A Christmas Carol

A
CHRISTMAS
CAROL
A Christmas Carol is the text that you’re studying for section
Literature Paper 1, section B (19th- century novel).
The Paper:
You will be given an extract from A Christmas Carol and

you will be required to write in detail about the extract
from the novel and then the novel as a whole.
How you’re
assessed.
T O R A I I C V N
What’s the hidden word?

T O R A I I C V N
What’s the hidden word?

CLUE: It’s the era that the novel was written.
V I C T O R I A N
The novel was written in the Victorian Era.

What do you know about this time period?
The BIG What was life like in
Question: Victorian England?
Keywords: Context, Social, Historical, Malthusian.
Why does it matter what life was like?
• In your essay you have to talk about either the

setting of, or the characters in, the book.
• You will need to understand what life in London
and England was like at the time Charles Dickens
wrote the book.
• You will also need to know about how well the
book uses techniques from Gothic writing.
Charles Dickens
• Born in 1812.
• His father was imprisoned
for debt.
• Dickens was very
passionate about the poor.
• He was a lower middle
class boy, he worked in a
factory when his family
needed extra money.
Life in Victorian England
• At this time the gap between poor and rich was much,
much bigger than it is today.
• The contrast between those who were rich and poor
was shocking.
• Those who were poor lived in
squalor, deprivation, dirt and
misery.
• They barely had enough money or
food to survive.
• Child mortality was very high.
• There was no healthcare. If you got
ill, and could not work, your whole
family was at risk of death.
• The workhouse was the only option
for many families, where at least
they would be fed and housed.
• However, at the workhouse, families
were split up, and often conditions
• Those who were rich lived in
the exact opposite way.
• They had enormous houses,
luxury clothes and servants.
• The rich people in Victorian
England (most of them,
anyway) took little interest
in helping the poor.
• They felt that poverty was
their fault, or a punishment,
or something that could be
avoided.
Working Class Life in Victorian London
•In the nineteenth century there were developments in technology that

meant many people stopped working on the land and instead moved to towns
and cities to work in factories.
•This meant cities were overcrowded and the working classes may have had
up to thirty people living in one room.
•Children as young as three worked in factories.
•Those who could not cope were forced to join workhouses.
•Three out of every 20 babies die before their first birthday.
•Life expectancy is about 40 years.
Workhouses
• Workhouses were the only places where people who were
too poor to survive could get help.
• Conditions in the Workhouse were made deliberately harsh
in order to discourage people from having to go there.
Workhouses
• Workhouses varied in size. The
smallest housed only 50 people, while
the largest housed several thousand.
• They were self contained
communities.
• Apart from the basic rooms such as a
dining-hall for eating, day-rooms for
the elderly, and dormitories for
sleeping, workhouses often had their
own bakery, laundry, tailors and
shoe-maker's, vegetable gardens and
orchards, and even a piggery for
rearing pigs.
Entering the Workhouse
Entry to the workhouses was voluntary, but it was certainly the last choice for
people. People ended-up in the workhouse for a variety of reasons.
•Usually, it was because they were too poor, old or ill to support themselves. This may
have resulted from such things as a lack of work during periods of high unemployment,
or someone having no family willing or able to provide care for them when they
became elderly or sick.
•Unmarried pregnant women were often disowned by their families and the workhouse
was the only place they could go during and after the birth of their child.
•Prior to the establishment of public mental asylums in the mid-nineteenth century
(and in some cases even after that), the mentally ill and mentally handicapped poor
were often consigned to the workhouse.
The Women’s Yard
The Dining Hall
The Daily Routine
The daily routine for workhouse inmates prescribed by the Poor
Law Commissioners in 1835 was as follows:
Hour of Interval for Time for Interval for Time for Interval for Time for
Rising. Breakfast. setting to Dinner. leaving off Supper. going to Bed.
Work. Work
25 March to 6 o'clock. From ½ past 6 7 o'clock. From 12 to 1. 6 o'clock. 6 to 7. 8.
29 Sept to 7.
29 Sept to 25 7 o'clock. From ½ past 7 8 o'clock. From 12 to 1. 6 o'clock. 6 to 7. 8.

March to 8.
Workhouse inmates — at least those who were capable of it — were given a variety of
work to perform, much of which was involved in running the workhouse. The women mostly
did domestic jobs such as cleaning, or helping in the kitchen or laundry. Some workhouses
had workshops for sewing, spinning and weaving or other local trades. Others had their
own vegetable gardens where the inmates worked to provide food for the workhouse.
Workhouse Food
More often than not, meals followed a weekly rota, with meat featuring on only a limited
number of "meat days".
The weekly menu at Hertford in 1729 comprised:
Breakfast Dinner Supper

Sunday Bread & Cheese Meat Broth
Monday Broth Pease-Porridge Bread and Cheese
Tuesday Bread & Cheese Hasty-Pudding Bread and Cheese
Wednesday Bread & Cheese Meat Broth
Thursday Broth Frumety Bread and Cheese
Friday Bread & Cheese Ox-Head Broth
Saturday Broth Hasty-Pudding Bread and Cheese
N. B.. None are Stinted as to Quantity, but all eat till they are satisfy'd.
Pease-Porridge
•A baked vegetable product, which mainly consists of split yellow or Carlin peas, water, salt, and
spices, often cooked with a bacon or ham joint.
Hasty-Pudding
•A pudding or porridge of grains cooked in milk or water.
Frumety
•A dish consisting of wheat, milk, sugar, and spices.
Broth
•Meat liquor, 1 pint; barley, 2 oz; leeks or onions, 1 oz; parsley and seasoning.
Gruel
•Oatmeal, 2 oz; treacle, ½ oz; salt and sometimes allspice; water.
Thomas Malthus
• In his book, The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus (13 February
1766 – 23 December 1834) observed that an increase in a nation's food
production improved the well-being of the nation’s people, but the
improvement was temporary because it led to population growth.
• In the past, populations grew until the lower classes suffered hardship
and want. At this point, they became vulnerable to famine and disease –
and often died.
• Malthus thought we would never have a truly perfect (or utopian)

society, because every time we came close to providing a great
standard of life for everyone, the population grew and the process had
to start again.
• This idea became known as the Malthusian controversy.
• For our purposes, it’s important to see the big influence it had on
Charles Dickens.
How does the story link to
money?
Think about what Dickens might have been
trying to say about social injustice.
To summarise…
• Dickens felt very strongly about the gap
between rich and poor.
• He wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ to try and highlight
the difference, and make people think
differently about their actions.
• Why do you think he chose to set his book at
Christmas time? What does Christmas mean in
our society?
The BIG What kind of story is A
Question: Christmas Carol?
Keywords: Genre, Gothic, Staves .
• Why is the novella divided

into staves rather than
chapters?
• In pairs, discuss why Charles
Dickens chose this title?
How is the story structured?
Dickens’s five staves provide the structure of his
novella, like five verses of a song (carol) or five stanzas
of a poem.
A Christmas Carol follows a three-act structure,

consisting of:
The inciting incident – the visit of Marley’s Ghost

The climax – Scrooge’s sight of his own grave
The resolution – Scrooge’s reformation
Gothic Techniques
• Gothic fiction combines General features to look for…
features of horror and
romance. The key features are: Mystery, the supernatural, ghosts,
haunted houses, castles, darkness,
death, madness, secrets.
1. Extreme emotion
2. Fear General characters to look for…
3. Awe and fear of religion

Tyrants, villains, maniacs, heroes,
and/or the supernatural persecuted women, magicians, demons,
4. Very strong atmosphere angels, ghosts.
Victorian Gothic
• Before Victorian times the setting for Gothic novels was generally a
castle, or somewhere in the countryside that was dark, creepy and
lonely.
• In the Victorian times it became popular to place Gothic novels in an

urban setting, particularly in London.
• ….and one to bear in mind when reading ‘A Christmas Carol’, is the

idea of sins having the power to curse and affect you or your family
in the future.
What Charles Dickens did…
• Compared and contrasted the big difference

between rich and poor.
• Showed wealthy society as being pleasant,
ordered and extravagant.
• Contrasted this by presenting poor society as
disordered, barbaric and unhappy.
The BIG Can I analyse the opening of
Question: A Christmas Carol?
Keywords: Colon, repeat, repetition.
WHAT DO WE
ASSOCIATE WITH
CHRISTMAS?
What do you already know about this
text?
Characters & the way

they’re presented Plot
So what’s up with this opening line?
arley was dead: to begin with. There is no

doubt whatever about that. The register of
his burial was signed by the clergyman, the
clerk, the undertaker, and the chief
mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's
name was good upon 'Change, for anything he
chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as
dead as a door-nail.
What is the effect What is suggested by
of the colon in the ‘emphatically’
opening sentence? repeating something?
What is the effect of the use of repetition
here?
Read Stave 1
Fred
1. How does Dickens develop and use this
character? Is he rounded or two
dimensional?
You may wish to consider:
• his description;
• what he says/ his views of life;
• how and why Dickens uses mirroring
language between the Scrooge and
Fred.
2. Where do Dickens’s sympathies lie?
How do you know?
Jacob Marley
1. Why was it important to establish that Marley was
dead at the start of the novel?
2. How does Dickens use Marley to tell us about the
inequalities of Victorian England?
3. How does Marley change the

tone of the novel to one of
horror?
4. How do Marley’s vocabulary
choices add weight to his
message?
Dickens’ Style
Find evidence of and explain why Dickens employs the following:
1. Humour.
2. Direct address to the reader/ switches to 1st person narrative.
3. The link between appearance and personality.
4. The creation of atmosphere through the creation of imagery,
adjective choice, pathetic fallacy and the use of sound.
5. Use of contrast.
6. The use of lists.
The Poor and Surplus Population
1. How are the working conditions of Bob

