A Christmas Carol - English Literature GCSE

Stave 2 - Key Quotes 'He spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull hollow, melancholy ONE. Light flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn.' - Narrator 'It was a strange figure - like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child's proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white, as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, nd the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand: and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But the strangest thing about it ...

Stave 2 - Plot Summary Scrooge wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past - to his previous Christmas. Scrooge sees 'shadows' of his past, so he cannot be seen by the people in the memories. He revisits two of his childhood Christmases: one where he is left alone at his school and one where his little sister, Fan, comes to take him home. He then sees a Christmas spent at his apprenticeship, with his employer: Fezziwig, his engagement to Belle, who leaves Scrooge due to his love for money makes him not be able to love another. Scrooge, upset at his role in these events, sheds tears of regret before the phantom returns him to bed.

Plot - What happens in Stave 1? We are introduced to the protagonist  - Ebenezer Scrooge We are told about Scrooge's background and what his personality is like We see Bob Cratchit working for Scrooge in his cold office Fred comes to see his uncle - Scrooge - and invites him over for his Christmas party. Scrooge refuses Two portly gentlemen come to Scrooge and Marley's to ask Scrooge for some money for charity Scrooge goes home and thinks he sees his dead partner, Marley, in the door knocker The Ghost of Jacob Marley haunts Scrooge and tells him that, if he does not change his ways, he will be condemned to wear heavy chains and roam the Earth for all eternity Marley tells Scrooge that he will be haunted by three spirits Settings - Where does this part of the novel take place? London, England Scrooge and Marley's Scrooge's house Themes - What are the big ideas that Dickens is exploring/introducing in this section of the novel? Greed Poverty Hier...