Structure

• A Christmas Carol


  A novella by Charles Dickens
• Carols are songs that are sung at Christmas, usually have a Christian feel, and often use rhyme and rhythm
• The prose in A Christmas Carol does not rhyme or have a strong rhythm
• A Christmas Carol has many religious connotations
• A Christmas Carol has been retold many times in many different ways
• It is rare for a Christmas story to contain ghosts
• Novella


  A work of fiction longer than a short story but shorter than a novel, often with a moral or lesson
• Protagonist


  The main character who learns a lesson
• Stave


  A section or verse, rather than a chapter
• A stave of music has 5 lines
• Dickens intended to write a book that would not put readers out of humour with themselves
• A Christmas Carol


  • It involves time travel, moving between the present, past, and future
  • Time seems to reset itself without the action all happening in one single night
• Dickens blurs the boundaries between appearance of reality, requiring the reader to suspend their disbelief
• Allegory


  A story that can be interpreted to represent a deeper, more general meaning
• Characters representing different social classes

  • Scrooge (wealthy and aristocratic)
  • Fred and Fezziwig (middle class)
• Ignorance and Want


  The two children presented by the Ghost of Christmas Present, representing members of society who are uneducated and exploited as workers
• The message of social responsibility is repeated throughout the novel