A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Thread

[Yacoubb]

Has anyone focused of the distortion of time throughout the novella?

Other than revealing the supernatural elements of the spirits, what is the reason for it?

... Could it be that Dickens was alluding to the audience that every individual is capable of a second chance.. (?)

It is ultimately to reinforce the influential power of the spirits. If they are capable of creating temporal inconsistensies, then they are capable of guiding the 'hard and sharp as flint' Scrooge to redemption.

I have to write a TEEL paragraph for the following topic but I am soo stuck. I have no idea what to do. Could someone please give me some ideas for good arguments?

'Christmas is presented as a type of antidote to the chilling winter weather for people from all social classes. Discuss.'

Thanks

I'll start you off:
• On the streets, people are 'jovial and full of glee' as the Christmas spirit possesses and allows them to 'open their shut up hearts freely'. During Christmas, the Cratchits rejoice in the yuletide season despite their meagre state. Another instant is the 'air of cheerfulness' that permeates through the street - people crash their wicker baskets and throw facetious snowballs at each other in the best humour possible.

[Rishi97]

Thank you so much Yacoubb You are such a life saver
Like I said, 99.95 definetly 
Thanks again

[Yacoubb]

Thank you so much Yacoubb You are such a life saver
Like I said, 99.95 definetly 
Thanks again

No worries
I'm so flattered! LOOL thanks!

[Blondie21]

'Christmas is presented as a type of antidote to the chilling winter weather for people from all social classes. Discuss.'

EVIDENCE:

1. In Stave One, you can talk about how WITHOUT the Christmas spirit, the weather was "cold, bleak, biting'... 'the city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already'.. 'the fog came pouring in every chink and keyhole'.... 'dingy cloud came drooping down'...

2. The first change in the weather. In Stave 2, The Ghost of Christmas Past brings him to his old boarding school, where the weather has changed! 'The darkness and the mist [of the city] had vanished with it, for it was a clear, cold, winder day, with snow upon the ground.' In this scene, the 'jocund travellers' were greeting one another with a 'Merry Christmas.' (I would also explore how the boys are from the lower class and I would support this with evidence that the 'large house' was 'one of broken fortunes' and the rooms were 'poorly furnished, cold, and vast' because the prompt highlights that you need to also mention the different classes)

3. In Stave 3 (The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge a plethora of people who are merry and jovial .. and then weather changes because of this!).
The first scene is a Christmas morning where although 'the weather was severe', there was 'an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun might have endeavoured to diffuse the pain'. The citizens were 'jovial and full of glee' (This is the brilliant point that Yacoubb made!)

4. Stave 4!! The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.. the stave is written in a somber tone to highlight that this is the inevitable future if Scrooge (or the audience ) do not demonstrate the goodness of Christmas.
... I couldn't find much! I guess you could mention the 'darkness' (?)

5. Scrooge has learnt the importance of Christmas and the ignorance of his previous mindset towards the holiday. This new founded realisation caused a transformation in the weather. Once he opened the window, the weather had 'No fog, no mist' and was 'clearr, bright [and] jovial" (Again, I would mention something about the classes.. Scrooge's wealth = High class? Idk)

[Rishi97]

OMG Thanks sooo much Blondie... Defs worth more than +1. I owe you one

[Yacoubb]

4. Stave 4!! The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.. the stave is written in a somber tone to highlight that this is the inevitable future if Scrooge (or the audience ) do not demonstrate the goodness of Christmas.
... I couldn't find much! I guess you could mention the 'darkness' (?)

I wouldn't mention this in that essay. In Stave 4, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come transports Scrooge to the 'den of infamous resort', where he witnesses the dire circumstances of the 'half-naked, slipshod' poor. In this instant, Dickens is revealing the harshness of his Victorian England; he is demonstrating how irrespective of the fact that many people are immersed in Christmas celebrations, the 'drunked' poor are suffering greatly in the slums, feeding on 'greasy offal' in order to assuage their gnawing hunger. So it wouldn't really fit into an essay (like this one) where we're arguing that Christmas is ALWAYS going to generate prosperity regardless of social class - it isn't suitable textual evidence to discuss to substantiate the contention.

[Blondie21]

I wouldn't mention this in that essay. In Stave 4, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come transports Scrooge to the 'den of infamous resort', where he witnesses the dire circumstances of the 'half-naked, slipshod' poor. In this instant, Dickens is revealing the harshness of his Victorian England; he is demonstrating how irrespective of the fact that many people are immersed in Christmas celebrations, the 'drunked' poor are suffering greatly in the slums, feeding on 'greasy offal' in order to assuage their gnawing hunger. So it wouldn't really fit into an essay (like this one) where we're arguing that Christmas is ALWAYS going to generate prosperity regardless of social class - it isn't suitable textual evidence to discuss to substantiate the contention.

