Christmas Day - Plot summary - AQA - GCSE English Literature Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize (2024)

FAQs

What should I revise for A Christmas Carol GCSE? ›

Revise and learn about the characters of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with this activity. The main ideas in a text are called themes. In A Christmas Carol these include Christmas, redemption and social injustice. Dickens also deals with the themes of family and forgiveness.

Ebenezer Scrooge is rich, but greedy. He is a miser close miserA miser is someone who wants to have a lot of money but doesn't like spending it.. He thinks that Christmas is pointless and calls it "humbug". The three ghosts help Scrooge to understand that family and friends are more important than money.

It recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. In the process, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.

Scrooge awakes on Christmas Day

He gives the boy half a crown to buy the prize turkey from the butchers and have it delivered to the Cratchits. Then he dresses and goes out into the street where he meets one of the charity collectors from the previous day. Scrooge whispers his donation to the man, who is very grateful.

Make a realistic timetable

This way before the Christmas break starts there's plenty of time for them to assemble the study material they need, such as past papers and revision books. It's also important to schedule in a few 'no study' days over the holidays such as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve.

Aim to switch off from school work for one of the weeks of the holiday and then revise during the other week (or two if the holidays are longer). Enjoy Christmas week, concentrating on family, friends and activities that don't involve school work. Aim to complete three to four hours a day, with breaks in between.

We see that “Scrooge never painted out Old Marley's name” which suggests that he is a man stuck in his ways, and unwilling or unable to change his surroundings. Scrooge is unwilling to help change the circ*mstances of the poor, and refuses to donate any money to the charity collectors.

When Dickens first presents Scrooge he describes him as 'Hard and sharp as flint'. The simile likens the character to something that the reader can recognise. We see that Scrooge is tough and unbreakable.

With this justification, it is revealed that Scrooge's greatest fear is being poor; to him, that is the worst thing that could happen in the world. This fear is what leads to his constant fixation on money, because in his eyes, the more money he has, the more protected he is from a life of poverty.

Based on the humorous writings of author Jean Shepherd, this beloved holiday movie follows the wintry exploits of youngster Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), who spends most of his time dodging a bully (Zack Ward) and dreaming of his ideal Christmas gift, a "Red Ryder air rifle." Frequently at odds with his cranky dad (Darren McGavin) but comforted by his doting mother (Melinda Dillon), Ralphie struggles to make it to Christmas Day with his glasses and his hopes intact.

A Christmas Story / Film synopsis

How does Scrooge react to Marley's Ghost? ›

Scrooge is visited by Marley

Back at home, Scrooge has strange visions of the door knocker and tiles bearing the face of his old business partner, Jacob Marley. He refuses to believe his eyes, but then Marley's ghost appears and frightens Scrooge by rattling his chains.

After Scrooge has his change of heart, he decides to buy the Cratchits a more luxurious meal instead: a turkey.

Finally, at the end of the book, Scrooge pretends at first to be angry at Bob Cratchit for being late for work the next day. He then tells Bob that he is getting a raise and that Scrooge wants to assist his family. Scrooge becomes friends with the Cratchit family and is considered a part of the family.

But Scrooge does indeed change, and his change of heart prompts him to send the Cratchits the gift of a prize turkey.

'A Christmas Carol' was ​written in a post-Industrial Revolution society​, a time where poverty had become more and more distinct. The novella tries to show the reader that society needed to collectively try to tackle the issue of poverty before it spiralled out of control.

The unabridged original version has an Accelerated Reader grade level of 6.7. The book was written in the 19th century and contains some archaic vocabulary that may be difficult for today's children to understand. There are many abridged and adapted versions of the book available.