‘On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by a series of ghosts, starting with his old business partner, Jacob Marley. The three spirits which follow, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come, show Scrooge how his mean behaviour has affected those around him. At the end of the story he is relieved to discover that there is still time for him to change and we see him transformed into a generous and kind-hearted human being.’
That’s a brief summary of the novella, here’s a useful video to awaken you Dickens knowledge.
List of the main characters:
- Ebenezer Scrooge
- Jacob Marley
- Bob Cratchit
- Mrs Cratchit
- Martha Cratchit
- Tiny Tim
- Mr Fezziwig
- Belle
- The Portly Gentlemen
- The Ghost of Christmas Past
- The Ghost of Christmas Present
- The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
- Fred
(Activity: find a quotation for each of the characters. Try and choose one that shows what kind of character they are)
Key themes in the novel:
- Isolation
- Transformation
- Family
- Poverty
- Greed
- Social Responsibility
(Activity: Try finding examples of each theme throughout the novel and at least one or two quotations)
The Staves:
- Stave 1-
- Stave 2-
- Stave3-
- Stave 4-
- Stave 5-
(Activity: Write a couple of sentences summarising each Stave including 2 quotations you could remember)
It is important that when writing in an exam about A Christmas Carol to include some context and relating it back to the Victorian era. By doing this you will be showing (impressing) the examiner with not only your knowledge on the novel, but you knowledge surrounding the reasons why the novel is so important.
Brief Historical Context:
- Poverty
- Industrial revolution
- Rich vs Poor
- Women
- Child Labor
To go into further detail have a look at the text I have attached.
(Activity: For each historical context bullet point try to find examples of it in the novel with a quotation)
Okay, so now we have refreshed our memories on A Christmas Carol now we can have a look at an example of a GCSE question and break it down.
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-87021-SQP-V1.PDF
Follow the link and scroll down to page 11, you will find the A Christmas Carol question.
Starting with this extract, how does Dickens present Scrooge as an outsider to society?
Write about:
• how Dickens presents Scrooge in this extract
• how Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider to society in the novel as a whole.
You will be given 45 minutes to write about the extract given and relating the question to the rest of the novel
First things first, lets break down and annotate the extract we are given:
| External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. |
The use of Dickens pathetic fallacy ‘heat and cold’ adds to the image that Scrooge is a very cold and heartless individual. Emphasised more by saying that weather had ‘little influence’ illustrates that Scrooge not only is an outsider to his society (i.e. people) buy also to nature.Extract Question Booklet ACC
| No warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. |
Here Dickens continues to use pathetic fallacy to describe how solitude Scrooge is, he also uses another technique, repetition. Repetition of the word ‘no’ exaggerates just how ostracised Scrooge is from society. Furthermore, the negative connotations surrounding the word know give a good indication to the reader that Scrooge is negative and not pleasant to be around.
They often ‘came down’ handsomely, and Scrooge never did.
Finally, to finish off Dickens’ pathetic fallacy rant he personifies the weather and describes that whatever kind of weather it ‘came down handsomely’. The adverb ‘handsomely’ gives an image that even the worst weather is more handsome than Scrooge. Again, this is reinforced with the use of the word ‘never’, it’s a superlative and illustrates to the reader that Scrooge has never been handsome or attractive, again reinforcing that Scrooge never has and never will be included amongst the society he lives in.
| Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, ‘My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?’ No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. |
Here we see peoples’ reactions to Scrooge, this really relates and supports the question that Scrooge is an outsider of society. ‘Nobody ever stopped him in the street’ is enough for the reader to gauge that Scrooge was not a valued member of society, he in fact quite the opposite; he is a feared member of society. ‘No beggars implored him’ even people in desperate need would rather go without than to ask Scrooge for help. Again, Scrooge uses repetition of ‘no’ to emphasis that Scrooge is not only disliked, but people are intimidated by him, therefore making him an outsider of society.
| Even the blindmen’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, ‘No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!’ |
Here Dickens portrays Scrooge as an outsider of society again ‘even the blindmens’ dogs appeared to know him’ Scrooge is that well known in society that his intimidating character is felt by animals too. ‘No eye at all is better than an evil eye’ here it is suggested that having no vision is a better alternative than to be Scrooge #outsider highlighted further by referring to Scrooge as a ‘dark master’ not only does this indicate that Scrooge is mean (like we didn’t already know!) but the adjective ‘dark’ Dickens cements that Scrooge is isolated from society. We can also depict that Dickens has used an exclamation mark to solidify and reflect Scrooge’s aggressive nature.
| But what did Scrooge care? It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call ‘nuts’ to Scrooge. |
Here, the use of rhetoric question ‘what did Scrooge care?’ engages the reader to really think about if Scrooge does care that he’s an outsider of society. The short sentence ‘it was the very thing he liked’ not only answers the rhetoric question, but the short sharp sentence reflects and mimics Scrooge’s temper, aggressive and to the point. ‘Warning all human sympathy to keep it’s distance’ we have already established that Scrooge is an outsider of society in our previous annotations and analysis, the final part of the extract explores Scrooge’s reaction to being an outsider. The use of words such as ‘warning’ and ‘distance’ allow the reader to understand that being an outsider is what Scrooge wants.
Now we need to find examples of Scrooge being presented as an outsider in the rest of the novel.
Stave 1– Scrooge is presented as an outsider when his nephew, Fred, comes to visit and declares his love for Christmas. Scrooge cannot understand this and responds ‘any man that goes about with merry Christmas on his lips should be buried with a stake of holy through his heart and boiled with his own pudding!’ Here it could be perceived that Scrooge is presented as an outsider because at this time Fred and Bob Cratchit profess their love for Christmas and exchange greetings, Scrooge does not.
Stave 3- The Ghost of Christmas Present has come to visit Scrooge and take him to see different kinds of Christmases. Whilst making a stop at his nephews party (an invitation he rudely declined) Scrooge witnesses what people really think of him; baring in mind that these people are supposed to be his friends and family. They’re all playing a guessing game and Scrooge is the butt of the joke, when described as an ‘animal’ we see that once again Scrooge is considered different to the rest of the people at the party.
Now we need to put our notes into practice with a paragraph:
The protagonist of A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge, is presented as an outsider of society in the extract as he is deemed as unapproachable by passersby. Illustrated in the quotation ‘Nobody ever stopped him in the street’, showing that Scrooge is not perceived by others as a valued member of society. Furthermore, the keyword ‘nobody’ is hyperbolic emphasising that Scrooge has no one to talk to and therefore, ostracised by other people. Dickens’ repetition of the word ‘no’ throughout the extract is ambiguous as it not only reinforces the idea that Scrooge was not befriended by people, but it also reflects Scrooge’s negative persona allowing the reader to also feel disconnected to Scrooge.
This is the structure I used:
- P- Point
- E- Evidence
- E- Explain
- F- Furthermore (keyword analysis)
- D- Dickens’ intention
Now try one of you own using these sentence starters:
P- Scrooge is also presented as being an outsider to society extract as…
E- Evident within the quotation…
E- This portrays Scrooge as being…
F- Furthermore the (keyword, technique) …
D- Dickens’ intention by doing this is to allow the reader…
Now we need to address the second half of the question; how is Scrooge presented as an outsider throughout the rest of the novel
We have already made notes and quotes on this part of the question, we just need to write it. use the same structure and the sentence starters as before. Aim to have two paragraphs in total.
Attached is an extract booklet full of practice questions
English Revision Made Easy 