Cratchitt described?
2. Why does Dickens include the Portly
Gentlemen?
3. What do the Portly Gentlemen and their
conversation with Scrooge tell us about
Victorian society?
4. How is the image of Victorian society
reinforced at the end of the stave?
The BIG Can I form an opinion of
Question: Scrooge?
Keywords: Emotion, Feeling, Personality, Sympathy, Redemption
What do we already think

about Scrooge?
• Emotional words Is it possible to feel any

• Feeling (physical words) sympathy for Scrooge at
the end of the first
• Personality words stave? Does he have any
• Temperature words redeeming features?
Tight fisted Hard and sharp as flint
Squeezing No generous fire
Wrenching
Grasping
Action and doing
Emotional words
words
Scrooge
Temperature Weather
Cold within him
No warmth could warmth No falling snow was more intent
He iced his office No pelting rain
Blue lips
Stave 1 What impression do you have of
Scrooge from Stave 1?
IMPRESSIO EVIDENCE COMMENT / EFFECT
N
Disliked “a squeezing, wrenching, The use of list here infers that Scrooge has many
grasping, scraping, negative qualities. The verb “squeezing” implies that …
clutching, covetous, old
sinner!”
The BIG Can I analyse an extract?
Question:
Keywords: Palpable, ruddy, morose.
There are two sections to the question that
you will be asked to answer on the text.
• The extract.
• The whole text.
EXAMPLE EXTRACT QUESTION:

Explore how Dickens presents
the setting in the extract.
TASK:
5 MINUTES – you
and your partner need
to annotate (highlight
and comment) your
extract looking at the
presentation of the
setting.
Before we feedback, explore some of
these questions to see if you can
develop your annotations further.
It starts ‘once upon a time’ – what do you feel is

the effect of this?
Does the mood change throughout the extract?

‘cold, bleak, biting weather’ - what does the use of
triplet suggest here?
It’s 3 in the afternoon & dark – what image do you

think this is trying to evoke?
‘The fog came pouring in’ – what word do you feel is

significant? What do you think it is trying to
suggest?
How is the fire described?
How is Scrooge’s nephew greeted?

Your annotations might end up looking something like this –
Using your annotations you are to
key words and phrases highlighted and then some comments
answer the following question:
in your own words.
Explore how
Dickens presents
the setting in the
extract.
“One major problem with ‘A Christmas Carol’ is that Scrooge

relents too quickly: even after seeing Marley’s ghost the
transformation has begun…” – Do you agree?
We’re going to look at some of your work under the visualiser.
You need to decide (and explain) which level you think this work is in.
Skill Achieved
A – Acknowledge a strength in the Convincing statement that answers the question
(AO1)
paragraph Relevant quotation that links to the question
___________________________________ (AO1)
_________________ Confident and perceptive explanation of what
the quotation shows (AO2)
I – Set an improvement task Uses the correct terminology for specific

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
Analyses more than one meaning/connotation of
_________________ words/clauses/methods (AO2)
Explores the effect on reader
R – Respond to your partner’s Evaluates how the word(s) impact on how the
reader sees the character (AO2)
improvement task in your book in green Challenge: Makes an appropriate link between
pen. the character and the social/cultural context
(AO3)
Assess your Partner’s Work

The BIG Can I explore characterisation
Question: through an extract?
Keywords: Destitute, workhouses.
How do you think it was
different for someone who
was homeless in the
Victorian era?
“At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman,
taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make How does Dickens present the
some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at
the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries;
hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”
character of Scrooge here?
“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.
“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in
operation?”
“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were While you’re annotating your extract
not.”
“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said you may wish to think about the
Scrooge.
“Both very busy, sir.” following:
“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had
occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very
glad to hear it.”
“Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of • What is Scrooge’s attitude towards the
mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us
are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink poor?
and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all
others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I
put you down for?”
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied. • How does Scrooge treat the man who is
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, collecting for the poor?
gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas
and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the
establishments I have mentioned – they cost enough; and those who are
badly off must go there.” • What evidence would you select to
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and show Scrooge’s heartless nature?
decrease the surplus population. Besides – excuse me – I don’t know
that.”
“At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman,
taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make How does Dickens present the
some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at
the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries;
hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”
character of Scrooge here?
“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.
“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in While you’re annotating your extract you may
operation?”
“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were wish to think about the following:
not.”
“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said
Scrooge. • What is Scrooge’s attitude towards the poor?
“Both very busy, sir.”
“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had
occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very • How does Scrooge treat the man who is collecting
glad to hear it.” for the poor?
“Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of
mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us
are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink • What evidence would you select to show Scrooge’s
and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all
others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I heartless nature?
put you down for?”
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, Using your annotations you are to answer
gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas
and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the this question. Think about everything we
establishments I have mentioned – they cost enough; and those who are
badly off must go there.” discussed when we looked at examples
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and under the visualiser and how to improve
decrease the surplus population. Besides – excuse me – I don’t know
that.” our responses further.
This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an
hour. The bells ceased as they had begun, together. They were
succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below; as if some person
What words and phrases
were do you think help build
dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine merchant’s cellar.
Scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted tension?
houses
were described as dragging chains.
The cellar-door flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard
the
noise much louder, on the floors below; then coming up the stairs;
then
coming straight towards his door. How is punctuation used to
“It’s humbug still!” said Scrooge. “I won’t believe it.”
His colour changed though, when, without a pause, it came on through help generate tension?
the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes. Upon its
coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, “I know him;
Marley’s Ghost!” and fell again.
The same face: the very same. Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat,
tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail,
and
his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head. The chain he drew was Is sentence structure a
clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail;
and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes,
tool that has been used to
keys, generate tension?
padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. His body
was transparent, so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through
his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind.
STRUCTURE:
• Point  you’re going to tell me clearly how the
character is initially presented in this chapter.
• If required, you are going to give additional
information about the chapter so it makes sense,
but you are definitely not retelling the story.
• Evidence  direct from the chapter and must be
exact.
• Terminology.
• Explain  this needs to be clear, succinct yet
developed. Show me your full understanding.
• Link you’re going to make a clear link to
historical context and how the character reflects
the time the text was written.
• Link  you’re now linking to somewhere else in
the text.
• Link  select evidence that shows this.
• Link  terminology
• Link  explain. Just like your previous
explanation it needs to be clear, succinct yet
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
Skill Achieved
(AO1)
___________________________________ (AO1)

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
(AO3)

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about
that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk,
the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and
Scrooge’s
name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.
Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind!
Thinking about the

whole of stave 1, how do
you think Scrooge has
altered?
Scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by which the Ghost
had entered. It was double-locked, as he had locked it with his own
hands, and the bolts were undisturbed. He tried to say “Humbug!” but
stopped at the first syllable. And being, from the emotion he had
undergone, or the fatigues of the day, or his glimpse of the Invisible
World, or the dull conversation of the Ghost, or the lateness of the
hour, much in need of repose; went straight to bed, without
undressing,
and fell asleep upon the instant.
Stave One
1. Select three words that you are unsure of and write a definition. Use a dictionary to help you.
2. What is the simile in the second paragraph? What does it make you imagine?
3. Why does the narrator make such a point of Marley’s being dead?
4. What do Marley’s chains represent?
5. Why doesn’t the weather affect Scrooge- how does he make his ‘own cold temperature’?
6. Select a quotation that describes Scrooge- why did you choose that one?
7. Write your first impression of Scrooge in twenty words or less. Include whether you like him
or not and why.
8. How is Scrooge’s nephew so different from Scrooge?
9. What do the “portly gentlemen” who come in after Scrooge’s nephew leave want?
10. How does the door knocker change?
11. Why does Scrooge like the darkness? (just after the incident with the knocker)
12. What has Marley’s ghost been doing since his death?
13. What does Marley’s chain represent?
14. What is the warning that Marley gives Scrooge?
15. Why are the phantoms (three paragraphs from the end of the stave) upset?
The BIG Can I analyse and respond
Question: to an unseen extract?
What are the

key
steps/methods?
What could you have commented on?
Skill Achieved
(AO1)
___________________________________ (AO1)

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
(AO3)

The BIG How is Scrooge presented
Question: in the opening of Stave 2?
Keywords: Characterisation, dialogue, action.
Who is Jacob Marley?

Scrooge’s office clerk Who are the charitable
Scrooge’s current business partner gentlemen collecting for?
Scrooge’s former business partner
A Reminder Scrooge’s nephew

Ignorance and Want
Orphans and Children
Poor and Destitute
of Stave
Who is Bob Cratchit?
Scrooge’s office clerk Workhouses and Prisons
Scrooge’s current business partner
One! Scrooge’s former business partner
Scrooge’s nephew
What does Scrooge want to
decrease?

