👻 A Christmas Carol

Question 1

What is your model introduction?

Answer 1

Charles Dickens’ novella ‘A Christmas Carol’ centres on the themes of redemption, generosity and change. It was written during the Victorian Era in the midst of the Industrial Revolution when the divide between rich and poor was immense. As a child, Dickens himself worked in a factory and so he wrote the novella as a political diatribe to critique the social injustices and wealth distribution of Victorian society, to express the struggles of the poor and to encourage readers to strive for a more socially responsible society. Therefore, in order to achieve this, he utilises the at first avaricious protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge as a vehicle to illuminate and convey (link to Q).

Question 2

What structure are you using?

Answer 2

P1- Intro

P2- ‘solitary as an oyster’ and ‘cold, bleak biting weather’ (stave one)

P3- ‘Are there no prisons?… Are there no workhouses?’ and ‘decrease the surplus population’ link to Thomas Malthus (stave one)

P4- ‘A solitary child, neglected by his friends’ and ‘another Idol has displaced me’ (stave two)

P5- ‘I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.’ and ‘as light as a feather’ and ‘as happy as an angel’ (stave five)

P6- (if you have time) conclusion, metamorphasis, ‘fluttering’

Question 3

Analyse ‘solitary as an oyster’

and ‘cold, bleak biting weather’

What Stave are they from?

Answer 3

‘solitary as an oyster’

Enhances his isolation and distance he keeps from society. Oysters have hard protective shells which implies Scrooge is misanthropic, difficult to reach and does not open up emotionally. Alternatively, oysters also can contain a pearl which could foreshadow Scrooges change and represents Christmas spirit. Oysters form pearls due to pressure and stress in the sea this could be symbolic of the hardships that Scrooge has been through as a child.

‘cold, bleak biting weather’

The pathetic fallacy mimics Scrooge’s cold demeanour and attitude towards others. The plosive of ‘bleak biting’ creates a dithering sound reflecting how harsh and cold both the climate and Scrooge are. The verb ‘biting’ can mimic the hostility between the social classes.

(Stave one)

Question 4

Analyse ‘Are there no prisons?… Are there no workhouses?’

and ‘decrease the surplus population’

What Stave are they from?

Answer 4

‘Are there no prisons?… Are there no workhouses?’

This rhetorical question underscores Scrooge’s lack of compassion for the poor, indicating his belief that the poor should be confined to institutions rather than helped. Scrooge’s unpopular, Malthusian views alienate him from society.

‘decrease the surplus population’

Expresses Scrooge’s Malthusian views, which Dickens disagreed with, on how poverty and hunger are always inevitable for some. ‘decrease’ and ‘surplus’ are mathematical, numerical terms emphasising how Scrooge views the proletariat as a worthless number problem and how emotionless he is.

(Stave one)

Question 5

Analyse ‘A solitary child, neglected by his friends’

and ‘another idol has displaced me’

What Stave are they from?

Answer 5

‘A solitary child, neglected by his friends’

The adjective ‘solitary’ links back to Stave one where the current Scrooge is being described as ‘solitary as an oyster’ and shows how the older Scrooge is self inflicting his isolation where as the younger Scrooge is being isolated by others such as his father. This proves that his isolation has always been prevalent yet we know he was ‘neglected’ at a younger age which causes readers to feel empathy towards Scrooge.

‘another idol has displaced me’

It is revealed that Scrooge’s fiancée, Belle, feels replaced by Scrooge’s idolization of money.
Shows how avaricious Scrooge is because he places higher importance on money then on family and relationships.
Use of the word ‘idol’ could imply that Scrooge looks up to money and worships it- during the Victorian era it would have been considered a sin to worship anything other than God.

(Stave 2)

Question 6

What quotes are you using from Stave five to show Scrooge’s change?

+ analyse

Answer 6

‘I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future’

The accumulative effect of this triadic structure reinforces the impact that all the ghosts have had on him. The modal verb ‘will’ juxtaposes his pervious unwillingness further cementing his change.

‘light as a feather’

‘light’ links back to Stave one when Marley is weighed down by the ‘the chains I forged in life’ and shows how Scrooge’s change has allowed him to be free from this.

‘happy as an angel’

The noun ‘angel’ has heavenly connotations enhancing the fact that Scrooge is no longer a sinner. It could also link to Scrooge being Tiny Tim’s guardian angel.

Question 7

What do these 3 terms mean?

Parsimonious

Avaricious

Misanthropic

Answer 7

Parsimonious- Very unwilling to spend money or use resources. (tight fisted)

Avaricious- Having or showing an extreme greed for wealth or material gain. (greed)

Misanthropic- Having or showing a dislike of other people. (unsociable)