Year 10 Extract Booklet 2020-21

YEAR 10 EXTRACT BOOKLET 2020-21

Past Exam Questions: Summer 2019 Extract: The Cratchits – Stave 3 Write about some members of the Cratchit family and how they are important to the novel as a whole. Summer 2018 Extract: Scrooge and Fred – Stave 1 The characters in A Christmas Carol view Christmas in different ways. Write about some of these views and how Dickens presents them at different points in the novel. Summer 2017 Extract: Scrooge and Marley’s Ghost – Stave 1 Write about how Dickens presents the ghosts. How are they important to the novel as a whole?

KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR A Christmas Carol:  English Literature Component 2  One hour  Extract-based essay – use this as a ‘springboard’ to cover the whole novel.  40 marks (no marks for SPAG, but you must reread to check that it makes sense!)  25% of your GCSE English Lit  You are marked on your knowledge of the CONTEXT (AO3) of the novel. What was life like in London 1843? Why was Dickens compelled to write this novel? What were his intentions with this story? What message did he want to portray to his Victorian audience and why? 1

MARK SCHEME

Context THE VICTORIAN ERA

The term Victorian describes the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901). The Victorian Age saw change in nearly every area of life - from advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge to changes in population growth and location.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The Victorians invented many things to improve the way we live. They also

invented machines that could do the jobs of many people. This was called the Industrial Revolution. Before the Revolution, most British people worked in

the countryside on farms, but lost jobs and money as machines took their places. They began to move to the towns, looking for work in the new factories there. The result of this movement was the development of horrifying slums and cramped row housing in the overcrowded cities.

SOCIETY Society was split into different classes: Working class - men and women who performed physical work, paid daily or weekly wages Middle class - men who performed mental or "clean" work, paid monthly or yearly Upper class – who did not work, income came from inherited land and investments

EDUCATION

Education was not equal. Gentlemen would be educated at home until they were old enough to attend a public school like Eton or Harrow. After that, they would attend Oxford or Cambridge. Public school and University were where you made your friends and developed the connections that would aid you later in life. A lady's education was usually at home. There were boarding schools, but no University, and the studies were very different. Ladies learned French, drawing, dancing, music, sewing as well as embroidery, and accounts. If you were part of the working classes, you did not go to school: instead you went to work. Most children worked in the factories or mines where it was dangerous and risky, or they worked as servants for other people. There was a very high death rate for children at this time.

MEN AND WOMEN

Men and women were not equal. In proper middle-class and upper-class circles, women were supposed to have no sexual conduct before marriage - a hand around the waist, a small kiss was probably the accepted limit in most cases. Also, when a woman married, she had no independent legal status. She had no right to any money (earned, inherited, etc.), she could not make a will or buy property, she had no claim to her children, she had to move with her husband wherever he went.

Who was Charles Dickens?

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is thought to be one of the greatest English writers of the Victorian period. Dickens's books attack social problems and unfairness in society.

Charles Dickens was born in Hampshire on February 7, 1812. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office. In 1814 Dickens moved to London, and then to Chatham, where he received some education. In 1824, his whole family were sent to prison for debt. He was pulled out of education and sent to work in a blacking factory, in Hungerford Market. He was only 12 and worked there for three years. He experienced terrible conditions: hunger, poverty, mistreatment. Later, from 1827 to 1828 he was a law office clerk, and then worked as a shorthand reporter at Doctor's Commons. He began writing for newspapers in 1830.

Dickens's career as a writer of fiction started in 1833 when his short stories and essays appeared in periodicals (magazines of the time). His Sketches By Boz and The Pickwick Papers were published in 1836. In the same year he married the daughter of his friend George Hogarth, Catherine Hogarth. Dickens's novels first appeared in monthly instalments, including Oliver Twist (1837-39), which describes the London underworld and hard upbringing of the orphan Oliver Twist.

From the 1840s Dickens spent much time travelling and campaigning against many of the social evils of his time. From this experience, Dickens was very passionate about the poor in society and never forgot his experience at the factory. In addition he gave talks and readings. In 1844-45 he lived in Italy, Switzerland and Paris. He gave lecturing tours in Britain and the United States.

From 1860 Dickens lived at Gadshill Place, near Rochester, Kent. He died at Gadshill on June 9, 1870. The unfinished mystery story The Mystery Of Edwin Drood was published in 1870. Can you summarise your knowledge of Dickens into 5 key points?

