‘A Christmas Carol’: a critique of Victorian values
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Why this why now
This unit uses and builds on pupils' understanding of 'A Christmas Carol ' from the second deep dive, 'a Christian parable'. In that unit, pupils saw how Dickens used religion as a way to present his social message in the novella. In this unit, pupils extend that thinking by focusing on Dickens' wider social and political ideas, as well as how he uses a variety of different methods to express those ideas. This helps them to develop deeper, richer and more nuanced ideas about the novella and Dickens' ideas.
Prior knowledge requirements
- Pupils know the plot of the novella.
- Pupils know the main characters in the novella and their role in the plot.
- Pupils have a detailed understanding of how morality and redemption are relevant to the novella.
- Pupils can structure arguments clearly, using thesis statements, topic sentences and single paragraph outlines.
- Pupils have memorised numerous quotations from the novella and can select them judiciously for evidence.
- Pupils can identify the main themes of the novella: inequality, selfishness and the supernatural.
- Pupils can support their arguments with basic contextual information about life in Victorian London.
- Pupils can use tentative language to explore alternative interpretations.
- Pupils can draw clear conclusions to their arguments.
- Pupils can use their knowledge of literary methods to analyse how Dickens explores key ideas and themes.
Why this why now
This unit uses and builds on pupils' understanding of 'A Christmas Carol ' from the second deep dive, 'a Christian parable'. In that unit, pupils saw how Dickens used religion as a way to present his social message in the novella. In this unit, pupils extend that thinking by focusing on Dickens' wider social and political ideas, as well as how he uses a variety of different methods to express those ideas. This helps them to develop deeper, richer and more nuanced ideas about the novella and Dickens' ideas.
Prior knowledge requirements
- Pupils know the plot of the novella.
- Pupils know the main characters in the novella and their role in the plot.
- Pupils have a detailed understanding of how morality and redemption are relevant to the novella.
- Pupils can structure arguments clearly, using thesis statements, topic sentences and single paragraph outlines.
- Pupils have memorised numerous quotations from the novella and can select them judiciously for evidence.
- Pupils can identify the main themes of the novella: inequality, selfishness and the supernatural.
- Pupils can support their arguments with basic contextual information about life in Victorian London.
- Pupils can use tentative language to explore alternative interpretations.
- Pupils can draw clear conclusions to their arguments.
- Pupils can use their knowledge of literary methods to analyse how Dickens explores key ideas and themes.
Literature
‘A Christmas Carol’: a critique of Victorian values
In this unit, pupils explore how Dickens presents 'A Christmas Carol' as a critique of dominant Victorian values. They first look at how he presents Victorian London, before looking at how he depicts poverty, suffering, wealth and status. They then look at what Dickens is critiquing in the novella.
7 lessons in unit
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