Reading Guide

The Blacking Factory. (Young

Dickens).
By Vicente Muoz Puelles, publisher Anaya, 2012
FIRST PART
CHAPTER 1. DICKENSS GHOST Where is Charles Dickens buried? When was Charles Dickens born and when did he die? Who is writing this story about Dickens? What happened the night on the 9th of September? Why does Forster remember this date? What was Forster trying to do after the death of Dickens? What did the ghost of Dickens look like? Which two details made John Forster become convinced he was really seeing the ghost of Dickens and it was not his fancy? What did Dickens leave John Forster in his will? Who was Grip? Which Dickenss novel did it appear in? What did Dickenss children do with his possessions after his death? What deal did Dickens and Forster make after their first meeting? CHAPTER 2. FIRST YEARS What ghost stories had Dickens written? How did Dickens and Forster travel? Which was the first place they travelled to? What was the date? What were Dickenss parents called? What scenes did Forster and Dickens watch after Dickenss birth? Which was the last scene they watched? Did any character from the past feel the presence of Dickens and Forster? CHAPTER 3. GOLDEN CHILDHOOD Why did Forster feel sick after their visit to Landport? Where did they go in their second trip? Who taught Dickens to read? Who was Dickenss first love? Who was Mary Weller? What did Dickens use to do in the school break?
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What books from the library in the attic-room did Dickens remember? What happened to Dickens on Christmas Night when children were playing hide-and-seek? What plays did Dickens and his sister use to perform on Christmas Nights? What was Gads Hill Place? Why did that place remind Dickens of his father? What did Dickens answer the headmaster when he asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up? Why? How did the golden years of his chidhood end?

CHAPTER 4. THE CROW What did Dickens do with the stuffed crow at Forsters office during his third visit? Why couldnt Eliza Forsters wife listen to Grip? What did Dickens do with Forster and Grip so that they could go through ceilings and walls? What did the new Dickenss house they visited in their third trip look like? Why did not Aunt Fanny live with the Dickens family any longer? How did Dickenss mother react to her husbands debts? What did his parents sell in order to survive? Did little Dickens use to go to school in London? And his sister Fanny? What duties did Dickens have in London? Which two important books did Forster and Dickens watch little Dickens to sell? Who lived at the little house in Camden Town? What was little Dickenss first job? How much money did he receive? How did Dickens react when his mother told him to keep on working in the factory? What happened to Grip at the end of the chapter? What did Dickens and Forster do?

SECOND PART
CHAPTER 5. THE BLACKING FACTORY Forster tells about the quagga, an animal they saw at London Zoo in Regents Park. What is a quagga? What was little Dickens's working time at the blackingfactory? How long did it take him to arrive at work? How old was Dickens when he started working in the factory?
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Who was Quinion? Where was the blacking factory located? Did any other children work in the factory? Who was Bob Fagin? Which novel did Dickens use the name of Bob Fagin in? In which character? Why? What did his job at the factory consist of? Describe the blacking factory. Which character from Dickenss novels had a job similar to his at the factory? Where? Which of his novels was his favourite? What did the children who work at the factory think about Dickens? What did the men who work at the factory think about Dickens?

CHAPTER 6. MARSHALSEA DEBTOR'S PRISON What did Marshalsea Prison look like? Who was Captain Hopkins? Where did the family Dickens move to after leaving the house in Camden Town? Which club did John Dickens create in prison? What petition did they make? How was John Dickens able to be released from prison? Did little Dickens stop working in the factory immediately? How did his parents react when he told them he wanted to leave the job in the factory and attend school? CHAPTER 7. THE LAST VISIT How did Grip react when Dickenss ghost took longer to arrive? What novel was Dickens writing before dying? When did Dickens visit Forster for the last time? How did Dickens feel when he visited his childhood? Where did he go to school after working in the factory? Did his personality change? In what sense? Where did he work after leaving school? How was his first experience as a reporter? Where did he work? Who was the first girl he fell in love with? What was she like? Could the Dickens family overcome their economic difficulties? Where was his first story published? What was its title? What was Dickenss pseudonym? Why? Who was Dickens married to? What anecdote did Forster tell about a little girl at Christmas after Dickenss death?
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Did Dickens like the place where he had been buried? What place would he have preferred? How did Dickens say goodbye to Forster? Why? What happened to Grip?

THIRD PART
CHAPTER 8. THE FIRST MEETING How and when did John Forster and Charles Dickens meet? Dickens tells Tiny Tim that he has a disease, what disease is it? What does Dickens do to entertain the boy? Why does Dickens thank Forster? What is the book Dickens achieved great success with? What kind of book is it? In the first meeting between Dickens and Forster, what do they talk about? What does Dickens tell about his sister in law? What did Dickens think of poorhouses and how were people treated there? What did Dickens look like when he and Forster met? And what was he like? CHAPTER 9. MY BEST FRIEND After the first meeting between Dickens and Forster, when do they meet again? Why does it take so long to see each other again? What does Dickens himself think of the pseudonym he signs with? Explain in a few words. Why does Dickens stop writing for the first time? In which book does Dickens remember the young Mary? How does Forster know that he is Dickenss best friend? Why and what does Dickens request Forsters enquiry, as he is a lawyer? How does Forster become Dickenss literary agent? After a great mental effort, how did Dickens rest? How and when does Dickens find Grip? How many children did the writer have at that time? Is Forster himself as a Dickenss character? In which book and how? CHAPTER 10. THE FAREWELL By the late 1850s, how was the life of Charles Dickens? What idea Dickens thinks that can make him earn more money? What does his great friend Forster think about this idea? Why did not Dickens get to test as an actor at Covent Garden?
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What was the first tour of Dickens? What does Dickens write shorter versions of his works for? Who helps him to do it? When he was writing Our Mutual Friend, something happens to Dickens and he will never recover completely, what happened? What does Dickens decide to do in 1867 and where? When did Dickens read Christmas Carol for the last time? What was the last book Dickens was working on? The mysterious address: 30, Hungerford Stairs, Strand, where does it belong to?

(Translation by Isabel Montesinos Pea, Carmen M Garca Rojo and M Begoa Garca Quints.)