Prepare to Write Your Essay
Introduction How will you grab your reader’s attention? What does it mean to live a good life? People have asked and considered this question for centuries, and many have answered it in different ways. Claim: Through Scrooge’s experiences and character development, Dickens shows readers that he believes the “business” of being human is to care for and build meaningful relationships with others. How will you address alternate or opposing claims (either in the introduction or body of the essay)? Although some people like Scrooge believe that making money and achieving financial success is a person’s business, Dickens uses Scrooge’s character development to show that our real business should be to care for and build meaningful relationships with others. Body Paragraph #1 Scrooge’s definition of man’s “business” in Stave I and its impact: At the beginning of the novel, Ebenezer Scrooge is a lonely, callous miser who believes his “business” is to make money at all costs. Relevant Evidence #1:“ Come, then,” returned the nephew gaily. “What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.” Explanation: How does this support your topic sentence? Fred’s words acknowledge that even though Scrooge has significant wealth given his focus on his financial business, he remains unhappy in life. Relevant Evidence #2: “Are there no prisons?... And the Union workhouses . Are they still in operation?” When the … men state that many people would rather die than go to the union workhouses, Scrooge replies, “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Explanation: How does this support your topic sentence? Despite being in a position where he can help others, Scrooge refuses to show any compassion or to give anything of himself to others. As a result, he is isolated and left alone in his misery to pursue his business of making money. Body Paragraph #2 Scrooge’s changed definition of business and its impact: Dickens uses Scrooge’s character development to show that our real business should be to care for and build meaningful relationships with others. Relevant Evidence #1: Bob serves the cider “with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Then Bob proposed: ‘A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us.’ Which all the family reechoed. ‘God bless us every one!’ said Tiny Tim, the last of all.” Explanation: After watching the Cratchit family celebrate with such love and appreciation for one another despite their difficult circumstances, Scrooge is moved and asks the Ghost whether Tiny Tim will live. He realizes how important their connections to one another are and how devastating it would be for the family if Tiny Tim were to become sicker or die. Relevant Evidence #2: “When this strain of music sounded, all the things that Ghost had shown him, came upon his mind; he softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have
Grade 7: A Christmas Carol
cultivated the kindnesses of life for his own happiness with his own hands, without resorting to the sexton’s spade that buried Jacob Marley.” Explanation: How does this support your topic sentence? This shows that Scrooge has begun to relax and enjoy the merriment, and that he is even considering how his life might be different had he cultivated kindness instead of focusing on making money.
Conclusion Restate your claim: Throughout A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens shows readers that he believes caring for and building relationships with others is our true business as humans. Concluding thoughts that follow from and support your argument:This lesson that Dickens shows through Scrooge is one of the many reasons for the text’s lasting legacy that spans generations.
Grade 7: A Christmas Carol