A Tale of Two Cities- Dicken's Literary Techniques in the First 100 Pages

• Allusion- Period based; The French Revolution and The effects that the American Revolution had on England. Dickens also alludes to the Bible. The dated allusions make identification and understanding of them more difficult. You may have to do more in-depth reading or even, possibly, research to fully understand.
• Parallelism and Dichotomy- "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." The idea of opposites is consistent throughout the novel. In the beginning, the idea of resurrection accompanies the idea of death(one would not be possible without the other). The contrast and relationship between London and Paris, and Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay.
• Imagery- Dickens shows the need for change in France in the scene where Lucie and Mr. Lorry first get to Paris, in the suburb of Saint Antoine. The people in the street drinking the spilled wine off the street, with wine stains smeared on their faces and arms, and "Blood" written on the wall in muddy red wine paints a picture for the reader of a poor, desperate community. 
• Structure- very involved and descriptive exposition provides the necessary details the reader needs in order to get a fully comprehensive picture of what's happening throughout the novel. Provides for a slow start, but necessary for understanding later events.
• Foreshadowing- fairly direct, helps the reader anticipate upcoming events, also helps to sort out the confusion of later events and make them more comprehensive. The first Saint Antoine scene, red wine spilled on the streets, "Blood" smeared on the wall in muddy red wine is an ominous sign of the blood-shed to come in upcoming events of the novel.
• Diction- Dicken's diction is very period-based (Victorian English), culturally influenced, and influence by the audience he is writing for. "Thus did the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five conduct their Greatnesses, and myriads of small creatures--the creatures of this chronicle among the rest--along the roads that lay before them."
• Syntax- Dickens uses run-on sentences which dictates a slow pace for the story. His sentence structure also adds to the confusion in the novel. His syntax is also period based. "Samples of a people that had undergone a terrible grinding and regrinding in the mill, and certainly not in the fabulous mill which ground old people young, shivered at every corner, passed in and out at every doorway, looked from every window, fluttered in every vestige of a garment that the wind shook."
• Setting- being set in two cities (London and Paris), Dickens is able to contrast the two cities as he does with his characters in order to highlight certain parts of each.
• Irony- the fact the Manette was fairly insane when Mr. Lorry and Lucie went to get him in Paris after his release from eighteen years in prison, but is, in fact, a doctor and a "distinguished" man, is very ironic.
• Symbolism- Lucie's golden hair is a symbol of everything her father, Dr. Manette, lost when he was imprisoned. It reminded him of his wife.
• Point of view- in the court-room scene, Dickens puts you in the minds of the audience in the courtroom. As the trial progresses, you discover new information as people observing would.