Scrooge is a solitary as an…
The surplus population
A shrew Joy in Christmas
An oyster The amount given to charity
A crab Bob Cratchit’s wages
A hermit
“solitary as an oyster”
The use of simile,
“solitary as an oyster”
suggests that Scrooge
is …
What do we learn about

Scrooge from this simile?
Scrooge is presented as a “covetous”, “tight-fisted” and isolated character.
On the surface, the simile “solitary as an oyster” suggests that he leads an isolated life and closes
himself off to others.
Yet on a deeper level, we can infer that his hard outer shell is something he has built to protect himself
and his money from others – becoming “solitary” and putting up barriers on purpose.
Dickens employs the word “oyster” to imply that deep inside Scrooge there is a pearl – something
valuable which he is holding on to and protecting in the way that an oyster buries its value deep inside
where nobody can get it.
Perhaps Dickens is foreshadowing the end of the story, when Scrooge finally gives up what he’s been
holding onto, opening himself up to the world and letting them in, as well as sharing the wealth he’s been
hoarding for so long.
Read Stave 2 – 29-46
Childhood and School
He sees boys he remembers playing happily,

but is then shown himself as a solitary and
neglected child:
‘Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to

see his poor forgotten self as he used to be’.
How would this have had an impact on

Scrooge’s life?
Scrooge as a boy
1. How are pathetic fallacy and personification used
to create the atmosphere at the start of the
scene?
2. Collect evidence that Scrooge’s harsh exterior is
cracking.
3. How is sympathy created for the young Scrooge?
Does this make the reader more sympathetic to
Scrooge the man?
4. Find evidence of Dickens’ humour.

5. Who else is said to change in this section of the stave? Why is this
significant?
Scrooge as an Apprentice
1. How do the descriptions of Fezziwig and his
family add to a sense of joy and fun? NB.
Fezziwig’s movements. How can his character
be linked to Fred?
2. What do we learn about working conditions in
this scene?
3. Find evidence that Scrooge’s character is
changing.
4. How does Dickens use Fezziwig to address
other employers? Include the contrast of
Fezziwig’s premises and those of Scrooge at
the start of the novel.
Scrooge as a Young Man
1. What do we learn about the changes in
Scrooge from his description at the
start of this section?
2. How & why does Dickens use the
language of business in Belle’s breaking
of the engagement?
3. Why include the second vision of Belle?
4. How does Scrooge react to these events
and what does his reaction suggest?
Fezziwig’s Party
How do Mr and Mrs Fezziwig treat their workers at the
TO end of the party?
CONSIDER: Where do the prentices sleep? Why does Dickens add this
detail?
How does Scrooge’s behaviour change throughout the

party?
What is the ghost’s lesson for Scrooge to learn?
Where do the themes of the Christmas spirit and poverty

appear in the party scene?
What do you think Scrooge would like to say to the clerks?

Fezziwig’s Party
How do Mr and Mrs Fezziwig treat Regardless of class, they “shake hands with every person
their workers at the end of the individually”.
party?
Where do the prentices sleep? Why The prentices sleep “under a counter” to show their lives are ruled
does Dickens add this detail? by money.
How does Scrooge’s behaviour Scrooge begins to remember and reconnect with his former happy
change throughout the party? self.
What is the ghost’s lesson for Scrooge learns that a little money can make a big difference to
Scrooge to learn? poor people.
Where do the themes of the The poor, despite their circumstances, are full of the Christmas
Christmas spirit and poverty appear spirit. Wealth and happiness are not connected.
in the party scene?
What do you think Scrooge would Scrooge is self-reflecting and would like to make amends with his
like to say to the clerks? clerk, Bob.
How do Mr and Mrs Fezziwig treat their Regardless of class, they “shake hands with every person individually”.
workers at the end of the party?
How would you

continue this
response?
Mr and Mrs Fezziwig contrast
with Scrooge due to their
warmth and kindness. At the
party they find time to “shake
hands with every person CHALLENGE: can you find an analyse a
individually”, the use of the quotation from stave 2 that shows
knowledge of characterisation?
determiner “every” suggests …
The BIG Can I analyse and respond
Question: to an unseen extract?
What are the

key
steps/methods?
What could you have commented on?
Skill Achieved
(AO1)
___________________________________ (AO1)

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
(AO3)

The BIG How does Dickens use language to
show the change in Scrooge?
Question:
Keywords: Viewpoint.
What effect have each of the

Christmas past episodes had on
Scrooge?
During the whole of this
time, Scrooge had acted like What impression do
a man out of his wits. His you gain of Scrooge
heart and soul were in the
scene, and with his former
here?
self. He corroborated Think about:
everything, remembered • What are you zooming in on?
everything, enjoyed • Are you commenting on method and
everything, and underwent terminology?
the strangest agitation.
Can I analyse and
respond to an unseen
extract?
Starting with this extract, how

does Dickens present the
impacts of greed in the novel?
Write about:
• How Dickens presents the
greed in this extract.
• How Dickens presents the
impacts of greed in the rest of
the novel.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
Skill Achieved
(AO1)
___________________________________ (AO1)

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
(AO3)

Read Stave 2 – page47
How is
Scrooge
changing
here?
How is Scrooge being presented differently in
stave 2 in comparison to stave 1?
STAVE ONE STAVE TWO

IMPRESSION OF QUOTATION IMPRESSION OF QUOTATION
SCROOGE SCROOGE
How is Scrooge being presented differently in
stave 2 in comparison to stave 1?
STAVE ONE STAVE TWO

IMPRESSION OF QUOTATION IMPRESSION OF QUOTATION
SCROOGE SCROOGE
Can you discuss with your partner how you would analyse your
quotation? Remember to incorporate language analysis in your
discussion.
The BIG Can I explore an extract and link
it to Scrooge elsewhere?
Question:
Keywords: Love, regret, remorse.
What impressions do you
have of Scrooge so far in the
novel?
What examples would you

use to support?
How does Dickens present Scrooge as an outsider here?
`Spirit.’ said Scrooge,’ show me no more. Conduct me home. Why do you delight to torture me.’
Òne shadow more.’ exclaimed the Ghost.
`No more.’ cried Scrooge. `No more, I don’t wish to see it. Show me no more.’
But the relentless Ghost pinioned him in both his arms, and forced him to observe what happened next.
They were in another scene and place; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort. Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like that last that Scrooge believed it was the same, until he
saw her, now a comely matron, sitting opposite her daughter. The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there, than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and,
unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty. The consequences were uproarious beyond belief; but no
one seemed to care; on the contrary, the mother and daughter laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much; and the latter, soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands most
ruthlessly. What would I not have given to one of them. Though I never could have been so rude, no, no. I wouldn’t for the wealth of all the world have crushed that braided hair, and torn it down; and for the
precious little shoe, I wouldn’t have plucked it off, God bless my soul. to save my life. As to measuring her waist in sport, as they did, bold young brood, I couldn’t have done it; I should have expected my arm
to have grown round it for a punishment, and never come straight again. And yet I should have dearly liked, I own, to have touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might have opened them; to have
looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes, and never raised a blush; to have let loose waves of hair, an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond price: in short, I should have liked, I do confess, to have
had the lightest licence of a child, and yet to have been man enough to know its value.
But now a knocking at the door was heard, and such a rush immediately ensued that she with laughing face and plundered dress was borne towards it the centre of a flushed and boisterous group, just in time to
greet the father, who came home attended by a man laden with Christmas toys and presents. Then the shouting and the struggling, and the onslaught that was made on the defenceless porter. The scaling him
with chairs for ladders to dive into his pockets, despoil him of brown-paper parcels, hold on tight by his cravat, hug him round his neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrepressible affection. The shouts
of wonder and delight with which the development of every package was received. The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll’s frying-pan into his mouth, and was more
than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey, glued on a wooden platter. The immense relief of finding this a false alarm. The joy, and gratitude, and ecstasy. They are all indescribable alike. It is
enough that by degrees the children and their emotions got out of the parlour, and by one stair at a time, up to the top of the house; where they went to bed, and so subsided.
And now Scrooge looked on more attentively than ever, when the master of the house, having his daughter leaning fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at his own fireside; and when he thought
that such another creature, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have called him father, and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life, his sight grew very dim indeed.
`Belle,’ said the husband, turning to his wife with a smile,’ I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon.’
`Who was it.’
`Guess.’
`How can I. Tut, don’t I know.’ she added in the same breath, laughing as he laughed. `Mr Scrooge.’
`Mr Scrooge it was. I passed his office window; and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, I could scarcely help seeing him. His partner lies upon the point of death, I hear; and there he sat alone.
Quite alone in the world, I do believe.’
`Spirit.’ said Scrooge in a broken voice,’ remove me from this place.’
Ì told you these were shadows of the things that have been,’ said the Ghost. `That they are what they are, do not blame me.’
`Remove me.’ Scrooge exclaimed,’ I cannot bear it.’
Don’t launch
into annotating
straight away.
Decide in your own words what points you would make. Jot these down.
Next start annotating based on these points you’ve made.

