A Christmas Carol How Does Scrooge Change Through Staves 1 - 5?

A Christmas Carol How Does Scrooge Change Through Staves 1 - 5? By Louise Sophocleous A Christmas carol is a moral story and focuses upon the redemption of the most hardened miser Ebeneezer Scrooge. In stave one he is presented as selfish, rude, angry and lonely. 'Warning all human sympathy to keep its distance.' he is thoroughly dislikeable. Through the attentions of Marley's ghost and the journey Scrooge takes through the past present and future Scrooge changes and becomes likable. He recovers his sense of joy in the world and this transforms all aspects of his life. How he reacts to people how he reacts to his setting, to Christmas and how he spends his money. It is a miraculous transformation. Dickens is saying that no matter how cruel, hard, old, bitter and unpleasant you are there is good in you and you can change. In stave 1 Scrooge is seen as a 'squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scrapping, clutching, covetous old sinner'. Dickens stresses the coldness of Scrooges bearing. 'He carried his own low temperature with him'. His atmosphere is like constant winter. However it also describes him as 'solitary as an oyster' and this image gives a hint that he is protecting himself and is scared of the world. His hatred is a defence. He is cruel to his Clerk who whom he will not allow more than one coal for the fire. A contrast is made between Scrooge and his cheerful nephew.

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English Lit How Does Charles Dickens Use Imagery and Language to Present the Character of Ebenezer Scrooge in Stave 1 of 'A Christmas Carol.'?

GCSE English Literature Coursework How Does Charles Dickens Use Imagery and Language to Present the Character of Ebenezer Scrooge in Stave 1 of 'A Christmas Carol.'? GCSE English Literature Coursework How Does Charles Dickens Use Imagery and Language to Present the Character of Ebenezer Scrooge in Stave 1 of 'A Christmas Carol.'? Charles Dickens' novella 'The Christmas Carol' is based around the miserly character of Ebenezer Scrooge living in Victorian England. Within 'A Christmas Carol Dickens presents himself as an omniscient narrator throughout the book, an omniscient narrator is an all-knowing narrator. Scrooge is a misanthropic business man who is overwhelmed by wealth and greed. The novella 'A Christmas Carol' was written in 1843 and is set in Victorian England, there was a great deal of poverty in England at the time. As a child Dickens witnessed the plight of the poor and his experiences were suggested in his writing. Life in Victorian times was extremely difficult for poor families and young children, Dickens had some experience of poverty when he was very young and he reflects these experiences in his pieces of writing; the Cratchits reflect his experiences of poverty. When Dickens was 12 years old his whole family was put into prison for being in debt, the young Dickens was sent off to a factory to work at the young age of 12. Christmas in the Victorian times

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How does Dickens represent crime and criminals in Oliver Twist

How does Dickens present crime and criminals in 'Oliver Twist'? In the book Oliver Twist Charles Dickens was trying to portray that the Victorian viewpoint of crime was wrong. He designed his novel to show that some criminals are drawn or forced into crime rather than being born a criminal. He highlights the workhouses bought about in 1834 as a result of the poor law. Dickens includes the condition of the workhouses which were very basic and the work was hard and unforgiving, he described this to set the scene of how young children coped when they were alone in the world. He presents some criminals as innocent victims that have been pulled into a life of crime through desperation and despair such as Oliver and Nancy, however some criminals such as Sikes have not been drawn into crime, they rather chose the life of crime that they live. Prostitution also portrayed as 'dirty and corrupted' from the Victorian view however Dickens tried hard to show prostitutes as victim. Through writing Oliver Twist Dickens highlighted fundamental issues that were wrong with the Victorian society and made a stand against the stereotypes of the poor. Oliver, who was orphaned at birth and left in a workhouse is the main character in the story; he is depicted as a naïve young boy who is drawn into crime through desperation and a lack of knowledge of the London streets. Dickens depicts Oliver as a

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"Explore the way in Which David Lean creates atmosphere and dramatic tension in 'Great Expectations' focusing on the opening churchyard scene and Pips first visit to Satis House."

