PREPARATION
When the poem has been read, the teacher should, before beginning the analysis, ask a few general questions, such as:
What has Dickens to do with the story related in the poem? He was the author of the book read in the camp, Old Curiosity Shop, of which "Nell" is the heroine. (A brief outline of the story, with special reference to the feelings it arouses in the reader, might be given here.)
What kind of camp is referred to in the poem? A mining camp. The last line of the second stanza suggests this.
Where is the scene laid? Apparently in California, among the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This is indicated in the first stanza.
What is the leading idea of the poem? The effect which the reading of a story by Dickens produced in a Western mining camp.
What are the main sub-topics?
1. The scene of the incident. Stanzas I-III.
2. The reading of the story. Stanzas IV-VII.
3. A lament for the death of Dickens. Stanzas VIII-X.