Stave Two
1. Select three words that you are unsure of and write a definition. Use a dictionary to
help you.
1b. What was the strangest thing about the way the spirit looked? (– sentence
beginning “but the strangest thing…)
2. What is Scrooge’s initial attitude toward the spirit?
3. What is different about Scrooge when he says “Remember it? I could walk it with a
blindfold?”
4. Who is Scrooge talking about when he says “Poor boy!”
5. What does it tell us about Scrooge when Dickens observes “a rapidity of transition
very foreign to his usual character.”?
6. When Fan comes to pick Scrooge up, we learn a reason why Scrooge may have turned
out the way he did. What is this reason?
7. What kind of people are the Fezziwigs? How do you know this?
8. Who is Belle and why was she important to Scrooge?
9. Why does Scrooge say “Remove me.”
10. How does Scrooge try to "extinguish the light"? Does he succeed? What is the light
a symbol of?
The BIG How is Scrooge changing in stave
3?
Question:
Keywords: Regret, remorse, humble, mock.
What does Scrooge come to understand after viewing the

Fezziwig scene?
Who or what is Fezziwig? How lonely he was as a young man
The local wig shop That everyone knew how to have fun except him
The name of Scrooge’s favourite The benefits of kindness
A drink The time it takes to develop strong relationships

Scrooge’s crazy uncle
Reminder Scrooge’s boss when he was younger What is the first place the ghost takes Scrooge to visit?
His grandmother’s kitchen
of Stave His first office
What bad news does Belle give
Two! Scrooge?
His boyhood schoolhouse
His college dorm room
His mother has died His first pace of work
She is calling off their engagement
She is moving away How is Scrooge able to fly out the window with the ghost?
By holding his ankle
He has lost his job
By climbing on his back
By grasping his robe
Victorian Christmas
Before Victoria's reign started in 1837,
nobody in Britain had heard of Santa
Claus or Christmas Crackers. No
Christmas cards were sent and most
people did not have holidays from work.
The wealth and technologies generated by
the industrial revolution of the Victorian
era changed the face of Christmas
forever..
Sentimental do-gooders like Charles Dickens

wrote books like "Christmas Carol", published in
1843, which actually encouraged rich Victorians to
redistribute their wealth by giving money and
gifts to the poor - Humbug! These radical middle
class ideals eventually spread to the not-quite-so- How is this information important to
poor as well. understanding A Christmas Carol?
Context: Father Christmas
Close your eyes and think of Father Christmas. What do
you see? A jolly, fat man, with rosy red cheeks, a fluffy
white beard and a red suit? Well close your eyes again and
try and imagine him with a green suit rather than red...
Difficult maybe, but that is how the British Father Christmas

should be dressed. In the 1930s a certain American soft drinks
company decided Santa should be dressed in red as part of a
marketing campaign and that has stuck.
There are many stories and legends about pagan winter
festivals which include a 'Father Christmas' type figure, all of
which have become part of the modern version. It's likely he
represented the coming of spring and wore a long green hooded
cloak and a wreath of holly, ivy or mistletoe and had the ability
to make people happier during the long winter months. Often,
he would sit near the fire and be given something to eat and
drink. By being kind to him, people thought they would receive
something good in return such as a mild winter.
Father Christmas or Santa Claus: The two are in fact
two entirely separate stories. Father Christmas was
originally part of an old English midwinter festival,
normally dressed in green, a sign of the returning
spring.
The stories of St. Nicholas (Sinter Klaas in Holland)

came via Dutch settlers to America in the 17th
Century. From the 1870's Sinter Klass became known
in Britain as Santa Claus and with him came his
unique gift and toy distribution system - reindeer and
sleigh.
How is this information important to understanding A

Christmas Carol?
What does this tell us about
“Then up rose Mrs the Cratchit family?
Cratchit dressed
out but poorly in a
twice-turned gown,
but brave in
ribbons, which are
cheap and make a
goodly show for
sixpence”
page 67
From what we’ve ready so far, what is your
opinion of the Cratchit family?
IMPRESSION EVIDENCE LANGUAGE EFFECT
(PG NO) TECHNIQUE
Can I analyse and respond to an unseen extract?
Starting with this

extract, how does
Dickens present the
Cratchit family in the
novel?
Write about
• How Dickens presents
the Cratchitt family in
this extract.
• How Dickens presents
the Cratchitt family in
the rest of the novel.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
Skill Achieved
(AO1)
___________________________________ (AO1)

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
(AO3)

1. Why might Dickens include a scene in which the Cratchit family cook their Christmas meal?
2. Why does Mrs Cratchit invite her daughter to sit down “before the fire”?
3. Why might Dickens include the image of Bob carrying his son?
4. How are the references to church important?
5. Why might Bob say that his son is “good as gold”?
6. How do the Cratchit family feel about their meal?
7. How does Scrooge react to watching this scene?
1. Why might Dickens include a scene in which the Cratchit family cook their Christmas meal?
Dickens wants to show the middle classes that the poor co-operate and show love through mutual support.
2. Why does Mrs Cratchit invite her daughter to sit down “before the fire”?
The fire represents the Cratchits’ Christmas spirit, which is strong throughout Stave Three.
3. Why might Dickens include the image of Bob carrying his son?
Bob carries the family financially, despite the heavy burden.
4. How are the references to church important?
The Cratchit family are Christians who value love & family over money.
5. Why might Bob say that his son is “good as gold”?
Bob values people according to their character, not their wealth.
6. How do the Cratchit family feel about their meal?
Dickens exaggerates the Cratchit family’s reaction to emphasise how grateful they are. Ironically, the reader
can clearly see the meal is not a “feast” and this causes sympathy.
7. How does Scrooge react to watching this scene?
Scrooge continues to grow as a person, realising that value should not be attached to money. He asks if Tiny
Tim will be “spared”, showing he is now invested in other people.
What impression
is given of
Scrooge here?
Think about:
• His actions
• What others say about him
"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will
find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus
population." How does Dickens
Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence
and grief.
present Scrooge in
"Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have
discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall
this extract?
die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions
like this poor man's child. Oh God! To hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life
among his hungry brothers in the dust."
Scrooge bent before the Ghost's rebuke, and trembling cast his eyes upon the ground. But he raised
them speedily, on hearing his own name.
"Mr Scrooge!" said Bob; "I'll give you Mr Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!"
"The Founder of the Feast indeed!" cried Mrs Cratchit, reddening. "I wish I had him here. I'd give
him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he'd have a good appetite for it."
"My dear," said Bob, "the children. Christmas Day."
"It should be Christmas Day, I am sure," said she, "on which one drinks the health of such an odious,
stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr Scrooge. You know he is, Robert. Nobody knows it better than you
do, poor fellow."
"My dear," was Bob's mild answer, "Christmas Day."
"I'll drink his health for your sake and the Day's," said Mrs Cratchit, "not for his. Long life to him.
A merry Christmas and a happy new year! -- he'll be very merry and very happy, I have no doubt!"
The children drank the toast after her. It was the first of their proceedings which had no
heartiness. Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care twopence for it. Scrooge was the Ogre
of the family. The mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for
full five minutes.
Initially Scrooge appears to be
remorseful for his actions, the Ghost
repeats a phrase that Scrooge used
earlier within the text and now that
Scrooge is beginning to change he
seems embarrassed by his previous
lack of empathy. Scrooge was
“overcome” with emotion; this verb is
suggesting that his “grief” was
overwhelming to him.
A01
A02
A03
TASK:
You are to write 2 more paragraphs answering the question: How does Dickens present Scrooge in this
extract?
You need to ensure that you are extracting evidence and commenting on the effect.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
Skill Achieved
(AO1)
___________________________________ (AO1)

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
(AO3)

How are the families being presented differently?

What do you think these
children are symbolising?
Do you think the Ghost of

Christmas Present is
supposed to represent
Father Christmas? Find as
many links as you can…
The two children are allegories of two social
problems: Ignorance and Want.
Ignorance: People like Scrooge, who ignore the

problems of the poor, create enormous social
problems. They create children like this.
Want: because the population has ‘boomed’ in

Victorian times, many people ‘want for’ (go
without) the basic necessities such as food and
shelter. Combined with the ignorance of the
rich, this creates massive social problems. It
creates children like this.
These children will grow into adults who live a

life of crime, causing bigger problems and
creating a cycle.
IGNORANCE AND WANT SHEET
The change in Scrooge
How does Dickens show Scrooge beginning to
regret his behaviour and to change his
attitude in:
• His reaction to his own words quoted by

the Ghost
• His attitude to the Cratchit family
• His behaviour at Fred’s house
• His reaction to the two children under
the Ghost’s cloak?
Stave Three
1. Select three words that you are unsure of and write a definition. Use a dictionary to help you.
2. How is what Scrooge is thinking as he lies in bed waiting to see if the spirit appears different
from the previous chapter?
3. What does the spirit look like?
4. What is this ghost’s personality like?
5. How has Scrooge’s attitude toward his being escorted by a ghost changed? What is the point
of the long description beginning The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows
blacker and continuing on for several pages through paragraph which begins, “But soon the
steeples called good people all, to church and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the
streets in their best clothes, and with their gayest faces.”
6. What are three significant things we learn about the Cratchits?
7. How is Scrooge affected by seeing the family?
8. What does the Spirit mean when he says But they Know me. See!” about the miners? What is
the point of going to the lighthouse ? to the ship
9. What is the great surprise to Scrooge in the next paragraph?
10. What would Fred think would be a positive outcome of his Christmas invitation to Scrooge?
What happens to Scrooge’s mood as the party goes on? Why do you think this happens?
11. Describe the game called “Yes and No” Scrooge witnesses at his nephews Christmas party.
12. What does it mean to say the boy and the girl (Ignorance and Want – the last paragraphs of
the stave) are “Man’s children?
The BIG What themes have been
presented so far in the novel?
Question:
Keywords: Themes,
POVERTY CHRISTMAS ISOLATION
SOCIETY What themes do you think are being GREED/

presented in A Christmas Carol? MONEY
THE
RESPONSIBILI IMPORTANCE THE MEANING
TY OF FAMILY OF
CHRISTMAS
FIVE MINUTES: on your tables, what examples / evidence can you find to support?
Let’s explore them in detail
Quotation Theme Explanation

Dickens’ initial description of
Scrooge sets him out as solitary.
He is cold and hard and this
“secret, and self-contained, and characterisation is created by
Isolation
solitary as an oyster” the simile. Scrooge is empty of

love, family and a sense of

(page 1) community. He must come out of
his “oyster” shell and learn to
engage others by embracing the
Christmas spirit.