Challenge: Thomas Malthus and Malthusian Theory

Dickens was particularly disgusted with the writings of an economist named Thomas Robert Malthus, a wealthy man, who argued in his Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) that population growth would always outpace food supply resulting in unavoidable and catastrophic poverty and starvation.

In his pamphlet "The Crisis," Malthus supported the Poor Laws and the workhouses, arguing that any man unable to sustain himself had no right to live, much less participate in the development of society.

Why did Dickens write A Christmas Carol?

In 1843, Dickens was horrified by reading a Government report detailing the horrific conditions in which very young children were made to work underground or to work tremendously long hours in appalling conditions in factories. Dickens read this and he described himself as being “perfectly stricken down by it” and he determined that he would strike, as he said, “the heaviest blow in my power” on behalf of these victims of the Industrial Revolution. In October 1843, he gave a talk in Manchester. It was in the course of giving this talk in this large industrial city, that the idea came to him that the best thing he could do by way of calling public attention to the horror of this parliamentary report, would be by writing a story, rather than an article - “Something that would strike the heaviest blow in my power”, as he said, “something that would come down with sledgehammer force” - and this was the conception of A Christmas Carol.

Moral Message The characters in this story convey the moral message of the novella, particularly Scrooge, the Cratchits and the Ghost. They are allegories. An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. The Ghost of Christmas Present – that is, present day 1843 – cares for two hideous creatures created by mankind: Ignorance (of the wealthy upper classes) and Want (of the poor). This is allegorical for life during the Victorian era. The vivid descriptions of these children highlight everything Dickens believed was wrong with his society. Their message is powerful and underpins the whole reason for his writing.

The Preface Dickens wrote a PREFACE to A Christmas Carol. A preface is an introduction to a book, typically stating its subject or aims. In his preface, Dickens uses metaphors to do with ghosts – A Christmas Carol is a ghost story after all – to explain his reason for writing the novella and his intentions. Look closely at the metaphors. Can you explain what he means by them? What is the GHOST OF AN IDEA with which Dickens wishes to haunt us?

Use the information on pages 3-6 to answer this question: Why did Dickens write A Christmas Carol?

______5

The Poor Law and Malthusian Theory

The Poor Law Identify 4 reasons why the new

In 1834 a new Poor Law was introduced. Some people welcomed it because they Poor Law of 1834 was introduced: believed it would: 1.

 reduce the cost of looking after the poor  take beggars off the streets 2.  encourage poor people to work hard to support themselves

The new Poor Law ensured that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed. Children who entered the workhouse would receive some schooling. In 3. return for this care, all workhouse paupers would have to work for several hours each day. However, not all Victorians shared this point of view. Some people, such as 4. Richard Oastler, spoke out against the new Poor Law, calling the workhouses ‘Prisons for the Poor’. The poor themselves hated and feared the threat of the workhouse so much that there were riots in northern towns. Before 1834, the cost of looking after the poor was growing more expensive every year. This cost was paid for by the middle and upper classes in each town through their local taxes. There was a real suspicion amongst the middle and Summarise: What was life really upper classes that they were paying the poor to be lazy and avoid work. like inside the workhouse? After years of complaint, a new Poor Law was introduced in 1834. The new Poor Law was meant to reduce the cost of looking after the poor and impose a system which would be the same all over the country. Under the new Poor Law, parishes were grouped into unions and each union had to build a workhouse if they did not already have one. Except in special circumstances, poor people could now only get help if they were prepared to leave their homes and go into a workhouse. Conditions inside the workhouse were deliberately harsh, so that only those who desperately needed help would ask for it. Families were split up and housed in different parts of the workhouse. The poor were made to wear a uniform and the diet was monotonous. There were also strict rules and regulations to follow. Inmates, male and female, young and old were made to work hard, often doing unpleasant jobs such as picking oakum or breaking stones. Children could also find themselves hired out to work in factories or mines. Shortly after the new Poor Law was introduced, a number of scandals hit the headlines. The most famous was Andover Workhouse, where it was reported that half-starved inmates were found eating the rotting flesh from bones. In response to these scandals the government introduced stricter rules for those who ran the workhouses and they also set up a system of regular inspections. However, inmates were still at the mercy of unscrupulous masters and matrons who treated the poor with contempt and abused the rules. Although most people did not have to go to the workhouse, it was always threatening if a worker became unemployed, sick or old. Increasingly, workhouses contained only orphans, the old, the sick and the insane. Not surprisingly the new Poor Law was very unpopular. It seemed to punish people who were poor through no fault of their own. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/1834-poor-law/

Challenge: Who was Thomas Malthus and what is Malthusian theory? (use page 4 to help you)

Victorian London and Foreshadowing

1 – typical scene in a high street, where the wealthy 2 – typical scene in a slum, of a poor backstreet area of shopped in higher class establishments. London where the working class would have lived.

