A Christmas Carol Flashcards
Give a summary of stave 1 in ACC.
1) Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his office on a cold Christmas Eve as his clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers because Scrooge refuses to spend money on coals for fire.
2) Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, pays his uncle a visit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. Scrooge reacts with bitterness and venom, spitting out an angry, “Bah! Humbug!” in response to Fred’s “Merry Christmas.”
3) Two men drop by and asks Scrooge to donate money to the charity but he refuses and asks them whether the “prisons are still open?” and if so, the poor should go there.
4) After returning to his apartment, he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley. Marley’s punishment for his greedy life is is spirit has been condemned to carry the chains he forged in life. It hopes to save Scrooge as Marley informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him for the next three nights before he disappears.
Give a summary of stave 2 in ACC.
1) Scrooge meets the ghost of Christmas Past. It symbolises memory, which Scrooge must relive to reconnect with his former innocent self. He cries for himself and the reader feels sympathy and begins to understand how he came to be evil.
2) First step of salvation takes place when Scrooge regrets not giving money to a child who sung him a Christmas carol then he see his little sister, Little Fan, as we learn that she dies leading to Scrooge feeling guilty about Fred.
3) Scrooge watches Fezziwig throw a party for his workers and he is seen to enjoy himself and realise that living a solitary life is harmful and being disconnected from people doesn’t make life better.
4) Scrooge watches the break up of his engagement with Belle.
5) Scrooge realises that he hasn’t made friend friend since Marley and the ghost disappears.
Give a summary of stave 3.
1) Scrooge meets the ghost of Christmas Present. he symbolises generosity and goodwill. He sits on a throne of food and wears a scabbard with no sword symbolising peace. The ghost shows other people’s Christmas and focuses on the poor as they “need most”.
2) The Cratchit family offer the reader an idealised version of Christmas for the poor as they wear “ribbons” to celebrate and work together to make their Christmas dinner. They toast Scrooge even though he underpays Bob and treats him poorly.
3) At Fred’s, everyone enjoys themselves as he represents the middle class. They make fun of Scrooge and his behaviour and Fred says that his wealth is of no use as he “doesn’t do anything with it”.
4) The ghost shows Scrooge how ignorance and want is a problem in society which horrifies Scrooge as he asks if they can be helped but the ghost uses his own words to shame him: “Are they no prisons? Are there no workhouses?” then it dies.
What is the historical context of ACC?
> Dickens was a social commentator ad sued his stories to highlight problems and misery in living in poverty.
industrialisation caused rapid population growth in towns and cities causing poor housing conditions, the exploiting of cheap labour and spread of infectious diseases.
due to the lack of healthcare, infant mortality rates were high.
children from poor families didn’t go school and had to go to work to earn money for their families.
children from rich families were taught at home by a governess till the age of 10. Boys went ahead to private boarding school whereas girls carried on their education at home due to the lack to girls schools at the time.
if someone was unable to pay back debt and didn’t work in a workhouse, they would end up in a debtors’ prison. Dickens father was sen to such prison when Charles was 12.
What are some key quotations from stave 1?
> ”..solitary as an oyster.”
“Bah! Humbug!”
“If they would rather dies,… they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
What are the themes of ACC?
> poverty. > wealth and greed. > christmas. > social criticism. > isolation. > redemption.
What is a quote represent poverty?
“the clerk’s fire was so small it looked like one coal”
What quotes represent wealth and greed?
> “made of cat-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel”
“his wealth is no good to him. He doesn’t do any good with it”
What quotes represent Christmas?
> “a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time”
“a merry christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us”