“What Idol has displaced you?”

“A golden one.”

(page 22)

“A merry Christmas, uncle! God
save you!”

(page 2)

…but he was a tight- He is cold and hard and this
fisted hand
“secret, at the and
and self-contained, characterisation is created by
Isolation
grindstone
solitary as an oyster”

the simile. Scrooge is empty of

Christmas spirit.
No beggars implored
him to Idol
“What bestow a you?”
has displaced

trifle…
“A golden one.”

(page 22)

What right have you

got to be merry?
“A merry Christmas, uncle! God
save you!”

(page 2)

He poked the fire, He is cold and hard and this
and extinguished
“secret, theand
and self-contained, characterisation is created by
Isolation
last frail spark
solitary as an oyster”

the simile. Scrooge is empty of
forever.
‘Let me hear another Christmas spirit.
sound from you…
“What Idol has displaced you?”
and you’ll keep

Christmas by one.”
“A golden losing

your situation!’

(page 22)

I want nothing from
you; I ask
“A merry nothing
Christmas, ofGod
uncle!
you; whysave cannot
you!” we

be friends?
(page 2)
Poverty
Dickens was deeply concerned by the plight of the poor and so used Scrooge to
exemplify the callous attitude of the more affluent to the poor.
USEFUL EXAMPLES:
• How he speaks to the charity collectors.
TASK:
• Bob Cratchit symbolises the typically
exploited worker at the mercy of his Find quotations that link to the
tyrannical employer. He does not complain
about their situation as this would seem
theme of poverty and would help to
ungrateful. support a discussion regarding one
• Infant morality rate among poor Victorians of these areas of poverty.
was high and so Tiny Tim represents the CHALLENGE: Can you start to pick apart these
potential fate of many sick children living in quotations?
poverty. Scrooge realises his thoughtless
words about the poor when he watches the
Cratchits.
• Ignorance and Want.
Skill Achieved
(AO1)
___________________________________ (AO1)

___________________________________ methods (AO2)
(AO3)

The BIG How is Scrooge presented in
Stave 4?
Question:
Keywords: Regret, remorse, hopeful.

How is the Ghost of Christmas Present represented?
a) A jolly giant
b) A silent phantom
A c) A small glowing man
d) An invisible spirit
Reminder
Who are the children under the Ghost of Christmas Present’s coat?
e) Poor and Destitute
Of Stave f) Hope and Charity
g) Ignorance and Want
Three
h) Goodness and Light

Which line does the Ghost of Christmas Present repeat to Scrooge?
i) “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”
j) “Christmas? Bah humbug!”
k) “Decrease the surplus population.”
l) “You may be a bit of undigested beef.”
How is the Ghost
presented in the
opening of stave 4?
Does this differ
from the other
ghosts we have
met?
Ghost of Christmas Past Ghost of Christmas Present Ghost of Christmas Future
1. Find 4/5 quotations that link with

each of these ghosts.
2. What do you notice about the
difference in the way they’re
described?
3. Why do you think Dickens
presented the final ghost in such
an intimidating way?
Read Stave 4
His lonely death, unloved and unmourned, is a
moral message that he can expect nothing,
since he gave nothing.
What do you consider are

Dickens’s reasons for showing
the death of Tiny Tim as part
of the future?
Scrooge is hearing what others think about his death.
Make notes on the viewpoints we are shown from:
Scrooge’s Scrooge’s The people who

associates in the debtors, who owe are supposed to
city him money look after the
body.
The BIG Does the way others react to Scrooge’s
death have a bigger message?
Question:
Keywords: Greed, selfish, egotistic.
How is society presented here?
The Spirit stopped beside one little knot of business men. Observing that the hand TO THINK ABOUT:
was pointed to them, Scrooge advanced to listen to their talk.
"No," said a great fat man with a monstrous chin," I don't know much about it, • What class are these men? Is this
either way. I only know he's dead."
"When did he die?" inquired another.
significant?
"Last night, I believe." • How are the men physically
"Why, what was the matter with him?" asked a third, taking a vast quantity of
snuff out of a very large snuff-box. "I thought he'd never die." described? Why did Dickens decide to
"God knows," said the first, with a yawn.
"What has he done with his money?" asked a red-faced gentleman with a
do this?
pendulous excrescence on the end of his nose, that shook like the gills of a turkey- • How do they come across as
cock.
"I haven't heard," said the man with the large chin, yawning again. "Left it to his heartless?
company, perhaps. He hasn't left it to me. That's all I know."
This pleasantry was received with a general laugh.
• Do you think there might be a
"It's likely to be a very cheap funeral," said the same speaker; "for upon my life I message?
don't know of anybody to go to it. Suppose we make up a party and volunteer?"
"I don't mind going if a lunch is provided," observed the gentleman with the
excrescence on his nose. "But I must be fed, if I make one."
Another laugh. Could you link this to elsewhere in
"Well, I am the most disinterested among you, after all," said the first speaker," for
I never wear black gloves, and I never eat lunch. But I'll offer to go, if anybody the text?
else will. When I come to think of it, I'm not at all sure that I wasn't his most
particular friend; for we used to stop and speak whenever we met. Bye, bye."
Speakers and listeners strolled away, and mixed with other groups. Scrooge knew
the men, and looked towards the Spirit for an explanation.
STRUCTURE:
exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
developed.
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exact.
• Terminology.
the text.
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Stave Four
1. Select three words that you are unsure of and write a definition. Use a
dictionary to help you.
1b. What does the spirit of Christmas future look like?
2. What is this spirit’s personality like?
3. How does Scrooge feel about this spirit?
4. What is the point of the long discussion between Joe and Mrs. Dilber? Hint:
they relate to Scrooge’s property.
5. What are some of the words Dickens uses to create the mood of the
paragraphs that follow? What is this mood?
6. When Scrooge asks the phantom to let him "see some tenderness connected
with a death,” What does the ghost show him?
7. What is the lesson Scrooge learns in this stave that he had not learned
before?
8. Why is this stave needed when Scrooge’s attitude had already changed so
much?
The BIG How is mood and atmosphere
created?
Question:
Keywords: Contrast, depressing, bleak.
How does Dickens create mood and atmosphere in the
following extract?
They left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part of the town,
• Annotate your copy  what can you
where Scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognised its select that shows ‘thought’?
situation, and its bad repute. The ways were foul and narrow; the shops • What would you refer to from the
and houses wretched; the people half-naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly. whole text to further support your
Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorged their offenses
of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole view?
quarter reeked with crime, with filth, and misery. • What would you include that
focuses on:
Far in this den of infamous resort, there was a low-browed, beetling • AO1?
shop, below a pent-house roof, where iron, old rags, bottles, bones, and
greasy offal, were bought. Upon the floor within, were piled up heaps of
• AO2?
rusty keys, nails, chains, hinges, files, scales, weights, and refuse iron of • AO3?
all kinds. Secrets that few would like to scrutinise were bred and hidden • What level would these be
in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of corrupted fat, and sepulchres comments be at? What are you
of bones. Sitting in among the wares he dealt in, by a charcoal stove,
made of old bricks, was a grey-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of aiming for?
age; who had screened himself from the cold air without, by a frowsy
curtaining of miscellaneous tatters, hung upon a line; and smoked his
pipe in all the luxury of calm retirement.
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Skill Achieved
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The BIG What is the message of the
Question: novel?
Keywords: Hope, hopeful, regret.
Build a Gentry - people of good social position, specifically the class of

people next below the nobility in position and birth.
vocabulary/definition list:
Aristocracy
Factory Act to improve conditions for children working
Gentry in factories. Young children were working very long hours in
Industrial Revolution workplaces where conditions were often terrible. The
Factory Acts basic act was as follows: no child workers under nine years of
age.
Workhouse
Baby Farms Baby farms - the practice of accepting custody of an infant or
Humanitarianism child in exchange for payment in late-Victorian Era Britain
22
Inequality
The BIG What is the message of the
Question: novel?
Keywords: Hope, hopeful, regret.
Build a
vocabulary/definition list: Humanitarianism - the promotion of human welfare.
Aristocracy
Gentry Workhouse - a place where those unable to support
Industrial Revolution themselves were offered accommodation and employment.
Factory Acts
Workhouse
Baby Farms The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new
Humanitarianism manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to
22 sometime between 1820 and 1840.
Inequality
Dickens writes about childhood in many of
his novels. Make notes on how children are
presented in the following scenes:
1. Stave 1 – the child outside Scrooge’s

office
2. Stave 2 – Scrooge as a child
3. Stave 3 – the Cratchit children
4. Stave 4 – the children of the young couple
that owed money to the dying Scrooge
5. Stave 5 – the child Scrooge sends to buy
the turkey.
Humanitarianism: a viewpoint or
philosophy that extends compassion and
the relief of suffering to all people
regardless of nationality, age, gender or What evidence
religion. is there in the
novel to prove
Malthus: a respected academic who Dickens was
argued that the growth of the world’s concerned
population would outstrip its ability to about this?
provide food for everyone, leading to
enforced population control through
starvation and disease.
How does Dickens present he effects of social inequality in A
Christmas Carol.?
You should include points such as:
• How men like Scrooge and Marley became wealthy through shares
and loans
• The lack of protection for workers, especially children, and the long
hours and poor pay (Cratchit)
• The fear of debt and unable to pay, as this would mean prison
(Caroline and her husband)
• The lack of education and protection for children in poverty
(Ignorance and Want)
• The effects of poverty on families (Tiny Tim, their clothes, their
dinner, etc.)
• The living conditions of the poor.
You could finish on the difference Scrooge was able to make when he
cared.
Read Stave 5
Divide your page. In the first column find a quotation
from early in Stave 1, and in the second find a
quotation from that shows the difference in Scrooge
in Stave 5.
How does Dickens present
Scrooge’s transformation
throughout the novella?
Stave Five
Preface of the novel
I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an
Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with
each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses
pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.
Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D.
December, 1843.
1. After reading the preface, why do you think Dickens wrote the novel?
Justify your answer with a quotation.
2. P. 117- why does Scrooge state he is ‘quite a baby’?
3. P.118- how does this description of the weather compare with the
description at the start of the novel (p.4)?
4. Why would a Victorian reader be so shocked by Bob’s payrise?
5. What would you say the novel teaches us about? Think of three key
ideas.
6. Choose a selection of words that Dickens uses to describe Scrooge’s
behavior in this stave that show a clear change in his character.
Can I analyse an unseen
extract?
Starting with this extract, how does