What do these pictures tell you about what of London was like for both the rich and poor?

______

Retrieval Quiz:

1. What experience did Dickens have which led him to understand what life was like for poor people? ______

2. How did the Poor Law try to ‘resolve the issue’ of lower-class people begging on the streets? ______

3. Retrieval Challenge: Why was Dickens disgusted with Malthusian Theory? ______

TEXT A

Once upon a time -- of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve -- old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already -- it had not been light all day: and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.

The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.

With close reference to the extract, explore how Dickens uses

Language to present London and the people there.

Complete the WHAT HOW WHY table on the following page.

What? How? Why? 1. What does Dickens suggest about London 1. How does Dickens use language and structure here? 1. Why does Dickens use the devices he uses in order to & the people there? AO1: sustain focus on the task AO2: analyse and appreciate writers’ use of language, form and structure present London in this way? What is Dickens’ message to his 2. What evidence supports this? 2. How does he convey his message to the audience? readers? AO1: sensitive & evaluative approach to the task; analyse the extract & AO1: include pertinent, direct references from across the AO2: make assured reference to meanings and effects; explore and evaluate wider text critically; AO3: context extract and wider text, including quotations. the way ideas are conveyed

What atmosphere (mood) does the fog & darkness create? ______Victorian London in ‘A Christmas Carol’ ______Extract Taken from Stave One: Marley’s Ghost ______‘Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that ______people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way. The ancient tower of a church, How does the bell in the old church make the reader feel? whose gruff old bell was always peeping slyly down at What is the effect of the personification and simile here? Scrooge out of a gothic window in the wall, became ______invisible, and struck the hours and quarters in the ______clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards, as if its ______teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. ______The cold became intense. In the main street, at the corner of the court, some labourers were repairing the Why could this be considered foreshadowing? gas-pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a brazier, ______round which a party of ragged men and boys were ______gathered: warming their hands and winking their eyes ______before the blue blaze in rapture. The water-plug being ______left in solitude, its over-flowings sullenly congealed, ______and turned to misanthropic ice. The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp-heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as What atmosphere is created here? Is it pleasant? Why? they passed. Poulterers’ and grocers’ trades became a ______splendid joke: a glorious pageant, with which it was ______next impossible to believe that such dull principles as ______bargain and sale had anything to do. The Lord Mayor, in ______the stronghold of the might Mansion House, gave ______orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas ______as a Lord Mayor’s household should; and even the little ______tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the pervious ______Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty in the streets, stirred up to-morrow’s pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and the baby sallied out to buy the beef. What’s different between the lives of the Lord Mayor and the little tailor? Why does Dickens use contrast here? ______Glossary

Word Definition Word Definition proffering To offer a service. brazier A portable heater with a pan to burn coal in. conduct To guide or lead someone. rapture Amazement. gruff Something rough and low. solitude Loneliness. tremulous Shaking / quivering. congealed Something that has cooled and hardened. labourers Workers. misanthropic Having / showing a dislike to people. An unsociable thing. ruddy Having a healthy red colour / flushed pageant A public entertainment with bright cheeks. costumes – like a festival. sallied To set out from somewhere to do something.

TEXT B

"Don't be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us tomorrow." Scrooge said that he would see him -- yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. "But why?" cried Scrooge's nephew. "Why?" "Why did you get married?" said Scrooge. "Because I fell in love." "Because you fell in love!" growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. "Good afternoon!" "Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?" "Good afternoon," said Scrooge. "I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?" "Good afternoon," said Scrooge. "I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!" "Good afternoon," said Scrooge. "And A Happy New Year!" "Good afternoon!" said Scrooge. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding.

