A Christmas Carol

• "Chestnuts on the fire sputtered and crackled noisily"

  • Onomatopoeic verbs "sputtered" and "crackled" create a warm, vibrant atmosphere of Bobs poor house
  • "fire" is a reoccurring motif used to represent Dickens ideas of generosity throughout the novella
  • "Fire" also shows the Cratchit's Christmas spirit although they are poor and don't have much themselves
• Stave 3 about Mrs. Cratchit "Dressed but poorly in a twice turned gown but brave in ribbons"

  • conjunction "but" in "but brave in ribbons" emphasises how she copes with poverty with courage and dignity.
  • still makes an effort as "ribbons" are cheap, but still make the dress look nicer - this was due to poor people being stereotyped as lazy. The 1834 poor law aimed to punish "idle" people but this shows that the Cratchits and other poor families (like the miners) aren't lazy
• Stave 4 "Bob held his withered little hand in his....and wished to keep him by his side"

  • shadow of future pain and loss
  • adjectives "withered" and "little" show how frail and vulnerable Tiny Tim is - highlights Bobs love and need to protect him
  • syndetic list shows range of deep, caring emotions Bob feels towards Tim.
  • Context - 1 in 5 children died before their 5 birthday - readers would have known Tim's death was likely so sympathy would have been provoked
• Stave 1 describing Fred "All in a glow"

  • "glow" connotes light which is often linked with purity and hope - emphasises Fred is a role model Scrooge can learn from and this light can be reflected in Scrooges afterlife
  • shows has a foil to scrooge - coldness of his heart shown through a semantic field of cold (in stave 1) where the goodness and warmth of Fred's heart is shown in his physical attributes also
• Scrooges name is portmanteau of screw and gouge

  • has connotations of an individual who is hostile, harsh and misanthropic - emphasises to the reader straight away scrooge will be a harsh character that the reader should strive away from being