Dickens present Scrooge’s
relationship with the wider society
of London?
Write about
 How Dickens presents Scrooge’s
attitudes to the two men and the
rest of society in this extract.
 How Dickens presents Scrooge’s
attitude to the wider society of
London in the rest of the novel.
Skill Achieved
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The BIG What was Christmas Carol really
Question: about?
Keywords: Moral, Parable, Allegory.
• Scrooge’s miserly refusal to give
• His refusal of human contact

Evil is shown
• through…
Even his colleagues barely know him
• He hates himself as much as he hates

everything else
How is A Christmas Carol allegorical?
A Christmas Carol is a story that works on several levels of
meaning. Consider the following:
It is a parable because it has a moral lesson.
Jacob Marley’s chain
It is an allegory because it uses figures that represent abstract The ghosts –
ideas. past/present/future
Allegory: a story with a second meaning behind the obvious one, Ignorance and Want
using ideas as personified characters ‘Once upon a time…’
Three spirits (clue:
Parable: a story related to people’s own experiences that
illustrate a moral lesson, often through metaphor three bears, three wise
men, three wishes, etc.)
Pathetic fallacy: the idea that nature reflects human feelings
The story is a parable of redemption. What images or ideas

do these symbols
A moral lesson for the selfish…with an entertaining tale of create for you?
ghosts and Christmas.
Title Plot summary Main quotations
Stave 1 Marley’s Ghost

Stave 2 The First of the
Three Spirits

Stave 3 The Second of the
Three Spirits

Stave 4 The Last of the
Spirits

Stave 5 The End of It.

STAVE 1 – MARLEY’S GHOST STAVE 2 – THE GHOST OF STAVE 3 – THE GHOST OF STAVE 4 – THE GHOST OF STAVE 5 – THE END OF IT
CHRISTMAS PAST CHRISTMAS PRESENT CHRISTMAS YET TO COME
Scrooge in his office. A “meagre” First spirit – strange, childlike Second spirit – jolly, larger than Third spirit – “phantom” – silent, "I am as light as a feather, I am as
fire. The clerk is shivering. figure with an air of wisdom. It life, only alive for that one day. Has threatening, terrifying. happy as an angel, I am as merry as
Fred enters. uses a cap to cover its head. a horn of blessings which he a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a
scatters on those most in need. CITY drunken man. A merry Christmas to
SCHOOL 1 – lonely Scrooge. Has everybody!”
imaginary friends. Scrooge regrets Scrooge sees Christmas day. The
… shops, the people, the bakers, A PAWN SHOP IN BACK STREETS TURKEY – sent to the Cratchits.
Two “portly gentlemen” enter. church etc.
Walks the streets. Goes to church.
SCHOOL 2 – Fan arrives to take CRATCHIT’s HOUSE. Bob toasts A BODY ON A BED
Scrooge home. Scrooge regrets … Scrooge. Scrooge asks about Tiny “portly gentlemen”
Cratchit is sent home. Tim.
A COUPLE IN A HOUSE Works up the courage to visit Fred.
FEZZIWIGS – Christmas party. CHRISTMAS IN ISOLATED “Will you let me in, Fred?”
Scrooge remembers that … PLACES – miners, lighthouse, a ship.
Scrooge goes home. The door Song is heard everywhere. BOXING DAY
knocker … He regrets … CRATCHIT’s HOUSE.
FRED’s HOUSE. Fred toasts Cratchit arrives for work. Scrooge
Scrooge. They play games. Scrooge tricks him.
BELLE -1 – break up. She says … wants to join in. He gives him a raise, and takes him
He is eating his supper when… to the pub.
TWO children – metaphors – are A GRAVEYARD. “Assure me that I
He regrets … under his cloak. yet may change these shadows you “Scrooge was better than his word.
“Ignorance and Want” have shown me, by an altered life." He did it all, and infinitely more;
Marley has a chain with … Ignorance = lack of education for and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he
BELLE 2 – as a mother. Scrooge children, but also ignorance about "I will honour Christmas in my was a second father. He became as
sees her daughter and her husband. society heart, and try to keep it all the good a friend, as good a master,
“he is quite alone in this world” Want = poverty, need. year. I will live in the Past, the and as good a man, as the good old
“are there no prisons?...” Present, and the Future. The city knew, or any other good old
At the end Marley leaves … He regrets … Spirits of all Three shall strive city, town, or borough, in the good
within me. I will not shut out the old world.”
Key quotations
for each
character
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the No beggars implored him to bestow a
grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, trifle, no children asked him what it
grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! was o'clock, no man or woman ever
Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had once in all his life inquired the way to
ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self- such and such a place, of Scrooge.
contained, and solitary as an oyster.
No warmth could
warm, no wintry Ebenezer Scrooge
weather chill him.
Stave 1
To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, But why do spirits walk the
warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, earth, and why do they come
was what the knowing ones call nuts to Scrooge. to me?''
The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means

Up Scrooge went, not caring a button of distracting his own attention, and keeping down
for that: darkness is cheap, and his terror; for the spectre's voice disturbed the
Scrooge liked it. very marrow in his bones.
`Òr would you know,'' pursued the Ghost, `Ì am here to-night to warn you, that
``the weight and length of the strong coil you have yet a chance and hope of
you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and escaping my fate. A chance and hope of
as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. my procuring, Ebenezer.''
You have laboured on it, since. It is a
ponderous chain!''
Ebenezer Scrooge
``But you were always a good man
Stave 1
of business, Jacob,'' faultered
Scrooge, who now began to apply
this to himself.
The misery with them all was, clearly,

that they sought to interfere, for good,
``You will be haunted,'' resumed the in human matters, and had lost the
Ghost, ``by Three Spirits.'' power for ever.
`Àre you the Spirit, sir, whose Why was he filled with gladness when he heard
coming was foretold to me?'' them give each other Merry Christmas, as they
asked Scrooge. parted at cross-roads and bye-ways, for their
several homes! What was merry Christmas to
`Ì am the Ghost of Scrooge? Out upon merry Christmas! What good had
Christmas Past.'' it ever done to him?
``Was it a dream
`Ì was bred in this place. or not?''
I was a boy here!''
Ebenezer Scrooge ``Ding, dong!''
``These are but shadows of the Stave 2 Scrooge sat down upon a
things that have been,'' said
the Ghost. ``They have no form, and wept to see
consciousness of us.'' his poor forgotten self
``Nothing,'' said Scrooge. as he used to be.
``Nothing. There was a boy
singing a Christmas Carol at
`À solitary child, neglected my door last night. I should
by his friends, is left there like to have given him
still.'' something: that's all.''
His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later Clear away! There was nothing they
years; but it had begun to wear the signs of care wouldn't have cleared away, or
and avarice. There was an eager, greedy, restless couldn't have cleared away, with old
motion in the eye, which showed the passion that Fezziwig looking on
had taken root, and where the shadow of the
growing tree would fall. ``No. I should like to be able to say
a word or two to my clerk just now!
That's all.
Ebenezer Scrooge ``No more!'' cried Scrooge.

