Introducing 'A Christmas Carol' and Dickens

• 'A Christmas Carol' is about a miser called Scrooge

  . A Christmas Carol is a short novel (or novella) about a bitter miser called Scrooge. With the help of three ghosts, Scrooge changes dramatically, and becomes kind and generous by the end of the book

  . Although it's a fictional story, the novel explores the very real problem of poverty in Victorian society. It criticises the attitudes of many rich people, who Dickens saw as dismissing and ignoring the problem

  A Christmas Carol has a strong message:

  1. A Christmas Carol strongly emphasises the importance of social responsibility - Dickens argues in the novel that people have a duty to help the less fortunate

  2. The novel is set at Christmas. Dickens saw Christmas as a special time of year, when people treated each other with kindness and generosity. This was an attitude that he believed should continue all year round
• What childhood experience did Charles Dickens face?

  Poverty
• How did Dickens's family status affect his childhood?

  They were middle-class but experienced poverty
• At what age did Dickens's father go to prison?

  12 years old
• Why did Dickens have to work in a factory?

  His family was very poor
• What impact did Dickens's experience of poverty have on him?

  It made him critical of Victorian society
• When was Charles Dickens born?

  7th February 1812
• Where was Charles Dickens born?

  Portsmouth
• What significant event happened in Dickens's life in 1824?

  His father was arrested for debt
• What did Dickens have to give up when his father was imprisoned?

  His education
• How long did Dickens attend private school after his father's inheritance?

  Two years
• What job did Dickens take in 1827?

  Office boy at a solicitor's firm
• What role did Dickens start in 1828?

  Court reporter
• What was the title of Dickens's first published short story?

  'A Dinner at Poplar Walk'
• In what year did Dickens marry Catherine Hogarth?

  1836
• What was the title of Dickens's first novel?

  'Pickwick Papers'
• When was 'A Christmas Carol' published?

  1843
• When did Charles Dickens die?

  9th June 1870
• Where was Charles Dickens buried?

  Westminster Abbey
• How did Dickens's early life experiences influence his writing?

  His poverty shaped his views on society