Year 11 GCSE English Literature Revision

1. 
A
Christmas
Carol
Revision

2. Themes
 Poverty and Suffering

3. Themes
 Poverty and Suffering
 Memory and Nostalgia

4. Themes
 Poverty and Suffering
 Memory and Nostalgia
 Festivity

5. Themes
 Poverty and Suffering
 Memory and Nostalgia
 Festivity
 Family

6. Themes
 Poverty and Suffering
 Memory and Nostalgia
 Festivity
 Family
 Social Responsibility

7. Characters
 Scrooge
 Fan
 Fred
 Fred’s Wife
 Ghost of Christmas Past
 Ghost of Christmas Past
 Ghost of Christmas Past
 Want and Ignorance
Old Fezziwig
Jacob Marley
Bob Cratchit
Tiny TIm

8. Motifs
What is a motif?

9. Motifs
Food
Light and Shadow
Time
Music
Christmas

10. Techniques
 What literary techniques are used by Charles
Dickens in order to
 Engage the audience?
 Communicate themes?

11. Techniques
 Use of suspense to involve reader
 Pathos to create sympathy
 Use of dramatic irony
 Use of allegory
 Analepis/prolepis
 Comedy
 Sentimentality

12. Language
 The working class characters speak in a Cockney
dialect, which makes them sound natural, warm
and likeable.
 Dickens creates atmosphere by using detailed
descriptions
 Scrooge’s dialogue is revealing of character
 Often uses depictions of Christmas across the
nation

13. The Role of the Spirits
 What do they do?
 How do they do it?

14. The Role of the Spirits
 Can unsettle the reader
 Warns Scrooge what he could become
 Identified with Christmas
 Exist beyond time
 Associated with the past
 Confront Scrooge

15. What are the major factors in Scrooge’s
development?
 Fixated with material goods
 Selfish, lonely man
 Damaged childhood
 Unaware of full consequences of his actions
 Moved by joy of Christmas
 Inspired by Bob’s generosity of spirit
 Misses out on shared experience
 Final warning of death

16. Contextual Factors
 Written in 1843
 Dickens campaigned against workhouses and for charity
 Sold over 15,000 copies in first year of publication
 Often credited with reigniting interest in Christmas
 Victorians interested in idea of ghosts and supernatural
 Class divide

17. Now you try…
 To what extent do you regard A Christmas Carol as a tale of
redemption?
 Discuss Dickens’ portrayal of poverty in A Christmas Carol.
 How important is the motif of Christmas to A Christmas Carol?
Canyouthinkofanyotherquestions?