During the whole of this time,
Scrooge had acted like a man out
Stave 2 ``No more. I don't wish to see
it. Show me no more!''
of his wits. His heart and soul
were in the scene, and with his
former self. He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to
make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or
a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in
`Home, for good and all. Home, things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible
for ever and ever. Father is so to add and count 'em up: what then? The happiness
much kinder than he used to be, he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.''
that home's like Heaven!
For he wished to I went forth last night on
challenge the Spirit on ``Spirit,'' said Scrooge,
compulsion, and I learnt a
the moment of its with an interest he had
lesson which is working now.
appearance, and did not never felt before, ``tell
To-night, if you have aught
wish to be taken by me if Tiny Tim will live.''
to teach me, let me profit
surprise, and made by it.''
nervous.
Ebenezer Scrooge
And perhaps it was the
pleasure the good Spirit Stave 3
had in showing off this
power of his, or else it `Ìf these shadows remain unaltered by the
was his own kind, Future, none other of my race,'' returned the
generous, hearty nature, Ghost, ``will find him here. What then? If he
and his sympathy with all be like to die, he had better do it, and
poor men, that led him decrease the surplus population.''
straight to Scrooge's
clerk's
Scrooge hung his head to The children drank the toast after ``He has given us plenty
hear his own words her. It was the first of their of merriment, I am
quoted by the Spirit, and proceedings which had no sure,'' said Fred, `ànd
was overcome with heartiness. Tiny Tim drank it last it would be ungrateful
penitence and grief. of all, but he didn't care twopence not to drink his health.
for it. Scrooge was the Ogre of Here is a glass of mulled
the family. wine ready to our hand
at the moment; and I
Scrooge had his eye say, `Ùncle Scrooge!''''
upon them, and
especially on Tiny Ebenezer Scrooge
Tim, until the last. Stave 3
`Ì was only going to say,'' said Scrooge's
nephew, ``that the consequence of his
There might have been twenty taking a dislike to us, and not making merry
people there, young and old, but with us, is, as I think, that he loses some
they all played, and so did Scrooge; pleasant moments, which could do him no
for, wholly forgetting in the harm. I am sure he loses pleasanter
interest he had in what was going companions than he can find in his own
on, that his voice made no sound in thoughts, either in his mouldy old office, or
their ears his dusty chambers.
Although well used to ghostly
`Ì am in the presence of ``You are about to
company by this time,
the Ghost of Christmas Yet show me shadows of
Scrooge feared the silent
To Come?'' said Scrooge the things that have
shape so much that his legs
not happened, but will
trembled beneath him, and
happen in the time
he found that he could
before us,'' Scrooge
hardly stand when he
pursued. `Ìs that so,
I only know he's dead prepared to follow it.
Spirit?''
Ebenezer Scrooge
``What has he done
``Ghost of the Future!'' he
exclaimed, `Ì fear you more
Stave 4 with his money?
than any spectre I have seen.
But as I know your purpose is to
do me good, and as I hope to live It's likely to be a very
to be another man from what I cheap funeral,'' said the
same speaker; ``for upon he resolved to treasure
was, I am prepared to bear you
my life I don't know of up every word he
company, and do it with a
anybody to go to it heard, and everything
thankful heart. Will you not
he saw
speak to me?''
Every person has a He frightened every one The case of this
right to take care of away from him when he was unhappy man might be
themselves. He always alive, to profit us when he my own. My life tends
did was dead! that way, now.
he had been revolving in

his mind a change of life
Ebenezer Scrooge
Stave 4 Somebody was fool
enough to do it, but I
why wasn't he natural in his took it off again.
lifetime? If he had been,
plundered and bereft,
he'd have had somebody to
unwatched, unwept,
look after him when he was
uncared for, was the body there lay a something
struck with Death, instead of
of this man. covered up, which,
lying gasping out his last
there, alone by himself. though it was dumb,
announced itself in awful
language.
if this man could be raised up ``Spirit!'' he said,
now, what would be his ``this is a fearful place.
foremost thoughts? Avarice, In leaving it, I shall not
hard-dealing, griping cares? leave its lesson, trust
They have brought him to a me. Let us go
rich end, truly!
Tell me what man

that was whom we Ebenezer Scrooge
saw lying dead? Stave 4
``Spirit!'' he cried, tight clutching at

`Àm I that man who lay upon the bed?''
its robe, ``hear me! I am not the
man I was. I will not be the man I
must have been but for this
intercourse. Why show me this, if I
am past all hope?''
`Ì am as light as a feather,
He had been sobbing Not a farthing less. A I am as happy as an angel, I
violently in his conflict with great many back- am as merry as a school-boy.
the Spirit, and his face payments are included in I am as giddy as a drunken
was wet with tears. it, I assure you. man. A merry Christmas to
every-body! A happy New Year
to all the world! Hallo here!
Whoop! Hallo!''
`Ì will live in the
Past, the Present,
and the Future!'' Ebenezer Scrooge
Stave 5 Scrooge regarded every one
with a delighted smile. He
Come back with the man, and I'll
Bob trembled, and got a little looked so irresistibly pleasant,
give you a shilling. Come back
nearer to the ruler. He had a in a word, that three or four
with him in less than five
good-humoured fellows said,
minutes, and I'll give you half- momentary idea of knocking
Scrooge down with it; holding ``Good morning, sir! A merry
a-crown!
him, and calling to the people in Christmas to you!''
the court for help and a strait-
waistcoat.
`Ìt's I. Your uncle Wonderful party, Oh, he was early there. If
Scrooge. I have wonderful games, he could only be there
come to dinner. Will wonderful unanimity, first, and catch Bob
you let me in, won-der-ful happiness! Cratchit coming late! That
Fred?'' was the thing he had set
his heart upon.
I am about to raise your salary!
Ebenezer Scrooge
`Ìt's only once a year,
sir,'' pleaded Bob,
Stave 5
appearing from the Tank. Scrooge was better than his word.
`Ìt shall not be repeated. He did it all, and infinitely more;
I was making rather merry and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he
yesterday, sir.'' and it was always said was a second father. He became as
of him, that he knew good a friend, as good a master,
how to keep Christmas and as good a man, as the good old
well, if any man alive city knew, or any other good old
possessed the city, town, or borough, in the good
knowledge. old world
`Àre there no prisons?'' `Ànd the Union workhouses?'' demanded
asked Scrooge. Scrooge. `Àre they still in operation?''
I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I `Ìf they would rather die,'' said
can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to Scrooge, ``they had better do it, and
support the establishments I have mentioned: they decrease the surplus population
cost enough: and those who are badly off must go
there.''
Ebenezer Scrooge
On poverty
`Ìt's enough for a man to understand his
own business, and not to interfere with
other people's. Mine occupies me constantly.
If I could work my will,'' said The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled
Scrooge indignantly, `èvery by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped
idiot who goes about with down at Scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a Christmas
``Merry Christmas'' on his carol: but at the first sound of God bless you, merry
lips, should be boiled with his gentleman! May nothing you dismay! Scrooge seized the
own pudding, and buried with ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in
a stake of holly through his terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more
heart. He should!'' congenial frost.
Ebenezer Scrooge ``Bah!'' said Scrooge,

``Merry Christmas! What right have
On Christmas ``Humbug!''
you to be merry? what reason have
you to be merry? What's Christmas time to you but a time
for paying bills without money; a time for
finding yourself a year older, but not an
hour richer; a time for balancing your
books and having every item in 'em
through a round dozen of months
presented dead against you?
``There's another fellow,'' He sat very close to his father's side
muttered Scrooge; who overheard upon his little stool. Bob held his
him: ``my clerk, with fifteen withered little hand in his, as if he
shillings a week, and a wife and loved the child, and wished to keep
family, talking about a merry him by his side, and dreaded that he
Christmas. I'll retire to Bedlam.'' might be taken from him
Bob Cratchit the Clerk

Bob, turning up his cuffs
-- as if, poor fellow,
they were capable of
being made more shabby “My little, little
child!'' cried Bob.
``My little child!''
``Mr Scrooge!'' said

Bob; `Ì'll give you
Mr Scrooge, the
Founder of the
Feast!''
``Ha, ha!''
But being thoroughly good-
laughed
But I have made the trial in natured, and not much caring
Scrooge's
homage to Christmas, and I'll what they laughed at, so that
nephew. ``Ha,
keep my Christmas humour to the they laughed at any rate, he
ha, ha!''
last. So A Merry Christmas, encouraged them in their
Fred
uncle!'' merriment, and passed the bottle
joyously.
`Ì want nothing from you; But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas
I ask nothing of you; why time… as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable,
cannot we be friends?'' pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long
calendar of the year, when men and women seem by
one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely,
and to think of people below them as if they really
`À merry Christmas, uncle! God
were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not
save you!'' cried a cheerful voice.
another race of creatures bound on other journeys.
And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a
scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that
``Nephew!'' returned the uncle, it has done me good, and will do me good; and I
sternly, ``keep Christmas in your say, God bless it!''
own way, and let me keep it in
mine.''
``What of that, my dear!'' said Scrooge's
He's a comical old fellow,''
Bob told them of nephew. ``His wealth is of no use to him.
said Scrooge's nephew,
the extraordinary He don't do any good with it. He don't
``that's the truth: and not
kindness of Mr make himself comfortable with it. He
so pleasant as he might be.
Scrooge's nephew, hasn't the satisfaction of thinking -- ha,
However, his offences
whom he had ha, ha! -- that he is ever going to benefit
carry their own punishment,
scarcely seen but Us with it.''
and I have nothing to say
once
against him.''
Fred I mean to give him the same chance every

`Ì am sorry for him; I year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity
couldn't be angry with him if I him. He may rail at Christmas till he dies,
tried. Who suffers by his ill but he can't help thinking better of it -- I
whims? Himself, always. Here, defy him -- if he finds me going there, in
he takes it into his head to good temper, year after year, and saying
dislike us, and he won't come Uncle Scrooge, how are you? If it only puts
and dine with us. What's the him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty
consequence? He don't lose pounds, that's something; and I think I
much of a dinner.'' shook him yesterday.''
Then up rose Mrs Cratchit, ``The Founder of the Feast
Cratchit's wife, dressed indeed!'' cried Mrs Cratchit,
out but poorly in a twice- reddening. `Ì wish I had him
turned gown, but brave in here. I'd give him a piece of
ribbons, which are cheap my mind to feast upon, and I
and make a goodly show for hope he'd have a good
sixpence appetite for it.''
`Ìt should be Christmas

