Calliope articles from May 2006

Calliope archives from May 2006

Almost certainly you have heard of, read, or seen.(MUSINGS)
May 1, 2006... A Christmas Carol, but did you know its author was an Englishman named Charles Dickens? Who was he? Was this his only novel? Why is he one of the world's most beloved authors? Calliope, the Muse renowned for inspiring writers, is just waiting...

Timeline.(Chronology)
May 1, 2006... 1812 Charles is born on February 7 to John and Elizabeth Dickens. 1834 Charles begins using the pseudonym "Boz." He meets his future wife, Catherine Hogarth. 1836 Sketches by Boz is published. The first installments of...

Dickens--by installment: on the 31st of March [1836] will be published, to be continued Monthly, price One Shilling, the First Number of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club; ... Edited by "Boz." And each Monthly Part embellished with Four Illustrations by Seymour.
May 1, 2006... This advertisement appeared in print before Charles Dickens's work The Pickwick Papers was published. One installment of three chapters was to be sold every month for 19 months. The installments were called "Numbers," and as each one was...

The first evening's adventures and their consequences.(INSTALLMENT #1)(Excerpt)
May 1, 2006... --adapted from Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers On the morning of May 13, 1827, Samuel Pickwick, Esq., took a cab to meet Mr. Tupman, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Winkle. Upon reaching his destination, Mr. Pickwick handed the cabman a...

George Cruikshank.(Biography)
May 1, 2006... George Cruikshank was born into an artistic family in London in 1792. Brought up in his father's studio, he combined a talent for observation and a comic skill in drawing with his father's practical lessons in engraving. The combination was a...

The trip to Dingley Dell.(INSTALLMENT #2)(Excerpt)
May 1, 2006... --adapted from Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers In Rochester, the Pickwickians met Mr. Wardle. He invited them to Manor Farm at Dingley Dell. The next morning at breakfast they asked the waiter how to get to Manor Farm. He said,...

Sketches by Boz.(Charles Dickens, becoming a professional writer)(Biography)
May 1, 2006... "One evening at twilight, with fear and trembling" a curly-headed, slight young man dropped the manuscript of a story "into a dark letterbox, in a dark office, up a dark court in Fleet Street." When the story appeared "in all the glory of...

Dickens's playfulness.
May 1, 2006... If you look at Dickens' signature written with a quill pen (below photo at left), you will see that he liked to include a fancy flourish after his name, a touch well known to his friends. He humorously ended a November 1837 letter to his friend...

The memorable trial of Bardell against Pickwick.(INSTALLMENT #3)(Excerpt)
May 1, 2006... --adapted from Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers A short, fat judge entered the courtroom to the court officials' loud cry of "Silence!" When he sat down at his table, you could see only two little eyes, a chubby pink face, and half of...

How Dickens wrote.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Dickens was able to concentrate on more than one writing project at a time. Oliver Twist overlapped Nicholas Nickleby and The Pickwick Papers, and he composed A Christmas Carol in the middle of writing Martin Chuzzlewit. Dickens used manuscript...

A Dickensian childhood.(Biography)
May 1, 2006... Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, where his father, John Dickens, was a pay clerk with the Royal Navy. The family--Charles, his parents, an aunt, his older sister Fanny, and more...

Children living in hard times.
May 1, 2006... It was just chance that Dickens became one of England's greatest novelists and did not live and die a forgotten factory worker. Two days after Dickens's 12th birthday, his parents sent him to work in a shoe-blacking factory where he was paid...

Mr. Pickwick's compassion is stronger than his stubbornness.(INSTALLMENT #4)
May 1, 2006... --adapted from Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers When Mr. Pickwick chose to go to the Fleet debtor's prison rather than pay Dodson and Fogg, Dodson and Fogg tried to get their fee from Mrs. Bardell. When she refused to pay, they...

On tour in America.
May 1, 2006... January 1842 was a miserable month to be sailing. The waves were enormous; the wind was never-ending, and sparks from the chimney of the Britannia, one of the first transatlantic steamers, constantly threatened to set the ship on fire. Charles...

Kate's wonderful adventure.(Kate Douglas Wiggin )
May 1, 2006... Growing up in Maine, Kate Douglas loved reading, especially novels by Charles Dickens. She even named her sled after the character Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist and her puppies after Pip and Mr. Pocket in Great Expectations. So, in 1868, her...

Dickens's love of the theater.
May 1, 2006... Dickens showed an early talent for recitation, imitation, and song. As a young adult, he went to the theater every night and patronized private theaters where aspiring actors paid a fee to perform on stage. Dickens was somewhat successful in...

