Read through the three Dickens pieces in the anthology ('On Duty with Inspector Field', 'Poor Mercantile Jack'
and 'The Ruffian'). And then,
(a) Select one of the following articles to read alongside those three, and note any interesting points of
comparison/contrast.
'The modern science of thief taking' (1850)
'A detective police party' (1850)
'Down with the Tide' (1853)
'A small star in the east' (1868)
'On an amateur beat' (1869)
(b) Select at least one of our other writers from the module (Milton, Defoe, Swift, Johnson, Hazlitt, Thackeray,
Russell) and draw some comparisons between Dickens' pieces and theirs (pay attention to things like
language, style, subject matter, thematic, etc. and of course that crucial literary journalism angle, and whether it
is shared or juxtaposed).
Sample Solution