Day, I am sure,'' said she,
Mrs Cratchit
`òn which one drinks the
health of such an odious,
stingy, hard, unfeeling man as `Ìt makes them weak by
Mr Scrooge. You know he is, candle-light; and I wouldn't
Robert! Nobody knows it show weak eyes to your
better than you do, poor father when he comes home,
fellow!'' for the world. It must be
near his time.''
``Why, it's old Fezziwig! Bless Old Fezziwig laid down his pen, and looked up at the
his heart; it's Fezziwig alive clock, which pointed to the hour of seven. He
again!'' rubbed his hands; adjusted his capacious waistcoat;
laughed all over himself, from his shows to his
organ of benevolence; and called out in a
`No more work to-night. comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice:
Christmas Eve, Dick.
Christmas, Ebenezer!
Old Fezziwig
Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with ``Why! Is it not? He has spent but a
Mrs. Fezziwig. Top couple, too; with a good few pounds of your mortal money: three
stiff piece of work cut out for them or four perhaps. Is that so much that
he deserves this praise?''
Mr and Mrs Fezziwig took their stations, one on

A positive light appeared to issue
either side of the door, and shaking hands with
from Fezziwig's calves. They shone
every person individually as he or she went out,
in every part of the dance like
wished him or her a Merry Christmas.
moons.
`Às good as gold,'' said Bob, `ànd better. they had a song, about a
Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so lost child travelling in the
much, and thinks the strangest things you ever snow, from Tiny Tim; who
heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the had a plaintive little voice,
people saw him in the church, because he was a and sang it very well indeed
cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to
remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame
beggars walk, and blind men see.''
Tiny Tim
``God bless us every I am sure we shall none of
one!'' said Tiny Tim, us forget poor Tiny Tim --
the last of all. shall we -- or this first
parting that there was among
us?
he was very light to carry,''
she resumed, intent upon her
work, `ànd his father loved
him so, that it was no
trouble: no trouble
It opened; and a little girl, much ``She died a woman,'' said the Ghost, `ànd had, as
younger than the boy, came I think, children.''
darting in, and putting her arms `Òne child,'' Scrooge returned.
about his neck, and often kissing ``True,'' said the Ghost. ``Your nephew!''
him, addressed him as her Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered
``Dear, dear brother.'' briefly, ``Yes.''
``You are quite a woman, little

Fan!'' exclaimed the boy.
Little Fan
`Àlways a delicate creature,
whom a breath might have
withered,'' said the Ghost.
``But she had a large heart!''
`Ìt matters little,'' she said, softly. ``To you, `Àll your other hopes have merged
very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it into the hope of being beyond the
can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I chance of its sordid reproach. I have
would have tried to do, I have no just cause to seen your nobler aspirations fall off
grieve.'' one by one, until the master-passion,
Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?''
``What Idol has displaced you?'' he rejoined.
`À golden one.''
Belle
for the love of him you
once were.''
``Belle,'' said the husband, turning to
his wife with a smile, `Ì saw an old `Òur contract is an old one. It was
friend of yours this afternoon.'' made when we were both poor and
content to be so, until, in good season,
we could improve our worldly fortune by
our patient industry. You are changed.
When it was made, you were another
man.''
Marley was dead: to begin with. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
They were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep

Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the down below; as if some person were dragging a
door, saw in the knocker, without its heavy chain over the casks in the wine-
undergoing any intermediate process of merchant's cellar. Scrooge then remembered to
change: not a knocker, but Marley's face. have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were
described as dragging chains.
`Ìn life I was your

partner, Jacob Marley.''
Jacob Marley
Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole
The chain he drew was clasped about his administrator, his sole assign, his sole
middle. It was long, and wound about him like residuary legatee, his sole friend, and
a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed sole mourner.
it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks,
ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in
steel. ``Mr Marley has been dead
these seven years,'' Scrooge
replied. ``He died seven years
ago, this very night.''
``Mankind was my business. The common
``You don't believe in me,'' welfare was my business; charity, mercy,
observed the Ghost. forbearance, and benevolence, were, all,
my business. The dealings of my trade
were but a drop of water in the
`Òld Jacob Marley, tell me more. comprehensive ocean of my business!''
Speak comfort to me, Jacob.''
Were there no poor

homes to which its light ``No rest, no peace.
would have conducted
me!''
Jacob Marley Incessant torture of
remorse.''
`Ìt is required of every man,'' the Ghost

returned, ``that the spirit within him should walk `Ì wear the chain I forged in
abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and life,'' replied the Ghost. `Ì
wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is made it link by link, and yard by
condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to yard; I girded it on of my own
wander through the world -- oh, woe is me! -- and free will, and of my own free will
witness what it cannot share, but might have I wore it. Is its pattern strange
shared on earth, and turned to happiness!'' to you?''
It was a strange figure -- But the strangest thing about it
like a child: yet not so like a was, that from the crown of its
child as like an old man, head there sprung a bright clear jet
The grasp, though of light, by which all this was
gentle as a woman's visible; and which was doubtless the
`À small matter,'' said hand, was not to be occasion of its using, in its duller
the Ghost, ``to make resisted. moments, a great extinguisher for a
these silly folks so full of cap, which it now held under its
gratitude.'' arm.
Ghost of Christmas Past

``Spirit!'' said
Scrooge, ``show me
no more! Conduct me
home. Why do you
delight to torture
me?''
The walls and ceiling were so hung with In easy state upon this couch, there sat a
living green, that it looked a perfect jolly Giant, glorious to see: who bore a
grove; from every part of which, bright glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plenty's
gleaming berries glistened. The crisp horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its
leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy light on Scrooge, as he came peeping round
reflected back the light, as if so many the door.
little mirrors had been scattered there
Ghost of Christmas Present

``Come in!'' exclaimed the Ghost.
``Come in. and know me better, `ìf man you be in heart, not
man!'' adamant, forbear that wicked
The Ghost was greatly pleased cant until you have discovered
Its dark brown curls were long to find him in this mood, and What the surplus is, and
and free: free as its genial looked upon him with such Where it is. Will you decide
face, its sparkling eye, its favour, that he begged like a what men shall live, what men
open hand, its cheery voice, its boy to be allowed to stay until shall die?
unconstrained demeanour, and the guests departed. But this
its joyful air. the Spirit said could not be
done.
From the foldings of its robe, ``Have they no refuge or resource?'' cried
it brought two children; Scrooge.
wretched, abject, frightful, `Àre there no prisons?'' said the Spirit, turning
hideous, miserable. They knelt on him for the last time with his own words. `Àre
down at its feet, and clung there no workhouses?''
upon the outside of its
garment. This boy is
Ignorance. This
girl is Want.
Want and Ignorance
They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged,
Is it a foot or a claw! scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility.
Where graceful youth should have filled their features
`Ìt might be a out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and
claw, for the flesh shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and
there is upon it” twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels
might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out
menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of
humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of
wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and
dread.
The Phantom slowly, It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which
gravely, silently concealed its head, its face, its form, and left
approached. When it came, nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand.
Scrooge bent down upon his But for this it would have been difficult to detach
knee; for in the very air its figure from the night, and separate it from
through which this Spirit the darkness by which it was surrounded.
moved it seemed to scatter
gloom and mystery.
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

the Spirit neither
spoke nor moved

A Christmas Carol

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A

You will be given an extract from A Christmas Carol and

What’s the hidden word?

What’s the hidden word?

The novel was written in the Victorian Era.

• In your essay you have to talk about either the

•In the nineteenth century there were developments in technology that

29 Sept to 25 7 o'clock. From ½ past 7 8 o'clock. From 12 to 1. 6 o'clock. 6 to 7. 8.

The weekly menu at Hertford in 1729 comprised:

Breakfast Dinner Supper

• Malthus thought we would never have a truly perfect (or utopian)

• This idea became known as the Malthusian controversy.

• Why is the novella divided

A Christmas Carol follows a three-act structure,

The inciting incident – the visit of Marley’s Ghost

3. Awe and fear of religion

• In the Victorian times it became popular to place Gothic novels in an

• ….and one to bear in mind when reading ‘A Christmas Carol’, is the

• Compared and contrasted the big difference

Characters & the way

arley was dead: to begin with. There is no

3. How does Marley change the

1. How are the working conditions of Bob

What do we already think

• Emotional words Is it possible to feel any

EXAMPLE EXTRACT QUESTION:

It starts ‘once upon a time’ – what do you feel is

Does the mood change throughout the extract?

It’s 3 in the afternoon & dark – what image do you

‘The fog came pouring in’ – what word do you feel is

How is the fire described?

How is Scrooge’s nephew greeted?

“One major problem with ‘A Christmas Carol’ is that Scrooge

I – Set an improvement task Uses the correct terminology for specific

Assess your Partner’s Work

I – Set an improvement task Uses the correct terminology for specific

Assess your Partner’s Work

Thinking about the

What are the

I – Set an improvement task Uses the correct terminology for specific

Assess your Partner’s Work

Who is Jacob Marley?

What do we learn about

He sees boys he remembers playing happily,

‘Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to

How would this have had an impact on

4. Find evidence of Dickens’ humour.

How does Scrooge’s behaviour change throughout the

What is the ghost’s lesson for Scrooge to learn?

Where do the themes of the Christmas spirit and poverty

What do you think Scrooge would like to say to the clerks?

How would you

What are the

I – Set an improvement task Uses the correct terminology for specific

Assess your Partner’s Work

What effect have each of the

Starting with this extract, how

I – Set an improvement task Uses the correct terminology for specific

Assess your Partner’s Work

STAVE ONE STAVE TWO