Snobbery and class.
May 1, 2006... Great Expectations can be considered a type of fairy tale: The main character, Pip, rises from rags to riches through the help of a very unusual "fairy godmother," a "fearful man [Abel Magwitch]... who... glared and growled." Riches, however,...

Writer's block.
May 1, 2006... Even famous authors experience writer's block, a period when they find it impossible to write. Dickens was no exception. On March 9, 1838, he wrote John Forster (see page 49) that he had been thinking about the character Oliver until...

'Fantastically flat'.
May 1, 2006... Dickens's world contains a staggering 13,143 characters. Among them are some of the most famous, feared, and beloved in literature. What makes them so memorable? Perhaps his secret is his descriptive power. Vividly detailed portraits in words...

What's in a name?
May 1, 2006... Dickens gives his readers plenty of clues to let them know which characters are good, which are bad, and which are downright rotten. In his universe, you CAN tell a book by its cover, for the names of his characters are an instant key to their...

Dickens at home.(Biography)
May 1, 2006... When Charles Dickens was eight years old, he and his father took a roll through the English country town of Kent. They stopped outside Gad's Hill Place, a grand house on Gravesend Road. For a long time, Charles stared at the magnificent...

Dickens's quill pens.
May 1, 2006... The Charles Dickens Museum is located at 48 Doughty Street in London and is Dickens's only surviving residence in the city. There, from 1837 to 1839, the renowned author worked on Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby, and completed The Pickwick...

Grip the Raven.
May 1, 2006... In his 1841 painting of Dickens's four children, artist Daniel Maclise included an unusual family member: Grip the Raven. The second of three pet ravens Dickens owned, Grip became a celebrity himself. Although Dickens loved the boisterous...

Word origins.(FUN WITH WORDS)
May 1, 2006... Dickens invented nearly 1,000 characters, among them some of the most unforgettable figures in literature. It is not surprising that the names of some have entered the English language. Here are a few examples: PECKSNIFF: In the novel...

Expressions.(FUN WITH WORDS)
May 1, 2006... Dickens's writings included more than 300 new words and phrases, many of which are still in use today. Among these are the five highlighted below. Can you figure out what each means? Answers on page 47. 1. Has anyone ever called you...

Name the characters.(ACTIVITY)
May 1, 2006... The characters illustrated in this 19th-century engraving represent just some of those found in Charles Dickens's novels. We have circled those whose names, or the novels in which they appear, are mentioned in this issue. See how many you can...

Dickens's legacy.(FROM PAST TO PRESENT)
May 1, 2006... After Charles Dickens died on June 8, 1870, poets wrote special verses, Queen Victoria offered her sympathy, and the entire world mourned the loss of the literary champion of the common man. Today, more than 135 years later, Dickens's books and...

Ask Calliope.
May 1, 2006... ? Why do so many European churches dating to the Middle Ages have stained-glass windows? Kienan, 12, Web post ! Actually, the idea of creating stained glass to beautify and inspire dates back to Roman times. However, the classic...

Off the shelf.(The Literary A to Z Series)(Bibliography)
May 1, 2006... Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work (The Literary A to Z Series) by Paul B. Davis (Checkmark, 1999, www.factsonfile.com) is an excellent reference work that includes more than 2,500 entries on his life,...

Cobblestone resources.
May 1, 2006... Materials that complement this theme's topic, "Charles Dickens, Master Novelist," and are available from Cobblestone Publishing include: William Shakespeare (CAL0505) The History of Writing (CAL0405) Victoria, Queen of England...

On the net.(Website list)
May 1, 2006... For three comprehensive Web sites that detail almost every aspect of Dickens's life and works, check out: www.helsinkl.fi/kasv/nokol/dickens.html www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/family_friends.html#edward_chapman ...

Raising the ghost of Charles Dickens.(in his great-great grandson, Gerald Charles Dickens)
May 1, 2006... When Charles Dickens turned professional recitalist in 1858, he literally took his show on the road. Cheering audiences in Britain, Ireland, and America treated the literary legend like a superstar. He performed the crowd-pleasing A Christmas...

Who was John Forster?
May 1, 2006... Dickens's friend and biographer. A noted literary critic, magazine editor, and author, Forster was, in public, opinionated, pretentious, and rude. With his friends, however, he was generous and helpful. Forster met Dickens in 1836 as the writer...

Dickens's pets.
May 1, 2006... Turk, Linda, Mrs. Bouncer, Don, Bomble, Dick, Williamina, Newman Noggs, and two Grips (see page 41)--these were just some of the many winged and four-legged pets that Dickens and his family owned at one time or another. Among his dogs were...