Use of language in A Christmas Carol - Form, structure and language - AQA - GCSE English Literature Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize (2024)

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How is structure used in A Christmas Carol? ›

The novel has a simple structure

A Christmas Carol is divided into five chapters, and Dickens called each chapter a 'stave'. Staves are the five lines on which musical notes are written, which may explain why there are five chapters. The word 'stave' is also another word for a verse of a song.

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. Dickens reveals the characters through the things they say.

As we get well and truly into the festive season, there's no better time to consider teaching our recent addition to our GCSE English Literature 19th century novels: A Christmas Carol. A Christmas Carol tells the tale of Scrooge, whose miserly ways are transformed after ghostly visits on Christmas Eve.

Dickens writes in a typical Victorian prose style using compound sentences and complex structure.

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens utilizes a plethora of literary devices such as similes, metaphors, imagery, and denouement to explore the capacity for change. This reveals that changing is never impossible until you're six-feet under. A simile is a comparison that usually uses the word “like” or “as”.

Descriptive language is used to help the reader feel almost as if they are a part of the scene or event being described. Description is useful because it helps readers engage with the world of the story, often creating an emotional response. It can help a reader visualise what a character or a place is like.

The writer uses language and structure to show the change in mood by at first he was saying that his manners had convinced them, this suggests that he knew what he was doing and that he was very confident with himself, but as the writer goes on he becomes more agitated by saying 'I talked more freely to get rid of the ...

Dickens shows us that Scrooge is a respected person in society by telling us he had his own office and by saying that the men collecting for the poor 'bowed to him'. The verb 'bowed' showed that he must be rich and well-known, but also helps us understand why he has come to feel so self-important.

What are the 4 major themes of A Christmas Carol? ›

Some students find revising for GCSE English Literature difficult, as unlike a subject such as Maths, it requires you to apply your skillset, not just know a method or way of answering a question.

Scrooge brings a little of the Christmas spirit into every day, respecting the lessons of Christmas more than any man alive. The narrator concludes the story by saying that Scrooge's words and thoughts should be shared by of all of us ... "and so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, Every one!"

These include morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and phonology.

The tale is written as a novella. This is a short piece of fiction - longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel. Dickens published A Christmas Carol on 19th December 1843.

Charles Dickens uses a range of language techniques to convey ideas about people and places, including: • use of words or phrases with particular connotations • use of striking 'word pictures', or imagery, such as similes and metaphors • varying sentence lengths • repetition of key words and phrases.

The writer uses language and structure to interest and engage readers by using alliteration 'Subtle, stylish business'. This engages the reader by making MI6 sound interesting and exciting. Another way the writer uses language and structure to engage the reader is by using formal language.

How do you Analyse language and structure in a text? ›

When you analyse the structure of sentences, you can discuss the following elements: The sentence length (if it is particularly short or particularly long). The first or last word of the sentence (if they are noticeable for a particular reason). Repetition of words, word classes, or structures within the sentence.

Story structure, also known as narrative structure, is the order in which events are organized into a beginning, middle, and ending in a novel. A story's structure directly affects the way the plot unfolds and how its driving forces (characters, obstacles, setting, etc.) are introduced to the reader.

Dickens illustrates how the ignorance of those in society, who like Scrooge, assume that people suffering in poverty are sinners, undeserving of help, creates a cycle of poverty where children Page 2 suffer hardships and then develop into damaged “hideous,” and “miserable,” adults.

Firstly in this extract Dickens presents the cratchit family as cheerful, the quote “Oh, a wonderful pudding” this shows that even though they are poor they are still cheerful, Dickens then presents the family as happy and blessed “A merry christmas to us all, my dears, god bless us” this shows that the family wish to ...

The perverted headmaster

You'll be with me, just like last year," says the headmaster in the TV adaptation of A Christmas Carol, as it becomes horribly clear that Scrooge was sexually abused or raped every Christmas at his boarding school after all the other pupils had left.

Hence, 'Christmas Carol' depicts the importance of actions that have enduring consequences. Scrooge's actions in 'Christmas Carol' is widely seen to be influenced by his past which change the way he is today. His time in boarding school prepared him to be lonely later in life.

The Cratchit Family:

TINY TIM: Male. Tiny Tim is Cratchit's son who, despite his physical challenges, still believes in everything around him. MARTHA CRATCHIT: Female, late teens or older. Bob Cratchit's oldest child who has moved out but who makes it home for Christmas, knowing how important it is to the family.

Stave Four

This is a biblical reference to the gospel of Mark (9:36). In this story, Jesus instructs his listeners that in order to reach heaven, believers must embrace a childlike spirit and care for the weakest among them. In essence, to be childlike is to be divine.

Is a 5 in GCSE English good? ›

Equivalent GCSE grades

Grade 5 is a 'strong pass' and equivalent to a high C and low B on the old grading system. Grade 4 remains the level that students must achieve without needing to resit English and Maths post-16.

The hardest GCSE to pass is Double Science with 58.1 percent of students getting a four or lower in 2021. Just 1.5 percent of students received a nine in Double Science.

(ˈkrɪsməs ˈkærəl ) a joyful hymn or religious song, celebrating the birth of Christ. Collins English Dictionary.

In all of his works, Dickens explores themes of want, exploitation, crime, abuse, and corruption that were inspired by his own childhood experience of poverty and social observations gathered from visits and travels to different areas of several countries.

The classic tale follows basic plot structure -- exposition, rising action, climax and resolution -- in delivering a tale that has been retold multiple times in a variety of formats.

Sometimes the best lessons learned come from our mistakes and failures. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge saw the mistakes he had made and the opportunities that had passed him by. While unable to change the past, he still had the opportunity to learn from his mistakes and ensure they were not repeated in the future.

With the publication of his A Christmas Carol in 1843, the most popular phrase including the word humbug became the exclamation Bah! Humbug!, the catchphrase of the miserly main character Ebenezer Scrooge.

Belle is Ebenezer Scrooge's neglected girlfriend from his past in Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas Carol follows the typical structure of a novella, differing from a novel in that there is only one reversal, rather than several. The scene is set and characters are established very quickly.

What is A Christmas Carol structured to imitate? ›

Ghost story

He combines the tradition of reading ghost stories with a moral tale of redemption. Dickens used the form to appeal to the spirit of Christmas and to share a story that was so popular that the first print run of 6000 copies sold out by Christmas Eve in 1843!

The first stave introduces us to the character of Scrooge and highlights his many flaws. It also sets up the events that bring about his redemption. The middle three staves recount Scrooge's past, present and future and lead him to meet the three ghosts who teach him the error of his ways.

Five act structure is a formal plot structure that divides a story into five parts, called acts. These are usually the introduction or exposition, rising movement, climax, falling action, and catastrophe or resolution.

Discuss the structure of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The plot is simple and linear, but the symmetry of the novella is rather complex.

Dickens uses a cyclical structure to show how Scrooge changes and achieves redemption. Scrooge's behaviour and actions are contrasted from the start to the end of the novella. Dickens uses the transformation of Scrooge's character to give hope to all people that they can improve their lives.

Beam - axial and bending loads. Pillar. Post (structural) Struts or Compression members- compressive loads.

The basic components of a building structure are the foundation, floors, walls, beams, columns, roof, stair, etc. These elements serve the purpose of supporting, enclosing and protecting the building structure.