A Christmas Carol Essay

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A Christmas Carol – Extended Response Questions
STAVE THREE
1. Scrooge is now totally open to the spirits; to what he might learn, and taking ownership of the situation. What might Scrooge learn from this spirit?
The second spirit is Christmas Present. He takes Scrooge to see how other people act and speak of him. He shows Scrooge the love that the Cratchit family have for one another despite having no being poor. Scrooge also sees their need for help for their son, Tiny Tim. Scrooge learns to see the balance between the importance of money and family.

2. How does this spirit seem to have more magical powers than the other spirits?
The spirit of Christmas Present appears to Scrooge as a jolly giant with dark brown curls. He wears a fur-lined green robe and on his head a holly wreath set with shining icicles. He also carries a large torch; all of this shows that he has power. The spirit had the ability to change his size to go anywhere and could fly around the city showing Scrooge, people celebrating Christmas. He reveals to Scrooge two ill looking children, clinging to his robes, and names the boy as Ignorance and the girl as Want. He was also aging quickly and died at the end of his experience with Scrooge. All these powers show that this spirit has more powers than the other spirits.

3. Read pages 80-81 and discuss the importance placed on Christmas by the Cratchit family. How would it compare to Scrooge, and also to your own family? Considering how the average family might have lived on every other day of the year, why might this day have been considered even more special than the way it is treated today?
Christmas brings joy and happiness to their family. On this day they celebrate it together has a family and this brings them closer together. This is why Christmas is important to them. Scrooge doesn’t celebrate Christmas and just spends his day doing what he would normally day everyday all by himself. This is more special during their time because they were poor and didn’t have much compared to society today, so on this day they would eat more food than they would normally because they wanted to enjoy Christmas.

4. Note yet again the humanizing effect on Scrooge of the visits by the spirits. Why is this important to the story?
This shows that the experiences with the spirits are having an effect on Scrooge’s personality. Before Scrooge met them, he was a greedy and miserable old man who didn’t care for others, only for gaining wealth. When he sees Tiny Tim he asks the spirit if he will live, the spirit replies saying if something is not done to help Tiny Tim, he will die. Scrooge panics and begs that Tiny Tim is spared. This scene shows that Scrooge has change for the better and this is important to the story.
STAVE FOUR
1. How successful is Dickens building up suspense when introducing the last of the spirits? What is the reader assuming Scrooge will be presented with? Why is Scrooge dreading so much, meeting this spirit?
Dickens builds up the suspense by first describing the setting changed and became gloomy and mystery when the spirit moved towards Scrooge. By describing the spirit by saying it was wearing a deep black garment which hides its head, face and body. The readers will think this represents death and that Scrooge will be presented with scenes relating to his death. Scrooge dreads meeting this spirit because he is afraid of its scary and dark appearance.

2. How might Dickens want the reader to feel once realising that the man whose belongings these three are going through, are those of Scrooge?
The readers will feel that Scrooge should change his ways, and that there is no point of him being greedy with his money and possessions if he can’t take with him once his dead. Instead of being selfish he should give money to the poor to help make life better for them.

3. Why is Scrooge so unable to reveal the veil and look at the face of
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