Christmas Spirit

Question 1

‘Old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, to which no steel had ever struck out generous fire’

Answer 1

• ‘covetous old sinner’ —> ‘covetous’ —> adjective indicate his greed. This links to the seven deadly sins portraying Scrooge as immoral in the Christian faith. This links to noun ‘sinner’ —> where it is used as a derogetory term. —> Dicken wrote in Victorian England where the country was predominantly Christian and religious. In the Christian faith, the idea of ‘sinning’ was held in high disrespect,—> as a result, dickens uses It to create horror from the readership towards Scrooge’s immoral nature and greed.
• ‘hard and sharp’ —> similie portrays Scrooge as being tough and unforgiving in his character portraying his initial lack of Christmas spirit and emotional warmth.
• ‘Never struck out generous fire’ —> adverb ‘never’ —> portrays an absence of generosity all throughout Scrooge’s life. Also, in the metaphor of ‘fire’ —> can refer to the motif of Christmas spirit and generosity where a lack of ‘fire’ —> contributes to his lack of Christmas spirit.

Question 2

‘I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry’

Answer 2

• ‘don’t make myself merry at Christmas’ —> indicates his lack of Christmas spirit and Joue de vivre. This portrays his lack of care and a lack of a celebratory attitude. This changes as the novella progresses.
• ‘cant’ afford to make idle people merry’ —> ‘cant’ —> modal verb ‘can’ within contraction ‘can’t’, indicates a sense of conviction in Scrooge’s belief that he cannot provide for the poor. This is ironic since he has the funds to provide for the lower classes, however, he chooses not to. This indicates the lack of empathy that he has.
• ‘idle’ —> adjective —> can be derogetory since ‘idle’ connotes to someone who is lazy and lethargic. This aims to ridicule the lower class for their poverty suggesting that it is self-imposed and due to their lack of commitment to work. This indicates a lack of sympathy for the plight of the poor. In this, he embodies the upper class in their apathetic manner towards lower class.
• ‘support the establishments’ —> refers to the ‘union workhouses’ and the ‘poor laws’. This in the Victorian Era refers to establishments which exploited poorer classes by giving them low quality conditions in exchange for gruelling and inhumane work. This reinforces Scrooge’s apathetic nature towards the lower class and how he is devoid of any emotions at the start due to his belief in this system.

Question 3

‘The trial in homage to Christmas, and I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A merry Christmas, uncle!’

Answer 3

• ‘I have made the trial’ —> noun —> ‘trial’ —> refers to his attempt to try and convince Scrooge. In this, he is perceived as a kind and encouraging character since he wants to help others celebrate and enjoy. This portrays him as philanthropic —> juxtaposes Scrooge’s ‘misanthropic’ character.
• ‘homage to Christmas’ —> noun —> ‘homage’ refers to an act of respect and honour. In this, it demonstrates the value that Fred places on Christmas since he is deliberately kind and joyful due or the season. —> Christmas spirit.
• ‘Christmas’ —> repetition of if shows how engulfed he is by Christmas spirit and the extent of his festive outlook.

Question 4

‘Hilli-ho!’ Cried old Fezziwig, skipping down, from the high desk with wonderful agility. ‘Clear away, my lads, and let’s have lots of room here! Hilli-ho, Dick! Chirrup Ebenezer!’

Answer 4

• ‘Hilli-ho’ —> use of onomatopoeia shows his joy and excitement when providing happiness to others. This shows his energetic and selfless nature.
• ‘Old’ —> use of the adjective can evoke imagery of being frail and sluggish, however, the adjective ‘agility’ and kinaesthetic verb ‘skipping’ portrays him as energetic. This can insinuate that Fezziwig’s spirited attitude makes him appear energetic and youthful.
• ‘!’ —> use of exclamatory sentences shows his joy when providing for others hence contributing to his portrayal as showing liberality.
• This juxtaposes the description of Scrooge being ‘old’ where Scrooge’s ‘cold within him froze his old features’ portraying him as sluggish from a lack of warmth.

Question 5

‘He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil.’

Answer 5

• ‘happy or unhappy’, ‘light or burdensome’ and ‘pleasure of a toil’ —> uses strong antithesis between positives and negatives to demonstrate how the Christmas spirit of others can be very impactful and beneficial.

