died during the early Revolution
  • Whether the guillotine is painful and whether death comes quickly after the blade falls

How does Dickens describe Carton's face as he goes to his death?

  • Twisted with rage and defiance against the revolutionary tribunal that condemned him
  • Blank and expressionless, showing no emotion as the crowd watches in uncomfortable silence
  • The peacefullest man's face ever beheld there; many added that he looked sublime and prophetic
  • Covered in tears as he weeps openly for the life he is about to lose forever

What Christian scripture does Carton remember before his execution?

  • "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" from the Twenty-Third Psalm of David
  • "I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord" from the Gospel of John
  • "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" from the Twenty-Third Psalm
  • "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" from the Gospel of Luke

In Carton's prophetic vision, what does he foresee for the revolutionaries?

  • They will escape France and live in exile, haunted by guilt for the rest of their lives
  • They will be pardoned by a restored monarchy and forced to live as commoners in poverty
  • Barsad, Defarge, The Vengeance, and the Judge will all perish by the same guillotine
  • They will convert to peaceful reformers and help rebuild French society after the Terror

What does Carton envision for Lucie's family in his final vision?

  • They return to Paris after the Revolution and reclaim the Evremonde estate in the countryside
  • Lucie has a child who bears his name, Dr. Manette is restored, and Mr. Lorry passes peacefully
  • Lucie and Darnay separate after the trauma of the Revolution, each living quiet lives apart
  • The family emigrates to America and starts a new life far from both England and France

What are the novel's famous closing words?

  • "The great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago, indifferent to all"
  • "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to"
  • "And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"
  • "Reader, I married him: a quiet wedding we had -- he and I, the parson and clerk, were alone present"

How does Dickens present Carton's final thoughts -- as spoken words or imagined thoughts?

  • As words Carton shouts defiantly to the crowd from the scaffold of the guillotine
  • As a written letter Carton composed in prison and gave to Mr. Lorry for safekeeping
  • As imagined thoughts: "If he had given any utterance to his, and they were prophetic, they would have been these"
  • As dialogue Carton whispers to the seamstress moments before they both face the blade

What does the title "The Footsteps Die Out For Ever" refer to?

  • The end of the Evremonde family line, as Darnay is the last surviving male descendant
  • The condemned prisoners' final steps, the fading Revolution, and the echoing footsteps motif from Book 2
  • The sound of the tumbrils' wheels going silent after all the prisoners have been delivered to the scaffold
  • Miss Pross's permanent deafness, which means she will never hear footsteps or any sound again

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