Like a few of my classmates, I am rather unfamiliar with Dickens’ work. I know of his literary repertoire only superficially, which is a real shame, as he is one of the most prevalent and influential authors of our time. I share the sentiment of other classmates when I say that, as an English major, it is a major disadvantage to be unfamiliar wi…[Read more]

I chose to take this class because I have encountered Dickens as an author in the past and am interested in further exploration of his works. This class offers me the opportunity to delve further into his works with a group of likeminded people.

I took this course in part because it fit into my schedule, but also because I was recommended it.  I’ve read Oliver Twist and enjoyed it, so my friend pointed this course out to me.  I’m an English Major, so it also helps me fill some credits and get one of my 400-level classes out of the way.

Why not?

As a human being who speaks English and also likes to read it, I can’t think of a good reason. Perhaps it’s a matter of patience, or adaptation to the style and idiosyncrasies of Victorian Lit, or a general will to wade through the depths of sprawling sentences and descriptions, in order to fully immerse yourself in a new world. Or maybe…[Read more]

I signed up for this class because I have split feelings about Dickens. David Copperfield was the summer reading assignment during my senior year of high school, and I thought I hated that book. In retrospect, I may have not given Dickens a fair shot due to my annoyance at having a summer project.  Last fall, I read Great Expectations and really e…[Read more]

Unlike many of the responses I’m reading here, I know a bit (though I don’t claim to be an expert) about Dickens and his writing. I signed up for this class because, in spite of all that, I don’t like his work very much. I constantly hear people raving about his works as though they were penned by the Grand Illuminated Oversoul of Literature (I…[Read more]

I enrolled in this course because I have never read any of Dickens’ works before. Since I will be pursuing my masters in Adolescent Education, I wanted to study Dickens in particular because in my research I’ve found that many high schools use Great Expectations or Oliver Twist in their curriculum. I am also taking a British Literature survey of…[Read more]

I signed up for this course because, like many other students in this class, I know very little about Dickens and, as an English lit major, this seems like an awfully conspicuous hole in my education. I’ve only ever read one book by Dickens (Great Expectations), and it was for a high school English class, so it wasn’t a very in-depth reading. I’m…[Read more]

I decided to enroll in this course because Dickens and what he wrote about has always sounded interesting to me. I’ve loved the story of A Christmas Carol since I was very young, and later on enjoyed the children’s version of Oliver Twist (when I found out that we’d be reading BOTH of these books for class, I was ecstatic). Of course, there has…[Read more]

I signed up for this course because I have an embarrassing lack of knowledge about Charles Dickens. Although I’ve made a habit of reading (or at least thumbing through) A Christmas Carol during the holidays, his other novels have never been high on my list of things to read, despite my love of Victorian literature. When I saw this course, I…[Read more]