Question 6

‘Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, we’re turkeys, geese, game, poultry…delicious’

Answer 6

• ‘heaped up on the floor to form a kind of throne’ —> verb ‘heaped’ —> introduces a sense of abundance implying that the food is in excess and is piled up. Also, in the noun ‘throne’ —> evokes regal imagery implying a sense of lavishness surrounding the presence of the ghost of Christmas spirit. This shows that generosity is associated with goodwill.
• ‘turkeys…sausages’ —> use of asyndetic listing reiterates to what extent there is a plethora of food. This shows the gastronomical delight associated to the generosity of the ghost of Christmas present. This creates a sense of joy in the description of excessive liberality.

Question 7

‘Dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap’

Answer 7

• ‘poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave’ —> adverb —> ‘poorly’ implies their low amount of wealth and humble position within society (working class). However, —> ‘brave’ —> shows their admirable nature as they do not fear for others opinions.
• ‘twice-turned gown’ and ‘cheap’ —> both of these allude to the families poverty since they can only afford ‘cheap’ items. Dickens repeats references to poverty to perhaps evoke sympathy for their condition. However, in ‘twice-turned’ it refers to a gown which has been made over twice. This shows her resourceful nature and perseverance despite her poverty. Want to continue with Christmas spirit.
• ‘brave in ribbons, which are cheap’ —> adjective —> ‘brave’ —> in this context, it can refer to her vibrant clothing —> this shows their resourceful since despite their lack of items, she is still resourceful allowing her to be festive and vibrant.

Question 8

‘How the ghost exulted! How it bared its breadth of breast, and opened its capacious palm, and floated on, outpouring with a generous hand’…‘glorious torch’

Answer 8

• ‘blessings upon it’ —> plural noun —> ‘blessings’ —> illustrates the spirits kindness and joy as the ghost is favourable and kind to the Lower class despite their poor conditions. This shows to Scrooge that he can still he kind and friendly to others poorer than him despite his wealth. This shows how the ghost does not believe in social divides and his Christmas spirit remains constants and unbiased. Also, it creates celestial imagery of divine presence reinforcing the spirits presence as supernatural.
• ‘exulted!’ —> verb —> connotes to rejoicing and being elated. This shows the ghosts strong Christmas spirit and joy despite the poor conditions that him and Scrooge are in. Also, ‘exulted’ juxtaposes Scrooge im his ‘misanthropic’ nature since the spirit is philanthropic and helps provide joy for others.
• ‘capacious’, ‘generous’ —> creates a sense of abundance reinforcing the spirit’s giving nature. This aims to educate Scrooge that he does not need to be miserly and can share his wealth.

Question 9

‘It would be ungrateful not to drink his health. Here is a glass of mulled wine….Uncle Scrooge’ And ‘Mr Scrooge, the founder of the feast’

Answer 9

• ‘mulled wine’ —> context —> drink of the upper class. Portrays Fred as a foil to Scrooge since he is giving ans generous when around others unlike Scrooge’s nature.
• Fred also exhibits generosity in his emotional care and kindness towards others since his toasts to Scrooge with enthusiasm showing his generosity in emotions and forgiveness despite Scrooge’s dismissal and dislike of Fred.
• ‘Mr Scrooge, the founder of the feast’ —> similarly Bob Cratchit is portrayed as generous in his kindness since he also toasts to Scrooge showing his forgiving nature. This shows both characters care for Scrooge.

Question 10

‘It was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs…quite a baby…’Hallo!

Answer 10

• ‘a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh’ —> hyperbole —> ‘most’ —> use of hyperbole to describe his ‘laugh’ indicates to what extent he has changed from being misanthropic and lacking joy to having lots of joue de vivre. Also, the repetition of ‘laugh’ anchors the amount of Christmas spirit that he contains.
• ‘father of a long , long line of brilliant laughs!’ —> personification of ‘laugh’ in the noun ‘father’ suggests that his ‘laugh’ will lead to other displays of joy. This implies that happiness breeds more happiness. Didactic ideas.
• ‘baby’ —> creates imagery —> innocence, youth and alludes to the idea of a new beginning. This shows Scrooge’s change from being a ‘covetous old sinner’. This can show his reformation and transformation since it suggests the cycle of rebirth that Scrooge has experienced since now he has changed into becoming a new person.
• ‘Hallo! Whoop! Hallo there!’ —> consecutive exclamatory sentences and onomatopoeia —> shows his overwhelming joy as he is unable to express himself due to his extent of happiness.