A Christmas Carol

Stave by Stave Summary

Stave I

The novella opens on Christmas Eve in London, seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge is a lonely, aging old miser. He hates Christmas and as such refuses a dinner invitation from his nephew Fred (the son of his dead sister Fan). Scrooge turns away two men who are collecting money for the local poor. He only grudgingly give’s his underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay as this is the custom.

That evening Scrooge is visited at home by the ghost of his dead business partner Jacob Marley. Marley was like Scrooge a miserly person, has been condemned to wander the earth entwined by heavy chains and money boxes forged during his lifetime of greed.  Marley warns Scrooge that he has one chance to avoid the same fate and tells him that he will be visited by three spirits and must listen to them.

Stave II

The first spirit arrives, The Ghost of Christmas Past, the spirit takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes from his own childhood and adolescence. The scenes reveal Scrooge’s lonely and miserable childhood at boarding school and his relationship with his beloved sister Fan. She invites him home for Christmas with his father for the first time in a while. They also show the Christmas party hosted by Mr Fezziwig, with whom Scrooge did his apprenticeship. Mr Fezziwig treated Scrooge like his own son and threw an extravigent Christmas party for his community all at his own expense. Scrooge also sees his former neglected fiancé, Belle, in his counting house after he has started his own business. She is shown breaking off their engagement as she knows Scrooge will never love her as much as he loves money. The ghost then takes Scrooge to see Belle and her happy large family on the Christmas Eve that Marley died. Scrooge is upset when he hears her description of him and demands the spirit removes him from the house. In his sad state, Scrooge tries to extinguish the light from the spirit's head using its extinguisher cap.

Stave III

Stave three begins with the arrival of the second spirit, The Ghost of Christmas Present. Firstly the spirit takes scrooge to a couple of happy Christmas scenes, including a market with people buying ingredients for their Christmas Dinners and celebrations in a miner’s cottage and in a lighthouse.

The ghost then takes Scrooge to see people he knows. Firstly his nephew Fred’s Christmas party then to see the Cratchit family. Here Scrooge sees Bob’ youngest son Tiny Tim, Tiny Tim Is a crippled boy who is seriously ill. The spirit warns Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die soon unless the course of events changes.

Before the ghost departs, it shows Scrooge two hideous children named Ignorance and Want. The spirit tells Scrooge to beware of the former above all before dying as the evening ends.

Stave IV

The third spirit The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives, the ghost shows Scrooge Christmas Day in the future. The ghost remains silent and shows Scrooge scenes involving the death of a hated man, whose funeral is only attended by local businessmen as they will be given a free lunch. His charwomen, laundress and the undertaker steal his possessions to sell to a pawnbroker. Scrooge asks the spirit to show him a single person who feels any emotion over his death, he is only shown one poor couple who rejoice at his death as it gives them time to repay their debts.

When asked to see tenderness connected to any death, he is shown the Cratchit family mourning the death of Tiny Tim. The ghost then shows Scrooge his neglected grave. Sobbing Scrooge pledges to change his ways.

Stave V

Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning a genuinely changed man. He starts by making a large donation to the charity he rejected the day before. He anonymously sends a large turkey to the Cratchit family and spends the afternoon with Fred’s family. The following day he gives Bob Cratchit a substantial pay rise and becomes a father figure to Tiny Tim. From then on Scrooge treats everyone with compassion, generosity and kindness.

Exam Structure

A discussion of context will never award you marks for any of the A Christmas Carol questions.

Section A

For the first question, you will be given a short extract taken from anywhere in the novel and asked to analyse how something is presented within the extract. For example:

Explore how Dickens presents Scrooge’s character in this extract. 

The important thing to remember for this question, is that you are simply being asked to complete a language and structure analysis of the extract. This is exactly the same as section A for Romeo & Juliet, as well as question 3 on both English Language papers. Refer to the home page to see a breakdown of all of the exam questions in order to see that all 4 of these questions are marked in almost an identical way.

An excellent way to ensure that you are analysing to a high standard would be to use the PETER paragraph structure.

POINT > EVIDENCE > TECHNIQUE > EXPLANATION > READER

Here is an example paragraph based on the above question (explore how Dickens presents Scrooge in this extract). For this example answer, we will imagine that the extract was taken from stave I. 

In the extract, Dickens presents Scrooge as isolated and unapproachable. He describes Scrooge as being "as solitary as an oyster". This simile implies that Scrooge not only keeps to himself, but also has a hard exterior. This suggests that, like an oyster, Scrooge does not open up to people and prefers to keep his own company and keep his emotions to himself. However, many oysters also contain precious pearls, hidden within their hard exterior. This may also be suggesting that while Scrooge also has a hard exterior, he still has something good hidden away inside of him suggesting his potential to become a better person from the novella's opening. This will instantly make readers feel cautious towards Scrooge as he is meant to be the novella's protagonist and yet is so cold and unapproachable. However, they may be also hopeful that, by the end of the novella, Scrooge will have come out of his shell and turned his back on his "solitary" ways. 

Section B

This question will ask you to explore how either a character or theme are presented throughout the novella. You must include ideas and quotations from everywhere in the novella, excluding from the extract that you have just been given. 

The second question will always link in some way to the extract the you have just been given. For example, if you were given the extract in which Scrooge refuses to donate any money to the charity workers to help the poor, you may be asked how the theme of kindness is significant within the novella. Equally, if you were given the extract in which Scrooge witnesses the Cratchit's meagre Christmas dinner together, you may be asked to explore how family is important within the novella. 

This question is less focussed on your analysis of language and structure and is far more interested in your analysis and evaluation of the given question focus. 

Advice for Section B

• Ensure that all staves are discussed. There are only five in total so try to aim to write five PETER paragraphs. As a minimum, explore the four staves that have not been given as the extract. For example, if your extract from section A is taken from stave III, ensure that staves I, II, IV and V are all discussed. 

• Ignore the extract given for your section A question. You have already analysed the extract for section A and will not be credited well for simply repeating yourself. 

• Consider how each moment that you discuss helps to propel the story or characters' motivations forward. 

• If possible, discuss which moment is most significant to include some evaluative skills.

• Avoid simply retelling the story. The examiner will know the story incredibly well and so doesn't need to story told back to them. They are looking to see your analysis and evaluation skills, not your storytelling skills. 

• Aim for a minimum of four to five detailed paragraphs.