Great Expectations: Media Course work "Explore the way in Which David Lean creates atmosphere and dramatic tension in 'Great Expectations' focusing on the opening churchyard scene and Pips first visit to Satis House." Tom Funnell Introduction The film "great expectations" is based on the novel by Charles dickens in the late 19th centaury, . Even when this film was made, one of the first with sound, there was a great use of cinematic devices. These where mastered by David Lean to create atmosphere and dramatic tension, especially in the opening scene and the scene where Pip meets Ms Havisham. The film was based on the novel "Great Expectations" written by Charles Dickens at the turn of the century. The genre for such a film would have to be a historic drama. Although the film was made in 1946 it is still a historic genre because the story was set in the late 1890s. This is because of the large doses of dramatic tension included in the film. While being set fifty years prior to the films release. It is a film all about the way a mans life can change just by money. We learn of how people change when the become wealthy after having been less well off. It is educational while being entertaining. It was written in a time of great social difference. You were either very poor or very well off. Dickens, the novels author, had had a clear view of the "rich/poor" divide. He was

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"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens is a "Bildungsroman".

Importance of a main character to the novel "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens is a "Bildungsroman", a term that denotes a novel that presents the growth and development - within the context of a defined social order - of a single character, Philip Pirrip, better known as Pip. As the focus of the bildungsroman, Pip is by far the most important character in "Great Expectations": he is both the protagonist, whose actions make up the main plot of the novel, and the narrator, whose thoughts and attitudes shape the reader's perception of the story. As a character, Pip's two most important traits are his immature, romantic idealism and his naturally good conscience. On the one hand, Pip has a deep desire to improve himself, whether educational, moral, or social, "At last I began, in a purblind groping way, to read, write, and cipher." His longing to marry Estella and join the upper classes stems from the same desire as his longing to learn to read and his fear of being punished for bad behavior: once he understands ideas like poverty, ignorance, and immorality, Pip does not want to be poor, ignorant, or immoral. Pip the narrator judges his own past actions extremely harshly, rarely giving himself credit for good deeds but angrily criticises himself for bad ones. As a character, however, Pip's idealism often leads him to perceive the world rather narrowly, seeing only the

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"Great Expectations" is considered Dickens' finest novel. To what extent does it deserve this reputation?

"Great Expectations" is considered Dickens' finest novel. To what extent does it deserve this reputation? "Great expectations" was written by Charles Dickens in 1860. It is centred on Pip, an orphan living with his austere sister and her mild-mannered husband Joe Gargery the blacksmith. It follows his journey from being a simple boy with few expectations, to his moving to London and becoming a 'gentleman', at the expense of a mysterious benefactor. I am going to write an appreciation of it, analysing its main components: The story, the structure, the characters, the narration, the setting, the language and literary devices, the themes and the social/historical context, and evaluating their success to answer the question. "Great Expectations" combines many different genres, including romance, mystery, history, action and comedy. This means it has universal appeal, and people with a wide range of interests and preferences will find something to like about it. It also means that any individual reading it can respond it on a number of different levels. Great Expectations does not have one single 'bad guy' - many people fill this role. Magwitch, as the convict would have been the antagonist in a traditional story of good and evil, however Dickens does not portray him as such, and even when we see him terrorising young Pip, it is portrayed in a humorous light, and we do not hate

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"Great Expectations" written by Charles Dickens. I have been analysing the way in which Dickens uses language techniques to create

Great Expectations Matthew Connor I have recently been reading the famous novel "Great Expectations" written by Charles Dickens. I have been analysing the way in which Dickens uses language techniques to create themes, characters and a setting for his story. The novel itself was written in Victorian times and a lot of the themes that occur in the book were also very prominent in the Victorian era. Firstly I want to mention the similarities between the main character and narrator Pip and the actual writer Charles Dickens. They both had a very comparable childhood with family problems and suffering very early on in their lives. The most striking similarity though is that both Pip and Dickens were at the bottom of the social ladder and the theme of social status is probably the most important one in this novel. This theme pieces together the whole plot of the book with a lower class Pip always eager to better himself and reach the top of that ladder. I also believe that due to Dickens being initially subjected to a life of poverty he had a negative view of money and status; almost all the characters with wealth and status in the novel end up destroyed. Secondly I am going to discuss the effectiveness of the serialised format of the novel. Charles Dickens actually wrote the novel in separate chapters before eventually merging them to make the book. This therefore is why

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"In Hard Times Dickens presents a convincing analysis of the social problems that have arisen in 19th Century industrial society" - To what extent do you agree with this statement?

