Plot and Action
Plot summary
The preface, Stave One: Marley’s Ghost, Stave Two: The first of the three spirits, Stave Three: The second of the three spirits, Stave Four: The last of the spirits, Stave Five: The end of it, Revision focus: Making sure you know the plotThe preface: Charles Dickens’s message
Summary, Why is this section important?, Top tip: Writing about styleStave One, pages 1–3: Marley is dead and Scrooge cares only about money
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key theme: Loneliness and isolationStave One, pages 3–10: Scrooge has visitors at the office
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key language: Pathetic fallacy, Key character: Fred, Exam focus: Writing about character, Key theme: Responsibility for others, Key setting: Outside the officeStave One, pages 10–20: Marley’s Ghost has a message for Scrooge
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key language: The door knocker, Key quotation: Scrooge’s character, Key language: Dickens’s use of sound, Key language: Scrooge’s determined character, Key quotation: Marley’s torment, Key context: The 1834 new Poor Law, Aiming high: Narrative tricksStave Two, pages 21–3: Waiting for the first ghost
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key style: Creating tensionStave Two, pages 23–5: The Ghost of Christmas Past
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key character: The Ghost of Christmas Past, Key language: Dickens’s use of light, Exam focus: Writing about the textStave Two, pages 25–30: Scrooge’s unhappy childhood
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key setting: The countryside, Top tip: Writing about imagery, Key character: Scrooge, Aiming high: Dickens’s use of characters, Key language: Dickens’s use of humour, Aiming high: Comment on the presentation of childhood, Revision focus: Characterisation of Fan and FredStave Two, pages 30–4: Fezziwig’s party
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key character: Fezziwig, Key quotation: Scrooge starts to changeStave Two, pages 34–9: The broken engagement
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key quotation: Scrooge’s character, Key theme: Greed, Revision focus: Focus on memoriesStave Three, pages 40–7: The Ghost of Christmas Present and Christmas in the city
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key character: ScroogeStave Three, pages 47–53: Christmas at the Cratchits
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key setting: The Cratchits’ house, Key characters: The Cratchit family, Key quotation: Bob’s character, Key context: The disabled child, Exam focus: Writing about the CratchitsStave Three, pages 54–62: Christmas around the country and at Fred’s
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key structure: The use of parallel scenesStave Three, pages 63–4: The children of humankind – Ignorance and Want
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key theme: The power of education, Revision focus: Using quotationsStave Four, pages 65–75: A man has died
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key character: Scrooge, Key character: The last of the spirits, Key setting: The ugly side of the city, Key characters: Old Joe and the thieves, Key quotation: The horror of a lonely death, Key theme: The horror of debt, Aiming high: Philosophical questions from DickensStave Four, pages 76–8: The death of Tiny Tim
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key characters: The Cratchit family, Key character: Fred, Key quotation: The function of Tiny Tim, Exam focus: Writing about Dickens’s narrative voiceStave Four, pages 78–80: Scrooge’s gravestone
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key structure: Creating a climax and epiphany, Key character: Scrooge, Revision focus: Writing about Scrooge’s transformationStave Five, pages 81–5: A new beginning for Scrooge
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key language: Creating humour using exclamations and similes, Key character: The new Scrooge, Aiming high: Scrooge’s transformationStave Five, pages 85–6: Christmas at Fred’s
Summary, Why is this section important?, Key language: Repetition, Key character: FredCharacters
Marley’s Ghost
Marley’s Ghost’s role in the novella, Exam focus: Writing about Marley’s Ghost, Top tip: Tracking character developmentEbenezer Scrooge
Scrooge’s role in the novella, Scrooge’s importance to the novella as a whole, Exam focus: Writing about Scrooge, Aiming high: Explore imageryBob Cratchit
Bob’s role in the novella, Exam focus: Writing about Bob Cratchit, Aiming high: Comment on character functionsThe Ghosts of Christmas
Summary, The Ghost of Christmas Past’s role in the novella, Aiming high: Comment on complex descriptions, The Ghost of Christmas Present’s role in the novella, Aiming high: Comment on layers of meaning, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’s role in the novella, Key quotation: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Revision task: Know the key charactersThemes, Contexts and Settings
Themes
Change, Responsibility, Key quotation: Responsibility for others, Education, Poverty, Exam focus: Writing about effects of language, The supernatural, Key quotation: The power of the imagination, Isolation, The family, Aiming high: Comment on details of family lifeContexts
Charles Dickens’s background, Dickens and Christmas, Industrial Revolution, Poverty and educationForm, Structure and Language
Language
Overview, Language device: Narrative voice, Aiming high: Dickens’s use of the intrusive narrator, Language device: Charactonym, Language device: Simile, Language device: Personification, Language device: Pathetic Fallacy, Language device: Sentence Style, Revision focus: Find examples of language techniques, Language device: Use of Imagery, Language device: AdjectivesProgress Booster
Planning your answer
Plan quickly and efficiently, Stage 1: Generate ideas quickly, Stage 2: Jot down useful quotations (or key events), Stage 3: Plan for paragraphs