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it's officially 30 days until the start
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of the first gcsc exam and if you're in
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11 time is something that's quite
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precious to you at the moment so what I
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wanted to do guys was to literally give
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you a bite-sized video of everything you
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need to know when it comes to Christmas
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Carol if you're setting this as part of
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your set text for the English literature
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paper one exam okay so this video what I
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wanted to do was to offer literally
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everything you need to know when it
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comes to context theme and key Cod for
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the main characters within this noela by
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Charles Dickens so as you can see behind
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me basically I've created a mind map of
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sorts okay so it's kind of like a little
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bit of an elaborate mind map where I
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basically outline the main context
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points to REM remember okay so if you
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forget everything else when it comes to
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context and this is really important for
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AO3 literally just remember these main
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points and you're fine and you're
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covered for context of course also what
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you need to remember if you forget
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everything when it comes to themes these
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are the main themes to remember and of
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of course when it comes to the main
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characters including Scrooge Bob
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cratchet as well as the three ghosts
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ghost is Christmas past present and
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future the main quotations to memorize
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for all of these characters now guys I
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actually created um this and put this
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into like a little PDF file so guys if
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you want to download this and have this
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a copy of this just literally follow the
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link below and you can download it for
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free okay however what I want to do guys
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is to literally Begin by going over the
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definitive context you need to know for
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Christmas Carol themes as well as the
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main quotations that you can talk about
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and then what I'm going to do is to go
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through a model answer that I've
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prepared for the 2020 paper so let's
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begin with context these are the main
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four context points to be aware of when
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it comes to Christmas Carol firstly
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remember that Dickens his own father
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went to a detis prison when he was just
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12 years old and as a result of going to
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des's prison he had to be put to work at
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12 years old okay so Dickens was writing
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about for example the children ignorance
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and want from a place of experience okay
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that's the first contextual factor to be
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aware of Dickens actually wasn't writing
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about all of these kids who worked as
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chimney sweepers and so on and of course
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in Christmas Carol ignorance and what he
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wasn't talking about it from a place of
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just ideas he directly experienced what
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it was like to have to be put to work at
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a young age okay because his dad went to
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aa's prison so he had to work for a bit
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when he was 12 years old in order to try
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and provide for the family that's the
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first context point you need to remember
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and to understand hence Dickens really
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empathized with the poor the second
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context point to remember is of course
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the 1834 new poor law it was basically a
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law that was passed which basically
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stated that if you're poor and you're
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unable to look after yourself the
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government can help you as long as you
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were willing to work for free in a
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workhouse which is going to provide your
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accommodation and the accommodation that
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workhouses telling to provide was
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basically the cold Factory floor okay
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this obviously this poor law was seen by
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Dickens as actually punishing the poor
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for their position and he was very very
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critical of it of course this poor law
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is alluded to and referred to by scruin
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who says that there no prisons and there
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no workhouses okay this is showing
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obviously how insensitive he was the
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third context point is to remember is to
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do with a guy called Thomas malus Thomas
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malus basically came up with a fairly
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harsh Theory what he said is
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overpopulation is one of the reasons why
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there's lots of poverty in Victorian
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England and you know there's just a
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problem of poverty there's just way too
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many of us and actually things like
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disease mics and so on are actually
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quite good because they kill off quite a
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number of us and reduce overpopulation
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now Dickens when he read this theory was
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very very critical of it he saw it
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firstly as very insensitive it's almost
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like saying that the poor deserve to die
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because of um there being too many of
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them and of course it also takes the
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pressure away from the government to do
