Unit 4 English Kooweerup Secondary College. Unit 4 - Outcome 1 Outcome 1 On completion of this unit the student should be able to develop and justify.

Unit 4 EnglishKooweerup Secondary College

Unit 4 - Outcome 1Outcome 1On completion of this unit the student should be able to develop and justify a detailed interpretation of a selected text.

To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of study 1.

Key knowledgeThis knowledge includes:

• an understanding of the ideas, characters and themes constructed by the author and presented in the selected text;• the structures, features and conventions used by authors to construct meaning in a range of literary texts;• the ways in which authors express or imply a point of view and values;• the ways in which readers’ interpretations of texts differ and why;• strategies and techniques for constructing a detailed written interpretation of a text, supported by textual evidence and including appropriate metalanguage;• the conventions of spelling, punctuation and syntax of Standard Australian English.

Key skillsThese skills include the ability to:

• develop sustained interpretive points of view about texts, supported by detailed textual analysis and reference to features, structures and conventions;• analyse the ways in which authors express or imply a point of view or values;• use appropriate metalanguage to support a detailed interpretation of a text;• plan and revise written work for fluency and coherence;• use the conventions of spelling, punctuation and syntax of Standard Australian English.

A Christmas CarolBy Charles Dickens

UNIT 4 ENGLISH: Introduction

HISTORICAL SETTING

Victorian London 1840s

Dickens writes to describe a London that his readers will recognise, for example, Camden where the Cratchits live. .

The Industrial Revolution had brought about irrevocable changes in England. Poor farming families flocked to the cities hoping to find better lives as workers in the massive factories that were appearing.

London suddenly became overpopulated. It became a difficult time for the poor. Debtors were sent to jail and their children to work in factories, as chimney sweeps or domestic servants.

Workers like Bob Cratchit were forced to accept whatever treatment and wage he was offered.

HISTORICAL SETTINGDickens’ opinion was that those with riches and influence had a duty to take care of those who were less fortunate than themselves, particularly since their wealth was oftenfounded on the labours of a poorly paid workforce.

In ‘A Christmas Carol’, Dickens continued the deep commitment to social reform he had begun in novels like Oliver Twist (1837–1839) and Nicholas Nickleby (1838–1839), both of which sought to expose poverty and privation. (Privation: a state in which things that are essential for human well-being such as food and warmth are scarce or lacking).

Workhouses centralized distribution of aid and provided those in need with a roof over their heads and a food allowance. They were seen, by wealthier classes, as a deterrent to idleness but were a source of terror to the poor (who regarded them as prison-like).

HISTORICAL SETTING

Dickens uses the relationship between the miser and his clerk to draw attention to the enormous gap between the living conditions of masters (like Scrooge) and their workers (like Cratchit).

Social conditions in Britain in the 1840s were so markedly divided that Dickens referred to the country as being made up of two nations, the rich and the poor.

Part of Dickens’ aim as a novelist strongly committed to social reform was to make his comfortable middle-class readers aware of the poverty and degradation around them.

HISTORICAL SETTING

The novella is a damning indictment of the inertia of the British government and public in the 1840s and their failure to respond to widespread poverty and suffering. (Indictment: a thing that serves to illustrate that a system or situation is bad and deserves to be condemned).

Ebenezer Scrooge is an extreme example of the self-interest that Dickens sought to attack. Dickens lashes out at the greed and selfishness that he saw at the time.

HISTORICAL SETTING

Dickens used ‘A Christmas Carol’ to criticise Thomas Malthus who argued that the world could not sustain a large population and that famine and disease should be seen as a form of natural intervention to prevent overpopulation. For Malthus, a small and affluent society was more desirable than a large population across which resources would be stretched. His ideals are repeated throughout the novella, for example when Scrooge asks, “Are there no prisons?” and suggests that the poor die to “decrease the surplus population. Later, the Ghost of Christmas Present repeats Scrooge’s words to him to shame him with this reminder of his lack of compassion and empathy.

While the ideals of Malthus may seem logical, when applied to individual stories the underlying brutality becomes obvious. Dickens uses the Cratchit family to turn an abstract concept into a very real scenario.

HISTORICAL SETTING & DICKENS

Dickens felt first hand the effects of poverty in his youth. As a result of his father’s lack of business acumen, Dickens spent some of his youth in a poor house.

Like Scrooge, Dickens worked incredibly hard; he literally died at his desk. Whilst Scrooge and Dickens both loved money they see it for different means. For Dickens it represented security for him and his family, but for Scrooge it was more of a joy of money for its own sake.

GENRE

It is paradoxically a ‘Carol in Prose’ (suggesting a light, musical theme) but also ‘A Ghost Story of Christmas.’

It is a novella – shorter than a novel but longer than a short story.

GENREA Christmas tale A Christmas Carol is not a religious tale.

The appeal for most people at Christmas time is a personal or family one.

Part of its appeal is stories (and carols).

Dickens offers a very personal view of Christmas (and insight into the family lives of Scrooge and the Cratchits).

All families have their own traditions that they hold dear and ‘A Christmas Carol’ allows readers to reflect on their own experiences with it.

GENREA Christmas morality tale

In which evil is exposed, virtuous characters are rewarded and everyone celebrates at the conclusion.