Hehhe I don't entirely agree with this, so we can have a discussion about it. I love it! :-)

Dickens never mentions that anyone is immersed with Christmas celebrations in this Stave. In class, we discussed how Dickens was portraying the future if Want and Ignorance became prevalent within society. He was demonstrating (yes, the poverty of Victorian England but also) the disastorous ramifications if society were to forget about the benefits of Christmas. Within this Stave 3, Dickens describes the 'fruiterers' [as] radiant in their glory' and that the citiznes are in 'the best humour possible.' This is contrasted with the scene in Stave 4, where (as you said) the people were 'drunken, slipshod, ugly' and the shops were 'wretched.' With this, Dickens is highlighting the importance of Christmas spirit and the need for the audience to also share these beliefs.

I know that this idea doesn't fit into the prompt exactly and I was iffy about it from the beginning.

Last year, I would normally always have a disagreeing paragraph in order to add more depth into my analysis. However, I haven't shown (or completed.. whoops!) an essay so I am yet to find out what my teacher thinks about this.

[Yacoubb]

Hehhe I don't entirely agree with this, so we can have a discussion about it. I love it! :-)

Dickens never mentions that anyone is immersed with Christmas celebrations in this Stave. In class, we discussed how Dickens was portraying the future if Want and Ignorance became prevalent within society. He was demonstrating (yes, the poverty of Victorian England but also) the disastorous ramifications if society were to forget about the benefits of Christmas. Within this Stave 3, Dickens describes the 'fruiterers' [as] radiant in their glory' and that the citiznes are in 'the best humour possible.' This is contrasted with the scene in Stave 4, where (as you said) the people were 'drunken, slipshod, ugly' and the shops were 'wretched.' With this, Dickens is highlighting the importance of Christmas spirit and the need for the audience to also share these beliefs.

I know that this idea doesn't fit into the prompt exactly and I was iffy about it from the beginning.

Last year, I would normally always have a disagreeing paragraph in order to add more depth into my analysis. However, I haven't shown (or completed.. whoops!) an essay so I am yet to find out what my teacher thinks about this.

Yay! A discussion, haha I love it too!

This is my perspective. The question is saying that Christmas is an antidote ultimately to the suffering. It would be remiss to overlook the fact that even while the people on the streets of contemporary England are 'jovial and full of glee', that there are poor people who are suffering. Ignorance and Want already exist. The narrator actually mentions that Scrooge had been aware of this area of 'bad repute', but that he has never penetrated it before. The slums have and will always exist. By embracing the Christmas spirit, which is ultimately what Scrooge is taught during his journey with the spirits, he is able to revive his generosity, financially and otherwise, in order to build a world for the poor to become educated, sheltered and nurtured.

You could use this but in a different way in your rebuttal paragraph. You could say that, no, Christmas isn't the antidote. There is still suffering while the people are jovial and full of glee on the streets (referring to the poor of the slums). While the poor indulge in 'long wreaths of sausages' and 'seething bowls of punch' while celebrating Christmas, the 'half-naked' poor are feeding on 'greasy offal' and 'sepulchres of bones' in order to assuage their gnawing hunger. While people are immersed in their Christmas celebrations, looters are stealing objects as trivial as a 'pencil case' and a 'brooch of no great value'. So the contention of this paragraph is that Christmas is not necessarily the antidote.

I love English because its subject to different interpretations!

[Blondie21]

Yay! A discussion, haha I love it too!

This is my perspective. The question is saying that Christmas is an antidote ultimately to the suffering. It would be remiss to overlook the fact that even while the people on the streets of contemporary England are 'jovial and full of glee', that there are poor people who are suffering. Ignorance and Want already exist. The narrator actually mentions that Scrooge had been aware of this area of 'bad repute', but that he has never penetrated it before. The slums have and will always exist. By embracing the Christmas spirit, which is ultimately what Scrooge is taught during his journey with the spirits, he is able to revive his generosity, financially and otherwise, in order to build a world for the poor to become educated, sheltered and nurtured.

