Helpful Hints
"A Tale of Two Cities" can be a challenging read. At first glance, it is very long, and has a lot of detail that makes understanding the content difficult. Some helpful strategies that could benefit anyone reading this text are the following:
- Study Guide Websites: Study guide websites can help you understand what has been going on in the book. They generally will have themes, settings, characters, and book and chapter summaries that sum up what has happend in the book so far.
- Reading Slowly: Don't just plow through the text. Take time and set a pace that will help you better understand what is going on. If you read to quickly, most likely you will not pick up on important information that could be helpful to the reader.
- Re-Reading: If at first you do not understand what you just read, go back and re-read it. This could benefit you greatly because you may then pick up on information you missed at first.
- Listen to Audio Recordings While Following Along: This could be helpful for some readers who need to actually hear the text rather than just reading it in your head. It brings characters alive, and makes the book seem more real, that way you can better understand what is going on during the book.
- Write Down Important Information: If you write down important facts that you have read, most likely you will remember important information that could benefit you in future chapters.
- Retelling What Happend in the Chapter: If you retell or summarize to other people what has happend in the book, it will help you remember what actually happend.
- Looking up Vocabulary: If you don't know a word, then look it up and find the definition. This will benefit readers to better understand the text.
- British Accent: When all else fails, try reading the book as it was written. This can make the book speak more clearly and also make it more interesting.