"In Hard Times Dickens presents a convincing analysis of the social problems that have arisen in 19th Century industrial society." To what extent do you agree with this statement? Dickens was clearly strongly influenced by many contemporary issues when writing Hard Times, as such, the book has strong political themes which are analysed in detail. We can see in Hard Times that Stephen Blackpool is intended to represent the honest hard-working, working class person. He has no aspirations to be what he is not and is not out to cause trouble. All he wants is to lead an ordinary fair life which however, he knows is almost impossible. Dickens presents many of the social problems covered in the novel through Stephen Blackpool. His problems with the divorce laws for example highlight the unfairness of the laws at the time. One could only divorce if you had the money to do so. Therefore it was the preserve of the middle and upper classes. " 'and it would cost you...I suppose from a thousand to fifteen hundred pound,' said Mr Bounderby... 'Why then, sir,' said Stephen... 'tis a muddle.'" This idea of presenting the lower classes as decent people ay have contradicted middle class beliefs of the time. Dickens seems to be attempting to dispel the myth which Bounderby perpetuates that they all crave rewards without work; and are lazy idle and selfish. "You don't expect to be set up

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"Is Magwitch a Criminal or a Victim of Society

"Is Magwitch a Criminal or a Victim of Society?" In the novel of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, one of the pivotal characters is a man named Abel Magwitch. To answer the question of whether this man is a criminal or a victim of society, we must first establish what a criminal is and what a victim of society is. A criminal is someone who knowingly breaks the law for self-gratification. A victim of society is someone who is subjected to outside influences, and is generally mistreated by society. In the context of this novel, a victim of society is also someone who has never been given a chance in life, and has no control over events that occur involving them. Therefore I am going to try and decide which of these two 'categories' the character of Abel Magwitch falls into. When we first meet Magwitch in Chapter one our first impressions of him are not positive. Pip describes him as a 'fearful man' with a 'terrible voice'. Although we learn that he is in a terrible state, 'smothered in mud and lamed by stones', with a 'great iron' on his leg, indicating he has obviously escaped prison and is on the run, we as readers do not feel any sympathy for him. The reason for this is the fact that he is willing to threaten a young boy, seeming to enjoy the power he has over him is almost repulsive to us as readers, making him appear even more harsh. The fact that Magwitch is likened

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In what way is 'A Christmas Carol' an allegory? Explain how Dickens uses symbolism in the story.

In what way is 'A Christmas Carol' an allegory? Explain how Dickens uses symbolism in the story. By Michael Taubman ' A Christmas Carol' is a straightforward allegory. An allegory is a type of narrative story in which events or characters represent a certain idea or theme, which relies heavily on symbolism. Dickens's story is about a greedy, selfless man called 'Scrooge' who is the opposite of what Christmas means. The first line of the novel 'Marley was dead', Marley we learn was once Scrooges partner and who comes back as a phantom to warm Scrooge to change his ways otherwise he will become a wondering phantom like Marley once dead. Dickens uses symbolism before the book is even open. The title 'A Christmas Carol'. The novel isn't about a carol but carols show joy, happiness and a time for everyone to come together. The main character Scrooge shows the opposite to the title as he was a greedy, cold man, 'No warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill ... ...the heaviest rain, snow, hail and sleet could boast of the advantages over him in only one respect'. The way Scrooge is described in the novel, is as the weather, as the fog in the courtyard thickens as he leaves work, as if the fog were Scrooge. Musical imagery is used, like the title, as staves and used not chapters, which shows that the theme of the 'carol' is brought through the whole novel. This creates a

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