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Year 10 - English

'A Christmas Carol': planning an extended argument

A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's redemption

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils read and explore 'A Christmas Carol'. They start by reading the novella in full, pausing during each stave to analyse key scenes, characters, themes and methods. After reading the novella, pupils chart Scrooge's redemptive journey and craft an essay on the presentation of fear.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to plan a convincing, holistic argument about the text.

Key Notes

  • When writing an essay, you have to think carefully about the order in which you present your ideas.
  • When writing, lay the foundational knowledge, then include primary/secondary evidence, then give a personal response.
  • It can be difficult to bring any new interpretations to commonly-used quotations, so try to pick some lesser-used ones.
  • Giving a personal response to the text shows your reader your enthusiasm for the text and the subject.
  • Using paragraph outlines to plan your response can be useful when considering the structure of your argument.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • Holistic: when something is holistic, all the separate parts are connected and work together as a whole.
  • Explorative: to be explorative about a topic means to approach it in a spirit of investigation and curiosity.
  • Primary evidence: primary evidence refers to the commonly-used quotations from a text.
  • Secondary evidence: secondary evidence refers to less well known quotations that can build your argument.
  • Reductionist: being reductionist means analysing something complicated into its simplest form.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Students think that it doesn't matter which quotations they select for use.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

When writing an essay, you have to think carefully about the order in which you present your ideas. When writing, lay the foundational knowledge, then include primary/secondary evidence, then give a personal response.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'Holistic'

when something is holistic, all the separate parts are connected and work together as a whole.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Students think that it doesn't matter which quotations they select for use. Correction: It can be difficult to bring any new interpretations to commonly-used quotations, so try to pick some lesser-used ones.

More Lessons In This Unit

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