Yee 1 David Yee Ms. Gardner Honors English 10 Period 0 16 November 13 Struggles Bloom, Harold. "Dickens, Charles.

" Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.

Blooms biography of Charles Dickens provides an analytical view of Dickens lifefull of dates and facts. From birth to death, Bloom offers a list of all of the novels created by Dickens. Towards the end of the article, Bloom includes different views of Dickens works, which provides a refreshing point of view after a list of dates and facts. Blooms focus on Dickens novels, however, takes away from some of Dickens personal life, which is a vital key in understanding Dickens development.

Bloom offers dry analytical dates, much like how Thomas Gradgrind from Hard Times taught his students. The article would be of use to any scholar attempting to document Dickens works, but in regards to anything else about Dickens it is rather lacking. Although overuse of bias in biographies hamper the readers understanding of the biography, a little bias is helpful in creating dynamics in the writing. The writing does include a very small amount of Dickens upbringing, stating that, Memories of this painful period of his life were to affect much of Dickens's later writing. This is much like the characters in the novel Hard Times, as both characters were greatly affected by their childhoods.

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Brackett, Virginia. "class as a theme in British literature." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

Bracketts article on the class structure and its place in literature gives a historical and literary look on its development. The article includes the development of class structure by events such as the Industrial Revolution, and chronologically explains how class structure changed over time, from the 14th century to the 19th century. During those time periods, Brackett includes famous authors and their views on class placements, some of which were Charles Dickens and Frances Trollope. Views range from how class structured affected romantic ideologies to how class structure affected division in church.

Brackett offers excellent chronological views of class structure, sequentially ordering how time affected class structure. The diverse range of ideas that are presented help the reader comprehend more of how important class structure affected everything related to people of classtheir religion, their education, and their language. The lack of bias and analytical views help strengthen the article, providing for an interesting and informal read. One particular section, the part about the dismal condition of the working class, can relate to Hard Times because it of the description of how authors such as Dickens attempted to bring notice to working class, which mirrors how Louisa Gradgrind found out about the conditions of them.

Brackett, Virginia. "Hard Times." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.

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Bracketts synopsis of Hard Times provides an insightful view and criticism on the works of Charles Dickens. Not only does she connect the novel to other works by Dickens, such as Great Expectations, but she also connects the book to Dickens life. Brackett connects Dickens life with the struggles of the characters in his novel, Hard Times, and she compares the upbringing of both the protagonist of the book, Louisa Gradgrind, to Dickens himself. The positive criticism from Brackett enlightens the reader to the deeper meanings that Dickens installed into his book Hard Times.

A scholar would find great use of Bracketts positive criticism and analysis towards Dickens novel Hard Times. Her insight not only helps the reader understand Dickens motives behind the novel, but also provides the reader information about the story behind each character. The bias is acceptable due to the fact that it is literary criticism, and it does not much negatively affect the learning experience the reader undergoes. One unique feature that the article contains is credible sources and quotes from reliable critics, something that is not always seen in criticism. Bracketts connections with Dickens and his characters economic and personal struggles help the reader understand the story behind the novel Hard Times, furthermore supporting the article.

Chin, Mei. "On the Works of Charles Dickens." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.

Yee 4 Chins article offers a crushingly honest review on Dickens work, including his novel Hard Times. Starting off the article with the sentence It is embarrassing these days to admit to a love of Charles Dickens, and it is worse still to admit that he has moved us, Chins cynical view of Dickens work is all-encompassing. From tone to characters, Chin reviews all of the categories of a novelfor all of Dickens novels. Chins perspective shifts towards Dickens works alternate from negative to positive and back again, giving a refreshingly honest, if not slightly confusing, view of Dickens novels.

Although Chin focuses on Dickens work as a whole, it does not include much about the novel Hard Times, except for a few crushing blows to the book. This somewhat hampers the scholar that wants to learn exclusively about critics views of Hard Times, but in reality it helps the scholar understand more about the style of the Dickens. The length of the article may be considered as a weakness as Chin could not summarize the points more precisely, but the depth and insightfulness provided by Chin makes up for the length. The ending, which provides a quick glimpse on the death of Dickens, gives the article a meaningful ending, strengthening the article as a whole.

Kelen, Christopher. "class and British fiction." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

Kelens article summarizes the effect and use of class in British literature, including famous authors such as Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. The author provides background information on the origin of class-consciousness by including its roots in the

Yee 5 Marxist ideology. Examples that the author uses of both class-consciousness and class interest include novels such as The Outstation and Arthur Snatchfold. The topic of the article changes to changing attitudes towards the different classes, and the author helps support these ideas by including how the topics are included in novels such as The Last of England? and The Acid House.

Kelens article would be especially helpful towards one trying to understand the different social classes in regards to British literature. Although not immediately prominent, the article would also be useful to one better trying to understand the class differences that are present in the novel Hard Times, and also the struggles that the working class had to endure. The class-consciousness presented in the example novels help support the idea that there were indeed struggles that were recognized by the bourgeois from the working class. Gender and ethnic roles are also observed in the article, helping understand how those would add to the class struggles.

Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener. "Dickens, Charles." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Stade and Karbieners article offers a descriptive biography of Charles Dickens life, including his greatest works and personal life. From recounts of the various genres of books that Dickens had written to descriptions of his travels and experiences, Stade and Karbiener help outline Dickens life in great detail. The authors keep close to the topic of

Yee 6 Charles Dickens, rarely straying off topic. The level of advanced diction used shows the intended scholarly audience.

The article stands out for its various dates and books that are included, yet the writing is slightly weaker due to its heavy positive bias towards Dickens. Although the bias helps breathe life into the writing, a more unbiased and analytical standpoint would be of more help to one trying to research more about the author, Charles Dickens. The article does provide the reader useful information; however, using phrases such as influenced the reading public more than any other Victorian writer is very heavily opinionated, so it does not add much in the understanding of Dickens. What is helpful, though, is that Stade and Karbiener include parts about Dickens early life, which did not differ much from the struggles of the working class that he wrote about, so the reader can find connections between himself and his characters in Hard Times.