Dickens’ first politicised Christmas book. He balances the cheerful with the bleak so that it was still well received by his readers. He had to take care not to articulate is broad political arguments too forcefully.

Christmas is traditionally a time to think of those who are less fortunate and whilst initially Scrooge refuses to adopt this ideal, other characters still demonstrate this belief, such as the two gentlemen.

GENREThe gothic genre

It is a thrilling ghost story that is at times chilling and terrifying.

Dickens blends realism and the supernatural to create a world in which the Gothic and mundane sit side by side.

Eighteenth century Gothic writing was highly formulaic and often remarkably melodramatic, often set in castles or houses and saw a protagonist fleeing from supernatural horrors.

Dickens often drew on Gothic elements to sensationalise his writing, as is the case with ‘A Christmas Carol’ with its dark, chilly setting and supernatural visitors.

Dickens includes descriptions of a tower and bell, which are often an element of Gothic literature. The tower and bell convey darkness and fear.

Dickens adapts the Gothic, using it intermittently in his descriptions and juxtaposing it with the real and also brighter scenes such as those of Christmas morning.

GENREA ghost story

Stories of spirits visiting the earth are some of the oldest narratives told by humans.

The idea of a ghost returning to warn someone to change their ways is timeless.

Many ghosts return to right the wrongs of the living, as is the case with Marley.

Once Scrooge accepts that he is talking to a ghost, seems to understand Marley’s purpose.

STRUCTUREHis decision to write a novella reflects an understanding of the need for a piece of short, light reading during the festive season.

The piece is particularly concerned with time, to the extent that it can be considered a time-travel narrative.

The ghosts somehow truncate their visitations into a single night whilst moving backwards and forwards in time. This playful attitude towards time blurs the boundaries between the real and imaginary.

Structurally, Dickens’ readers move between his important socio-political message and the festive hilarity.

STRUCTUREIt is divided into five staves – like a song (or Christmas carol) – suggesting a lightness.

The three main visitations take place in the middle of the story, whilst scenes from Scrooge’s current life, before and after his conversion, frame his supernatural experiences.

The Ghost of Christmas present sits at the very centre of the novella. Part of Dickens’ message is a call for people to live in the present and take care of those around them, rather than hoarding up wealth for an indefinite future.

In the final stave, Dickens finally restores the festive atmosphere, whilst emphasising that even a man as removed from society as Scrooge can be redeemed.

STRUCTURETHE FIVES STAVES:

• Preface (see next slide)

1. Scrooge at work with Cratchit and different visitors. Scrooge has dinner alone, returns home and is visited by Marley. (12 small sections)

2. Scrooge is visited by The Ghost of Christmas Past. He is shown a range of shadows from his own past and of people in his life.

3. Scrooge meets The Ghost of Christmas Present and is shown a range of shadows relating to Christmas as it is being celebrated in the present story.

4. Scrooge is shown the future by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This is the most frightening section of the story as Scrooge recognizes how meaningless his life has been through the scenes of his death.

5. The final section is brief but important. Dickens must show that he has learned all of the lessons the ghosts have provided. Here, Dickens ensures readers are convinced of Scrooge’s full redemption.

PREFACE

Sets up a contrast between the work’s seasonal humour and levity and the “Ghost of an idea,” which is its broader message about a shared humanity and responsibility.

Dickens’ assertion “May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it” suggests that he expects the story to have an afterlife and that its spirit (or the issues he raises) will linger in the home, perhaps providing a lesson to readers.

His hope that the idea will not put his readers out of humour “with themselves, with each other, with the season or with me” demonstrates his careful attempt to balance entertainment and didacticism (teaching a lesson or moral), so that his readers will learn from the story without feeling that Dickens has introduced misery into the festive season.

LANGUAGEThe opening and closing passages suggest a convivial (friendly and lively) narrator who might be telling the story to a group of close friends

The first, the Ghost of Christmas Past is gentle and has very little to say (besides introducing visions)

The Ghost of Christmas Present begins in a beneficent (generous/ doing good), jovial manner but as his time on earth grows shorter his words become more urgent and condemnatory. His vocabulary is appropriately bleak as he predects the “doom” ahead.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is denied of language altogether, depending only on eerie gestures and the readers’ imagination to generate his meanings. Here, Dickens forces readers to project their own terror onto the phantom.

LANGUAGEScrooge’s own language undergoes a remarkable transformation. To begin his favourite expression is the dismissive “Bah!... Humbug!” His speech is limited to necessary communications only and when alone he is silent. The force of his words is emphasised through his growls and snarls.

Once he has been redeemed by the spirits’ ghostly visions, his language changes as rapidly as his personality. His speech becomes effusive (expressing feelings of gratitude) and is punctuated by laughter and expressions of joy. He also incorporates simile and metaphor into his exclamations and talks endlessly of his happiness about the second chance he has been offered.

LANGUAGE - NAMES

Dickens’ genius as a writer was his ability to create engaging and unique characters and names were important to Dickens.

• Scrooge - contains the word screw (associated with tightness and being driven). It is also a harsh sound and suits a nasty character.

• Cratchit somehow signals something worn and easily broken.

• Ebenezer is an Old Testament name, as is Jacob (outdated for the time), compared to the more friendly and known, Bob.

• Marley is an old term for sleet.

• Names such as Fezziwig suggest unique qualities.