Look closely at how Scrooge and his nephew speak and behave here. What does it reveal about their relationship? Summarise your thoughts in a paragraph below. ______

TEXT C "Scrooge and Marley's, I believe," said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. "Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?" "Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years," Scrooge replied. "He died seven years ago, this very night." "We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner," said the gentleman, presenting his credentials. It certainly was; for they had been two kindred spirits. At the ominous word "liberality," Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back. "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 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." "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 not." "The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge. "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 glad to hear it." "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 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. "You wish to be anonymous?" "I wish to be left alone," said Scrooge. "Since you ask me what I wish, 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." "Many can't go there; and many would rather die." "If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Look closely at how Scrooge speaks and behaves here. How does Dickens use language to present this character? Complete the WHAT HOW WHY table on the following page. Remember the work on context you did earlier in the booklet.

What? How? Why? 1. What is Dickens suggesting about Scrooge 1. How does Dickens use language and structure here? 1. Why does Dickens use the devices he uses in order to in this extract? AO1: sustain focus on the task AO2: analyse and appreciate writers’ use of language, form and structure present Scrooge in this way? What is Dickens’ message to his 2. What evidence supports this? 2. How does he convey his message to the audience? readers? (Remember the work on context you’ve done! AO1: AO1: include pertinent, direct references from across the AO2: make assured reference to meanings and effects; explore and evaluate sensitive & evaluative approach to the task; analyse the extract & wider text critically; extract and wider text, including quotations. the way ideas are conveyed AO3: context

TEXT D

"How now!" said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever. "What do you want with me?" "Much!" -- Marley's voice, no doubt about it. "Who are you?" "Ask me who I was." "Who were you then?" said Scrooge, raising his voice. "You're particular, for a shade." He was going to say "to a shade," but substituted this, as more appropriate. "In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley." "Can you -- can you sit down?" asked Scrooge, looking doubtfully at him. "I can." "Do it then." Scrooge asked the question, because he didn't know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. But the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fireplace, as if he were quite used to it. "You don't believe in me," observed the Ghost. "I don't." said Scrooge. "What evidence would you have of my reality, beyond that of your senses?" "I don't know," said Scrooge. "Why do you doubt your senses?" "Because," said Scrooge, "a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!" Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre's voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones. To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. There was something very awful, too, in the spectre’s being provided with an infernal atmosphere of its own. Scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was clearly the case; for though the Ghost sat perfectly motionless, its hair, and skirts, and tassels, were still agitated as by the hot vapour from an oven.

How is this scene structured to shock and entertain the reader? What are your thoughts and feelings about Scrooge’s initial reaction to Marley’s ghost?

TEXT E

"It matters little," she said, softly. "To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve." "What Idol has displaced you?" he rejoined. "A golden one." "This is the even-handed dealing of the world!" he said. "There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!" "You fear the world too much," she answered, gently. "All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?" "What then?" he retorted. "Even if I have grown so much wiser, what then? I am not changed towards you." She shook her head. "Am I?" "Our contract is an old one. It was 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." "I was a boy," he said impatiently. "Your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are," she returned. "I am. That which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two. How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say. It is enough that I have thought of it, and can release you." "Have I ever sought release?" "In words. No. Never." "In what, then?" "In a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another Hope as its great end. In everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. If this had never been between us," said the girl, looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him; "tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me now? Ah, no!"

Look closely at how Scrooge and the girl speak and behave. What does it reveal about their relationship?

TEXT F

He sat very close to his father's side upon his little stool. Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him. ``Spirit,'' said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, ``tell me if Tiny Tim will live.'' `Ì see a vacant seat,'' replied the Ghost, `ìn the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.'' ``No, no,'' said Scrooge. `Òh, no, kind Spirit! say he will be spared.'' `Ìf 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.'' Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief. ``Man,'' said the Ghost, `ìf 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 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; `Ì'll give you Mr Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!'' ``The Founder of the Feast indeed!'' cried Mrs Cratchit, reddening. `Ì 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.'' `Ìt should be Christmas Day, I am sure,'' said she, `òn 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.'' `Ì'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.

Look closely at how the different characters speak and behave here. How do you think an audience might respond to Scrooge at this point in the novel?

TEXT H

``He said that Christmas was a humbug, as I live!'' cried Scrooge's nephew. ``He believed it too!''

``More shame for him, Fred!'' said Scrooge's niece, indignantly. Bless those women; they never do anything by halves. They are always in earnest.