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something to help the poor okay so
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Dickens again talks about this and
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alludes to this when uh Scrooge refers
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to the Surplus population the better
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diet and reduce the Surplus population
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it's a reference to Thomas malus who
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Dickens was quite critical of the fourth
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context point to remember if you forget
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every other context point is to do of
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course with the Industrial Revolution
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Dickens is a Victorian writer he was
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there at the height of the Industrial
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Revolution whilst obviously it brought
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lots of progress when it came to
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factories and so on Dickens was also
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highly critical of the fact that the
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Industrial Revolution created an even
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worse social divide okay so the
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divisions between the very few Factory
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owners who became quite Rich versus the
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poor on Whose backs the Industrial
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Revolution was built was something that
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Dickens was quite critical of those are
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the main context points if you forget
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everything to do with context if you're
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not sure you know you look at an extract
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and you're like I literally do not
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remember everything I've got a blank
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just remember these four context points
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and you are good for the upcoming
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English literature paper one exam now
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let's talk about themes the main themes
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that you need to be aware of starting
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with Christmas now remember Dickens was
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writing for FY a very religious audience
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okay people were quite religious at this
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time and he wanted to use A Christmas
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Carol as a noela to remind them firstly
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of the importance of Christmas Christmas
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was a time of being charitable and
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giving remember God gave his only son
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Jesus okay who was born on Christmas day
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but also so Not only was it a reminder
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to his readers that they need to be
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giving of course it's also a reminder of
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the importance of spending Christmas
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time with the family and the loved ones
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that's the first theme to remember and
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to obviously talk about if relevant to
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the question the second theme to bear in
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mind is of course the theme of
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redemption dickons didn't want to use
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Scrooge to just scare his readers and
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say oh look at you know how terrible he
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is all the bad Deeds he's done he now
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deserves to go to hell actually Dickens
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wanted to use this story as a really
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positive story in the sense that it has
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a positive outcome if you genuinely
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change remember Redemption is the idea
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of forgiveness if you show that you're
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genuinely Sorry God gives you a second
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chance as did the ghosts who gave
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Scrooge a second chance okay as long as
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rich people Factory owners business
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people change their ways they're kind of
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to poor people that pay the workers more
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fairly actually they are capable of
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redemption that's the main thing that
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Dickens was trying to illustrate through
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Christmas Carol the third theme to
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remember and to be aware of is of course
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the theme of Charity the whole story is
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based on charity and the importance of
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giving to the poor one of the things
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that Dickens wanted to do was to
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encourage his Rich readers remember at
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this time the people who tended in
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Victorian era to have the time and you
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know the Leisure to read dickens' stuff
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wasn't working class people who are busy
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working he was writing usually for an
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upper class Rich reader who was somebody
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of leisure therefore he was writing to
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remind them of the importance of giving
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charitably to the poor of being generous
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of paying them higher wages that's the
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next third theme to remember the fourth
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theme is of course to do with social
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injustice this novel criticizes the very
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massive gaps in Victorian England
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between the few Rich who were like
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Scrooge Who were very comfortable but
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also a little bit misily they weren't
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paying the workers fairly
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versus the vast majority of poor people
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now Dickens not only did he want to
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criticize his Rich readers and obviously
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Rich um businessmen and so on but also
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Dickens was quite critical of the
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government okay because the government
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basically passed laws such as the 1834
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new poor law as a way of protecting the
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rich rather than looking after the poor
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okay so of course he was also quite
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critical of the government in terms of
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helping out the rich and widening this
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Gap okay poor people were not really
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looked up after they weren't re helped
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if anything they were just sent to
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prisons or workhouses whilst the rich
