Context

Question 1

Poor Law Amendment Act of 1843

Answer 1

Poor relief would only be given in the workhouses but the condition of the workhouses would be made worse to deter the poor. Family would also be separated by gender and they were also forced to wear a uniform. they had to do hard labour in the workhouse.

Question 2

Dickens’ childhood

Answer 2

Dickens’ father was imprisoned when Dickens was 12 as he was in debt. Dickens had to work in blacking factory alone while his family were in prison with his father.

Question 3

Dickens’ view on education

Answer 3

Dickens saw education as a tool for social mobility which allows the children to escape from poverty. He described the ragged schools in Victorian England as ‘frightful neglect by the state’, which implied the government was not doing enough to help the poor.

Question 4

Dickens’ political message

Answer 4

Dickens wanted his middle class readers to understand the terrible condition of the poor and the need for social reform to help the poor by the government, the church and the individuals. He thinks the rich endowments of the Church should be used to support the poor and the rich should overcome their ignorance by not turning a blind eye to the poor.

Question 5

The novel was serialised

Answer 5

‘A Christmas Carol’ was serialised that each chapter would be written each week to be published in a magazine. Cliffhangers at the end of the staves were important to hook the readers to buy the next chapter of the story each week.