She was very pretty: exceedingly pretty. With a dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissed -- as no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her chin, that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw in any little creature's head. Altogether she was what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. Oh, perfectly satisfactory!

``He's a comical old fellow,'' said Scrooge's nephew, ``that's the truth: and not so pleasant as he might be. However, his offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him.''

``I'm sure he is very rich, Fred,'' hinted Scrooge's niece. ``At least you always tell me so.''

``What of that, my dear!'' said Scrooge's nephew. ``His wealth is of no use to him. He don't do any good with it. He don't make himself comfortable with it. He hasn't the satisfaction of thinking -- ha, ha, ha! -- that he is ever going to benefit Us with it.''

``I have no patience with him,'' observed Scrooge's niece. Scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other ladies, expressed the same opinion.

``Oh, I have!'' said Scrooge's nephew. ``I am sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. Who suffers by his ill whims? Himself, always. Here, he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. What's the consequence? He don't lose much of a dinner.''

``Indeed, I think he loses a very good dinner,'' interrupted Scrooge's niece.

Look closely at how Scrooge’s nephew and niece speak about him here. What does their conversation reveal about their thoughts and feelings for the protagonist (Scrooge)?

TEXT I

The Spirit was immovable as ever.

Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge.

``Am I that man who lay upon the bed?'' he cried, upon his knees.

The finger pointed from the grave to him, and back again.

``No, Spirit! Oh no, no!''

The finger still was there.

``Spirit!'' he cried, tight clutching at 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?''

For the first time the hand appeared to shake.

``Good Spirit,'' he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: ``Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!''

The kind hand trembled.

``I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.

Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!''

In his agony, he caught the spectral hand. It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it. The Spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him.

Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate reversed, he saw an alteration in the Phantom's hood and dress. It shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a bedpost.

How does Dickens use language here to present Scrooge? How does it compare to his presentation in Stave One?

Complete the WHAT HOW WHY table on the following page.

What? How? Why? 1. What does Dickens suggest about Scrooge 1. How does Dickens use language and structure to 1. Why does Dickens use the devices he uses in order to & how he has changed? AO1: sustain focus on the task present the character of Scrooge? AO2: analyse and present Scrooge in this way? What is Dickens’ message to his 2. What evidence supports this? appreciate writers’ use of language, form and structure readers? AO1: sensitive & evaluative approach to the task; analyse the extract & AO1: include pertinent, direct references from across the extract 2. How does he convey his message to the audience? wider text critically; AO3: context and wider text, including quotations. AO2: make assured reference to meanings and effects; explore and evaluate the way ideas are conveyed

TEXT K

He had not gone far, when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman, who had walked into his counting-house the day before, and said, ``Scrooge and Marley's, I believe?'' It sent a pang across his heart to think how this old gentleman would look upon him when they met; but he knew what path lay straight before him, and he took it. ``My dear sir,'' said Scrooge, quickening his pace, and taking the old gentleman by both his hands. ``How do you do? I hope you succeeded yesterday. It was very kind of you. A merry Christmas to you, sir!'' ``Mr Scrooge?'' ``Yes,'' said Scrooge. ``That is my name, and I fear it may not be pleasant to you. Allow me to ask your pardon. And will you have the goodness --'' here Scrooge whispered in his ear. ``Lord bless me!'' cried the gentleman, as if his breath were gone. ``My dear Mr Scrooge, are you serious?'' `Ìf you please,'' said Scrooge. ``Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you. Will you do me that favour?'' ``My dear sir,'' said the other, shaking hands with him. `Ì don't know what to say to such munifi-'' ``don't say anything, please,'' retorted Scrooge. ``Come and see me. Will you come and see me?'' `Ì will!'' cried the old gentleman. And it was clear he meant to do it. ``Thank 'ee,'' said Scrooge. `Ì am much obliged to you. I thank you fifty times. Bless you!''

How do the events in this extract contribute to a satisfying resolution to Scrooge’s story? Summarise your thoughts in a paragraph below. ______

COMPARING STAVES ONE & FIVE

Write an opposite quotation which contrasts with those from Stave 5.

Stave 1 Stave 5 What has changed?

‘Bah! Humbug!’ ‘Merry Christmas!’ Scrooge has learnt the reason why people celebrate Christmas and the true meaning of the season.

‘No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious. Glorious!’

‘I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.’

‘That is my name, and I fear it may not be pleasant to you. Allow me to ask your pardon.’ ‘Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you.’