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were protected by the government Dickens
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was both trying to trigger his wealthy
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readers to change but also he was
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criticizing how the government was in
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its approach towards the poor the fifth
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and final theme to be aware of if you
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forget everything else is of course the
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theme of family and this is most clearly
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Illustrated through Scrooge and Fred
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okay so Fred illustrates the importance
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of family family offers you a source of
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support it's also a source of strength
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through hardships okay and Scrooge
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unlike all the other characters who have
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families within this novel such as Fred
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and his family Belle and her family as
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well as Bob cratchet and his family
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Scrooge is actually very isolated okay
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so also Dickens wants to use this novel
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as a way to illustrate the importance of
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family in providing us comfort in
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providing us companionship and also
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Solace a place to you know go to in
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times of hardship this is something that
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Scrooge neglected and ultimately he was
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isolated as a result now let's look at
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the main quotations if you literally
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forget everything else with key
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characters these are the main quotations
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to just commit to memory and remember
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let's start off with obviously the first
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main character which is Scrooge of
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course the simile solitary as an oyster
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encapsulates Scrooge's a character it
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captures this essence of what Scrooge is
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like at the beginning of the novel he's
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quite solitary he's totally cut off and
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also his greed only makes him more
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miserable if anything Dickens is is
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trying to show that when he became more
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charitable he was also around other
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people people loved him and he was less
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solitary that's the first quotation to
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remember and it's a simile the second of
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course is when he says b humbug okay
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when he's basically saying oh what
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rubbish again what we can see here is he
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disdains Christmas and of course this
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changes the third quotation is when he's
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directly alluding to the new poor laws
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are there no prisons dot dot dot
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workhouses if you wanted to say you know
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you can add are there no prisons
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rhetorical question one are there no
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workhouses so it's two rhetorical
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questions
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and of course what this illustrates is
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how Scrooge at first is very very um
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uncharitable he's very harsh towards the
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poor he's quite mly quite greedy and he
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almost sees the poor as inhuman okay
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they are you know good enough to be
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thrown into prisons and workhouses and
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he doesn't see them as deserving of his
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charity of course he changes because
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this is Illustrated when he gradually
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realizes when he's taken to see
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fezziwig's old boss and the Ghost of
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Christmas Past mocks the party that Fe
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wig through for all of them and
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especially Scrooge as an apprentice and
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Scrooge says what do you mean you know
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it's a small matter what fzy wig did he
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did such a positive thing for us and he
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had the power to make us happy or
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unhappy now Scrooge is speaking here
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using oxy opposite words and what
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he's basically saying is employers
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businessmen just like him have the power
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to really change the lives of their
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workers okay and it's up to them with
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what they're going to do with this power
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okay and of course what this novel is
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trying to illustrate to Dickens readers
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is that they need to think about this
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immense power that they have especially
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if they have employees in making their
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lives easier or harder the final
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quotation which obviously illustrates um
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Scrooge first he being offered a chance
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at Redemption at redeeming himself okay
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so the Ghost of Christmas um Yet to Come
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basically gives him yet another chance
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so we can see he's forgiven and given a
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chance at Redemption and of course he
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genuinely changes is when he says I will
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live in the past dot do dot present do
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do dot Future Okay so past present and
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future this is Rule of three here we can
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see that Scrooge has completely
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transformed he's changed and how he has
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changed is what Dickens wishes his
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wealthy readers would transform into
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okay so those are the main quotations to
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remember with Scrooge as well as the um
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techniques that go with them the second
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key character of course is Bob cratchet
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he is a symbol of the poor okay now in
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terms of Bob cratchet these are the
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three main quotations to remember if you
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forget everything to do with Bob
