Starter quiz
- Starting with the first, put the ghosts' visits in 'A Christmas Carol' in chronological order.
- 1⇔Jacob Marley
- 2⇔Ghost of Christmas Past
- 3⇔Ghost of Christmas Present
- 4⇔Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
- How does Dickens depict Scrooge at the beginning of 'A Christmas Carol'?
- kind and generous
- warm-hearted and jovial
- nervous and regretful
- cold-hearted and miserly ✓
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- What lesson does Scrooge learn from the Ghost of Christmas Past in 'A Christmas Carol'?
- the importance of wealth
- the value of hard work
- the significance of family and love ✓
- the need for isolation
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- In 'A Christmas Carol', what does the Ghost of Christmas Present reveal to Scrooge about the conditions of the poor?
- they are well supported by the wealthy
- they are suffering and in need of help ✓
- they are lazy and deserve to be poor
- they find joy in life's simple pleasures ✓
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- What is the central theme of 'A Christmas Carol'?
- the pursuit of wealth
- the importance of compassion and community ✓
- the value of hard work
- the joy of isolation
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- What does it mean to critique something?
- to praise it unconditionally
- to evaluate and analyse its strengths and weaknesses ✓
- to ignore its flaws
- to summarise its main points
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Exit quiz
- Who was allowed to vote in early Victorian times?
- all men and women
- only property-owning men ✓
- women only
- all men
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- What do Ignorance and Want symbolise in 'A Christmas Carol'?
- wealth and power
- social inequality and poverty ✓
- happiness and love
- success and ambition
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- Philanthropy is best defined as ...
- avoiding work
- donating to help others ✓
- punishing the poor
- making profits from business
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- What did the Poor Laws in the Victorian era aim to do?
- support the wealthy
- provide charity for the poor
- offer limited relief to the poor ✓
- educate children
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- What impact did charities have in Victorian times?
- solved all poverty issues
- offered limited help but couldn't address systemic problems ✓
- focused on education alone
- they did not exist
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- How does the Ghost of Christmas Present respond to Scrooge's request to help Ignorance and Want in 'A Christmas Carol'?
- he repeats Scrooge's earlier refusal to the charity collectors ✓
- he laughs and makes them disappear
- he tells Scrooge to do it himself
- he tells Scrooge he should be ashamed of himself
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- There was no state support available for poor Victorians; they were forced to rely on charities and philanthropy.
- The Poor Laws made it legal for those in debt to be sent to prison or forced to live in squalid workhouses.
- Scrooge’s dialogue with the charity men critiques the Victorian belief that the poor were lazy or morally inferior.
- Dickens later shows Scrooge’s transformation towards redemption when he is introduced to Ignorance and Want.
- They symbolise a lack of awareness of poor's struggles and warn of the consequences of ongoing social inequality.
Common misconception
Workhouses were a positive form of social reform; instead of being sent to prison, poor people were offered the chance to work off any debts they had.
Workhouses were an alternative to debtor's prison but they were not positive places; inmates were separated from their families, lived in squalid conditions and forced to do hard labour for 10-12 hours a day.
Keywords
Philanthropy - the act of donating money or resources to help others, especially the poor
Workhouse - an institution where the poor worked in exchange for basic shelter and food under harsh conditions
Connotations - the ideas or feelings a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning
Symbolise - to represent or stand for something, especially a larger concept or idea
Redemption - the act of being saved from sin, error, or evil; moral or spiritual recovery