Question

How does the author use details to develop a theme in the excerpt from "Hard Times"?

A. The author provides a description of a strict father and a child attending a musical show instead of studying to show that too many rules can lead children to rebel.
B. The author uses details of the behavior of two children caught by their father breaking the rules to illustrate that family members rarely understand each other.
C. The author uses details about the school attended by five siblings to confirm that children should only be taught about scientific reality when they are older.
D. The author provides a description of a traveling musical show to show that enjoying recreation is generally more important than being practical.​

Answer 1

Dickens uses descriptive details in 'Hard Times' to illustrate the theme that overly strict parenting can lead to rebellion and to criticize an education system that ignores emotional development.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Charles Dickens' Hard Times, the author uses details to develop themes and convey messages about society, particularly through the portrayal of characters and their experiences. In this novel, Dickens often depicted the struggles between human emotion and the rigid structures of society, as seen through the restrictive upbringing of children.

The excerpt that describes the strict father and child attending a musical show instead of studying uses vivid descriptive details to illustrate how too many rules can lead to rebellion, thus highlighting the theme that an overly strict approach to parenting and education can be counterproductive and lead to unintended outcomes.

Dickens' detailed narrative also serves to reflect his broader social criticism regarding the limitations of an education system that focuses solely on facts and figures without consideration for the emotional and imaginative development of children.