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cratchet or other poor characters
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mentioned in this
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okay the first quotation is when we
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learn how he's described right how
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withdrawn he is initially when we see
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him in scro's office we learn the
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clerk's fire was so very much smaller so
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now here we can see this comparative
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adjective smaller as well as of course
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the noun fire what does this illustrate
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what this illustrates is how misly how
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mean Scrooge was but equally how Bob
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cratch it like most poor people are very
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accustomed to being mistreated by their
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employers okay it symbolizes how lots of
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workingclass poor people in Victorian
00:12:00
England were really accustomed that were
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used to be mistreated by their work by
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their employers the second quotation
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which is related to Bob crater's
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character is during the Christmas meal
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we can see that he's still really really
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happy with the little his wife is able
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to cook for them but um the narrator
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Dickens still admits it was a small
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pudding for a large family now what you
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want to emphasize here is the oxymoron
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small and Lodge it's illustrating how
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Scrooge under pain Bob cratchet led him
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to not be able ble to provide very well
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for his family they had such a small
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Christmas meal but then on the other
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hand even if they didn't have a great
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life they were still very happy because
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they were together as a unified family
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the final creation that illustrates Bob
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crater's character is of course when
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Tiny Tim dies and Bater is crying out my
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little little child which is an
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exclamatory sentence as well as the
00:12:50
repetition of little here we can see the
00:12:52
direct consequences the direct impact of
00:12:54
Scrooge's behavior on the workingclass
00:12:57
poor he has directly led to the death of
00:13:00
Bob ket's own son now the other key
00:13:03
character of course is the Ghost of
00:13:05
Christmas Past so of course it starts
00:13:07
with past present and future all right
00:13:08
so let's have a look at the G of
00:13:10
Christmas Past the first quotation is
00:13:11
how he appears okay he seems like a
00:13:13
child dot dot dot like an old man this
00:13:16
simile which ju supposes how the ghost
00:13:18
both looks like a child and an old man
00:13:20
is really powerful because what this is
00:13:22
illustrating is a symbolizing the child
00:13:24
aspect is symbolizing the spirit taking
00:13:26
Scrooge back to when he was a child a k
00:13:29
to remind him of his childhood and his
00:13:30
innocence and of course the old man
00:13:33
symbolizes Scrooge in his current state
00:13:35
as an older adult who's quite bitter and
00:13:38
also whose innocence has been robbed
00:13:40
through his greed and his selfishness
00:13:42
the second quotation for Ghost of
00:13:43
Christmas Past is when the ghost
00:13:45
sarcastically States um when he's
00:13:47
talking about fezziwig's party a small
00:13:49
matter dot dot dot to make these silly
00:13:51
folks so full of gratitude so of course
00:13:53
the ghost is um making fun of feck's
00:13:55
party saying oh it's not really a big
00:13:56
deal but of course Scrooge says no it's
00:13:58
a massive deal fezziwig has the power to
00:14:00
render us happy or unhappy of course
00:14:02
what the ghost is doing is he's
00:14:03
transforming Scrooge he's making Scrooge
00:14:05
realize the power he had to make Bob
00:14:07
cratches life easier the final quotation
00:14:09
for the Ghost of Christmas Past is when
00:14:11
he when we learn once Scrooge is
00:14:13
starting to absorb the lesson this is
00:14:15
towards the end of that Stave okay the
00:14:17
ghost its light was burning Ellipsis
00:14:21
bright and here we've got a literation
00:14:23
of the plosives B we can see here that
00:14:26
the spirit is starting to see that
00:14:27
Scrooge is transforming he's start to
00:14:29
internalize how he should change those
00:14:31
are the quotations for the Ghost of
00:14:32
Christmas Past now with the Ghost of
00:14:33
Christmas present the first quotation is
00:14:35
how he's described as a jolly giant okay
00:14:38
Jolly which is an adjective actually
00:14:40
contrasts our expectations as readers
00:14:42
usually when we think about ghosts we
00:14:43
think about them as being these scary
00:14:45
evil malevolent forces but actually this
00:14:48
ghost is almost a little bit like Santa
00:14:49
Claus okay the other quotation is of
00:14:52
course when he presents the two children
00:14:54
to Scrooge and these children symbolize
00:14:57
the impact of poverty on Young young
00:14:59
children okay young people the future
00:15:00
generation it robs them of their
00:15:02
innocence and this is Illustrated
00:15:03
through this list yellow Mega ragged
00:15:06
okay yellow Mega ragged scowling wolfish
00:15:08
if you wanted to also add those extra
00:15:10
adjectives now what this listing is
00:15:11
emphasizing is how people like Scrooge
00:15:14
and Rich readers actually caused the
00:15:17
young children okay so the children of
00:15:20
the people they employed to suffer their
00:15:22
innocence was robbed they looked really
00:15:24
unnatural okay and it was all down to
00:15:26
people like Scrooge the final quotation
00:15:27
for G of Christmas present is this boy's
00:15:29
ignorance this girl is want remember
00:15:31
ignorance is used to represent children
00:15:34
who uh never go and get an education
00:15:36
right they remain ignorant they don't
00:15:37
get an education because they don't get
00:15:39
an education they can't get jobs and
00:15:40
they tend to turn to crime in order to
00:15:44
fund their Lifestyles and that's why um
00:15:46
The Ghost says beware most of this child
00:15:48
okay because they're going to be a
00:15:49
menace to society they're going to be a
00:15:51
menace to people like Scrooge the other
00:15:53
of course um symbol of the girl being
00:15:55
want want just means lack of right
00:15:58
wanting B basic necessities like
00:16:00
clothing and not wearing Rags okay a lot
00:16:02
of these children were ragged children
00:16:04
that's why they even went to ragged
00:16:05
schools okay cuz they're literally wore
00:16:07
Rags uh wanting just basic um housing
00:16:10
and so on okay so the girl symbolizes
00:16:12
just children who lacked just the bare
00:16:14
minimum The Bare Basics and the best
00:16:15
Necessities the final quotations and the
00:16:18
final set of quotes to remember is of
00:16:19
course to do with the Ghost of Christmas
00:16:21
future he's the most Sinister Ghost and
00:16:23
the first quotation relates to how he is
00:16:25
dressed in a deep black garment the
00:16:28
adjective black black emphasizes this um
00:16:31
Sinister appearance but also it
00:16:33
foreshadows the death of Scrooge
00:16:35
remember the color black is related to
00:16:37
coffins and death okay and of course its
00:16:40
appearance foreshadow Scrooge's eventual
00:16:42
death when he sees his gravestone the
00:16:44
second quotation is how the Phantom
00:16:45
pointed alliteration of P here
00:16:48
illustrates that it's unyielding it's
00:16:50
pointing and almost showing Scrooge that
00:16:51
your fate is set you're going to become
00:16:53
like Jacob Marley however the final
00:16:55
quotation which illustrates that the
00:16:57
spirit decides to forgive him and gives
00:16:59
another chance is when we learn the kind
00:17:01
hand trembled and of course kind which
00:17:03
is an adjective illustrates that the
00:17:04
ghost believe Scrooge can be redeemed he
00:17:06
can be forgiven so he forgives him and
00:17:08
gives him another chance so as I
00:17:10
mentioned if you literally forget
00:17:11
everything else just remember this and
00:17:13
you're absolutely fine when it comes to
00:17:15
the upcoming exams and as I mentioned
00:17:17
you can literally download all of this
00:17:19
in the link below now what I'm now going
00:17:22
to do is show you a model response for
00:17:24
the 2020 exam okay so I'm going to walk
00:17:26
you through guys um how I answer this
00:17:29
exam paper
