Year 11 - English
'A Christmas Carol': Dickens' ghosts as agents of time
A Christmas Carol: a ghost story
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils consider how and why Dickens presents 'A Christmas Carol' as a ghost story. They look at the novella as a gothic text and then the ghosts in detail. They then write a critical response about how Dickens uses the ghosts to deliver his message about social responsibility.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to understand how and why time is manipulated in the novella.
Key Notes
- Before the spirits' visits, Scrooge viewed time as a resource that he could use to make money.
- Scrooge learns that time is a privilege and a gift that many in society are not blessed with.
- Scrooge learns that time's fluid and that all aspects of time interact with one another to inform a person's experience.
- The spirits' visits defy time, but all occur within the course of one evening.
- Dickens illustrates how one person's drastic change in a short space of time can vastly improve the lives of others.
Vocabulary To Learn
- agent: If someone is the agent of something, it means that they act on its behalf or represent it.
- fluid: Something that is fluid does not have a fixed shape or pattern and flows freely.
- phenomenon: An extraordinary, unusual or abnormal occurrence.
- privilege: A privilege is a blessing or an advantage that someone has.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Students think that Scrooge's visit with the Ghost of Christmas Present is limited to Christmas Day.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Before the spirits' visits, Scrooge viewed time as a resource that he could use to make money. Scrooge learns that time is a privilege and a gift that many in society are not blessed with.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'agent'
If someone is the agent of something, it means that they act on its behalf or represent it.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Students think that Scrooge's visit with the Ghost of Christmas Present is limited to Christmas Day. Correction: Scrooge's time with the spirit goes beyond Christmas Day - to the Twelfth Day of Christmas, showing how time is manipulated in the novella.
More Lessons In This Unit
- 'A Christmas Carol': a Victorian ghost story Study Guide
- 'A Christmas Carol': conceptualised responses Study Guide
- 'A Christmas Carol': constructing an argument about the ghosts Study Guide
- 'A Christmas Carol': the entrances and exits of the four ghosts Study Guide
- 'A Christmas Carol': the ghosts and Dickens' use of allusion Study Guide
- 'A Christmas Carol': the novella as a Gothic text Study Guide
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