‘Will you let me in, Fred?’

‘Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle’

‘I’ll raise your salary’

Plot Summary of ‘A Christmas Carol’

A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting-house on a cold Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom because Scrooge refuses to spend money on heating coals for a fire. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, pays his uncle a visit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. Two portly gentlemen also drop by and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge reacts to the holiday visitors with bitterness and venom, spitting out an angry "Bah! Humbug!" in response to his nephew's "Merry Christmas!" Later that evening, after returning to his dark, cold apartment, Scrooge receives a chilling visitation from the ghost of his dead business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley, looking haggard and pallid, relates his unfortunate story. As punishment for his greedy and self-serving life his spirit has been condemned to wander the Earth weighted down with heavy chains. Marley hopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. Marley informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him. After the ghost disappears, Scrooge collapses into a deep sleep. He wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases from the curmudgeon's earlier years. Invisible to those he watches, Scrooge revisits his childhood school days, his apprenticeship with a jolly merchant named Fezziwig, and his engagement to Belle, a woman who leaves Scrooge because his lust for money eclipses his ability to love another. Scrooge, deeply moved, sheds tears of regret before the phantom returns him to his bed. The Ghost of Christmas Present, a majestic giant clad in a green fur robe, takes Scrooge through London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year. Scrooge watches the large, bustling Cratchit family prepare a miniature feast in its meager home. He discovers Bob Cratchit's crippled son, Tiny Tim, a courageous boy whose kindness and humility warms Scrooge's heart. The specter then zips Scrooge to his nephew's to witness the Christmas party. Scrooge finds the jovial gathering delightful and pleads with the spirit to stay until the very end of the festivities. As the day passes, the spirit ages, becoming noticeably older. Toward the end of the day, he shows Scrooge two starved children, Ignorance and Want, living under his coat. He vanishes instantly as Scrooge notices a dark, hooded figure coming toward him. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come leads Scrooge through a sequence of mysterious scenes relating to an unnamed man's recent death. Scrooge sees businessmen discussing the dead man's riches, some vagabonds trading his personal effects for cash, and a poor couple expressing relief at the death of their unforgiving creditor. Scrooge, anxious to learn the lesson of his latest visitor, begs to know the name of the dead man. After pleading with the ghost, Scrooge finds himself in a churchyard, the spirit pointing to a grave. Scrooge looks at the headstone and is shocked to read his own name. He desperately implores the spirit to alter his fate, promising to renounce his insensitive, avaricious ways and to honor Christmas with all his heart. Whoosh! He suddenly finds himself safely tucked in his bed. Overwhelmed with joy by the chance to redeem himself and grateful that he has been returned to Christmas Day, Scrooge rushes out onto the street hoping to share his newfound Christmas spirit. He sends a giant Christmas turkey to the Cratchit house and attends Fred's party, to the stifled surprise of the other guests. As the years go by, he holds true to his promise and honors Christmas with all his heart: he treats Tiny Tim as if he were his own child, provides lavish gifts for the poor, and treats his fellow human beings with kindness, generosity, and warmth. He is transformed.

Tasks: 1. Highlight key events 2. Summarise plot in 10 points; on each point aim to include: A quotation A contextual link An associated theme 22

You must know all key characters and themes:

CHARACTERS Ebenezer Scrooge

Christmas Past

Christmas Present

Christmas Yet to Come

The Cratchits

Fred

The Charity Gentlemen

Fezziwig

Belle

THEMES (Post-Reading Activity) 1. Summarise how each theme links to the play 2. Which characters are linked to each theme? 3. Note any key quotes

o Christmas 1. ______2. ______3. ______o The Supernatural (Ghosts) 1. ______2. ______3. ______o Poverty 1. ______2. ______3. ______o Charity 1. ______2. ______3. ______o Family 1. ______2. ______3. ______o Isolation/Loneliness 1. ______2. ______3. ______23

Year 10 READING ASSESSMENT for Term 1b

SECTION B (19th Century Prose)

A Christmas Carol

You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question. You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole novel to answer this question.

Write about Scrooge and the way he changes throughout the novel.

In your response you should: refer to the extract and the novel as a whole; show your understanding of characters and events in the novel; refer to the contexts of the novel. [40]

Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. 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. Foul weather didn't know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often 'came down' handsomely, and Scrooge never did. 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. 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!' 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.