You could use this but in a different way in your rebuttal paragraph. You could say that, no, Christmas isn' the antidote. There is still suffering while the people are jovial and full of glee on the streets (referring to the poor of the slums). While the poor indulge in 'long wreaths of sausages' and 'seething bowls of punch' while celebrating Christmas, the 'half-naked' poor are feeding on 'greasy offal' and 'sepulchres of bones' in order to assuage their gnawing hunger. While people are immersed in their Christmas celebrations, looters are stealing objects as trivial as a 'pencil case' and a 'brooch of no great value'. So the contention of this paragraph is that Christmas is not necessarily the antidote.

I love English because its subject to different interpretations!

Mmm I understand where you're coming from.

 I still believe that Dickens was attempting to highlight that those who were suffering with poverty were still able to appreciate Christmas (compared to Scrooge and the middle/high class society who were wealthy yet greedy). This is seen with the Cratchits, who were evidently suffering with poverty as they wore “twice turned,” “thread-bare” and “cheap” clothing though showed their respect towards the holiday as they attempted to appear “brushed” and “seasonable.”  In addition, Scrooge is presented with miners who were singing a “Christmas song” to further reiterate that the poor were able to show their appreciation towards the importance of Christmas, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Dickens outlines what will happen to this society, hence the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, showing Scrooge the future of London if society forgets the importance of the holiday. That this will result in an inevitable 'doom'.
Dickens uses the community in Stave 4 to describe the modern Victorian England and persuades the audeince to recognise that their inertia (e.g. like you said – Scrooge being aware of the area of ‘bad repute’ yet failing to do anything about it) impoverished the lower class and therefore would alter their mindset, in order for their own society to be as jovial and merry as the one described in Stave 3.

I feel as though your points contradict one another. Are you alluding to the fact that there are different levels of poverty? Personally, I wouldn’t link these two descriptions of the poor together as I believe Dickens was portraying poverty in a different light, rather than creating a disparity between the poor.

What about if we just say that although the poor did appreciate the Christmas spirit, this is not enough unless the wealthy do also. That without the wealthy, the poor are unable to stop the suffering (the 'chilling winter'). E.g. Scrooge's meagre pay for Bob Cratchit. ... What do you think? does it fit within the prompt?

Eh. I feel restricted in English.

[bennick18]

I'm having trouble finding arguments and quotes to support them for the following topic, particularly on the Christmas festivity:

" In the preface, Dickens foreshadows both the message of Christmas festivity and contrasting moral lesson of A Christmas Carol. Discuss "

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Blondie21]

What are some synonyms for "the middle and high class"?

[Yacoubb]

What are some synonyms for "the middle and high class"?

Upper-class: bourgeoisie, Victorian elite.

Middle-class: working-class citizens.

[Cort]

Upper-class: bourgeoisie, Victorian elite.

Middle-class: working-class citizens.

Ah.  The definition of 'Bourgeoisie' was/ is never listed under the upper-classes, especially when it comes to the history lessons. Bourgeoisies normally presented the higher strata of the middle classes, and it is often their advancement into society that they were often looked down upon from the higher-classes, as well as a form of alienation from the destitute. They were disliked by the higher classes because of their  rapidly influential political and economical powers; and the lower classes detested the bourgeoisie because of their business-centred ideology (hence apathy to the plight of the poor). This is mostly running from textbook definition, but the bourgeoisie is definitely not listed under the upper-class. Instead they should be under the 'middle-class' instead.

However, some synonyms of higher class can include: the nobility/nobles (although by this time, their power and wealth faded and gave way to the industrious types), gentry, higher classes,  and higher/upper strata.

[Yacoubb]

Ah.  The definition of 'Bourgeoisie' was/ is never listed under the upper-classes, especially when it comes to the history lessons. Bourgeoisies normally presented the higher strata of the middle classes, and it is often their advancement into society that they were often looked down upon from the higher-classes, as well as a form of alienation from the destitute. They were disliked by the higher classes because of their  rapidly influential political and economical powers; and the lower classes detested the bourgeoisie because of their business-centred ideology (hence apathy to the plight of the poor). This is mostly running from textbook definition, but the bourgeoisie is definitely not listed under the upper-class. Instead they should be under the 'middle-class' instead.

However, some synonyms of higher class can include: the nobility/nobles (although by this time, their power and wealth faded and gave way to the industrious types), gentry, higher classes,  and higher/upper strata.

Hmm...you could be right, but my English teacher (a VCAA assessor) has actually seen this and not mentioned anything. But thanks for that.

[Blondie21]

Thanks guys

What about for "lower class"?
Can I use "hoi polloi" in the same context?