...J Hansen Mrs. Burnham Language Arts, Period 4 13 December 2016 A Christmas Carol: Literary Analysis Essay Have you ever thought about the Victorian Era and how different life is today? This is significant because there was so much tragedy and Charles Dickens wrote about it in A Christmas Carol. Truly the only way people survived was by caring. Charles Dickens grew up in the Victorian Era being very poor. He wanted people to realize how life was in the low social class in Victorian England, so he wrote A Christmas Carol. The story is about how Scrooge changes throughout the book, childhood innocence, and social justice. Scrooge’s personality and attitude from the beginning of the book to the end changed dramatically. Dickens also indirectly...
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...‘A Christmas Carol’ covers a period of 24 hours from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day. It is a simple morality tale of the radical change in the character Ebenezer Scrooge from being bitter, iron fisted and miserable to becoming a new, openhearted and charitable man. The novel was first published in 1843, a time when many of the wealthy people neglected the old Christmas spirit of charity. In addition, the Industrial Revolution had further done away with the simple pleasures of the season. Dickens’ intentions in writing ‘A Christmas Carol’ were not only linked to his own childhood and sympathy for the poor, but he was also making an appeal to the rich people of society to mend their selfish ways. Dickens is able to show the change in Scrooge’s character by establishing what Scrooge is like at the very beginning of the story with the first two words he says: ‘“Bah! Humbug!’’ ’It is clear from the dismissive tone and the two exclamation marks that Scrooge has no patience with the idea of Christmas as a special time. At the start of the novel, Dickens is using Scrooge, someone who associates happiness with nothing but money, as a classic example of a wealthy person in the 19th Century. He does this with Scrooge inquiring of his nephew ‘“What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.”’ Scrooge’s manor in saying this reveals certain elements of his character such as his shallowness and uncaring nature. In Scrooge saying this it demonstrates to the reader that Scrooge does...
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...“He became as good as a friend, as good as a master, and as good as a man, as the good old city knew…” Discuss Scrooge’s transformation in A Christmas Carol In Charles Dickens Novella a Christmas Carol, the protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge transforms himself from a self-centred cold old man to a person who realises the true meaning of life and Christmas. Scrooge came to a point in life where he was confronted by his dead friend/business partner Jacob Marley to change his ways in order to escape the fate of ending up like him. In the process of changing his ways he had learnt to value important things in life such as happiness, love, and family more than the way he valued himself and his wealth. However Scrooges agreement to change could also be based on the fact that he didn’t want to lose his wealth and pass on which is quiet selfish. Dickens chooses to transform Scrooge in order to highlight the importance of kindness and its effects. Initially dickens introduces scrooge into the Novella as a selfish, cold, miser who cared about nothing more than himself and money. As he is confronted by the ghost of Christmas past, present and future he begins to transform himself. The ghost of Christmas past had showed him the kind of employer Fezziwig was towards Scrooge and this contrasts to how Scrooge mistreated Bob Cratchit. Fezziwig was a happy lively old man who made everyone around him happy “the happiness he gives is as great as if it costs a fortune”. Upon seeing and remembering...
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...to. They owe me money and I will collect what is due to me.” ( “A Christmas Carol”) Scrooge is very greedy and in the play and movie it shows how he becomes less greedy as well as how he got to be greedy. In both of the versions, Scrooge is taught to be less greedy by learning about others hardships and seeing his own as well. With as many similarities and differences the play and movie had it will be very interesting to see what is created in between them. The movie and play had many differences and similarities, some examples are, they both have a Mr. Scrooge character, they both have the same cast, they both help Mr. Scrooge find his Christmas spirit. Mr. Scrooge...
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...them. Still, Dickens believes that some, like Nancy, can free themselves from society’s influence and become more compassionate. Dickens lauds those who reflect the created order by showing concern for the needs of others, regardless of social standing or background; he also believes that humans can become corrupted by the world, so discovering inherent goodness is a struggle. People enter the world innocent and rational, and society quickly preys on them. Society strives to form each person into what it wants, changing how people grow over their lives. Scrooge of A Christmas Carol was once compassionate towards others and becomes hard-hearted after tragic events. He lost a sister and grew stingier, driving those in his life away. He comes to believe his responsibility was to himself. Dickens wants to show how being self-absorbed causes people to care only for themselves and not for others. “At the heart of Carol, Dickens had an economic message. A society in which the masters are concerned only with the bottom line and take no responsibility for the general welfare is a death-dealing society” (Davis). Scrooge cares only for...
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...6 Build Your Vocabulary ■ ■ ■ ■ The SAT High-Frequency Word List The SAT Hot Prospects Word List The 3,500 Basic Word List Basic Word Parts be facing on the test. First, look over the words on our SAT High-Frequency Word List, which you’ll find on the following pages. Each of these words has appeared (as answer choices or as question words) from eight to forty times on SATs published in the past two decades. Next, look over the words on our Hot Prospects List, which appears immediately after the High-Frequency List. Though these words don’t appear as often as the high-frequency words do, when they do appear, the odds are that they’re key words in questions. As such, they deserve your special attention. Now you’re ready to master the words on the High-Frequency and Hot Prospects Word Lists. First, check off those words you think you know. Then, look up all the words and their definitions in our 3,500 Basic Word List. Pay particular attention to the words you thought you knew. See whether any of them are defined in an unexpected way. If they are, make a special note of them. As you know from the preceding chapters, SAT often stumps students with questions based on unfamiliar meanings of familiar-looking words. Use the flash cards in the back of this book and create others for the words you want to master. Work up memory tricks to help yourself remember them. Try using them on your parents and friends. Not only will going over these high-frequency words reassure you that you...
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