The Student Room Group

AQA English literature A Christmas Carol

Hi, i am doing a practise paper on A Christmas Carol and im stuck on what points to make for the following question:

"How does Dickens present the supernatural in a christmas carol?"


Any ideas as to what points i could make?
Im doing AQA btw
Original post by cupcake611
Hi, i am doing a practise paper on A Christmas Carol and im stuck on what points to make for the following question:

"How does Dickens present the supernatural in a christmas carol?"


Any ideas as to what points i could make?
Im doing AQA btw

Omg we were literally doing this in OUR class TODAY xD - However I've only got a sort of introduction to an essay like this:

In the novella, the supernatural elements are a natural extension of the real world of Scrooge and his victims. There are many supernatural elements such as the ghosts and the visions which Scrooge has. Scrooge is presented an absurd and nonsensical vision of the city. The ghosts and apparitions can be seen as a mouthpiece for social values.

From this introduction, you can express the point with quotes from Stave 1, particularly Marley's bits. He was as "Dead as a door-nail", for example. This shows how the supernatural (Like Marley) can foreshadow imminent hauntings or events that could influence Scrooge, mainly since this quote appears at the very start of the novella.

The supernatural can also be described as catalysts of Scrooge's change, meaning they allow a turning point (peripeteia) to occur in the story. All the Ghosts, including Marley, attempt to push Scrooge to realise his mistakes and sins and try to get him to redeem and change himself.

Of course, AQA does look for AO3 in English Literature, so context is very important. My English Teacher gave us a great booklet with lots of AO3 context for us to use in our Christmas Carol essays. There is a part about Ghosts and Supernatural in the 19th Century:

'The 19th Century was a golden age of beleif in supernatural forces and energies, ghost stories, weird transmissions and spooky phenomena. For a long time, historians ignored these beleifs as ambarassing errrors or eccentricities, signs of the perturbations produced by the speed of cultural change. Particularly significant is how little the supernatural entities in the story have to do with the change in Scrooge; there is no force used, magical or otherwise."

~ That's all the notes I've got that may seem useful to your essay. I hope these points help and actually make sense :smile: :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by AestheticEnergy
Omg we were literally doing this in OUR class TODAY xD - However I've only got a sort of introduction to an essay like this:

In the novella, the supernatural elements are a natural extension of the real world of Scrooge and his victims. There are many supernatural elements such as the ghosts and the visions which Scrooge has. Scrooge is presented an absurd and nonsensical vision of the city. The ghosts and apparitions can be seen as a mouthpiece for social values.

From this introduction, you can express the point with quotes from Stave 1, particularly Marley's bits. He was as "Dead as a door-nail", for example. This shows how the supernatural (Like Marley) can foreshadow imminent hauntings or events that could influence Scrooge, mainly since this quote appears at the very start of the novella.

The supernatural can also be described as catalysts of Scrooge's change, meaning they allow a turning point (peripeteia) to occur in the story. All the Ghosts, including Marley, attempt to push Scrooge to realise his mistakes and sins and try to get him to redeem and change himself.

Of course, AQA does look for AO3 in English Literature, so context is very important. My English Teacher gave us a great booklet with lots of AO3 context for us to use in our Christmas Carol essays. There is a part about Ghosts and Supernatural in the 19th Century:

'The 19th Century was a golden age of beleif in supernatural forces and energies, ghost stories, weird transmissions and spooky phenomena. For a long time, historians ignored these beleifs as ambarassing errrors or eccentricities, signs of the perturbations produced by the speed of cultural change. Particularly significant is how little the supernatural entities in the story have to do with the change in Scrooge; there is no force used, magical or otherwise."

~ That's all the notes I've got that may seem useful to your essay. I hope these points help and actually make sense :smile: :smile:

omggg thank you so much!!
Original post by AestheticEnergy
Omg we were literally doing this in OUR class TODAY xD - However I've only got a sort of introduction to an essay like this:

In the novella, the supernatural elements are a natural extension of the real world of Scrooge and his victims. There are many supernatural elements such as the ghosts and the visions which Scrooge has. Scrooge is presented an absurd and nonsensical vision of the city. The ghosts and apparitions can be seen as a mouthpiece for social values.

From this introduction, you can express the point with quotes from Stave 1, particularly Marley's bits. He was as "Dead as a door-nail", for example. This shows how the supernatural (Like Marley) can foreshadow imminent hauntings or events that could influence Scrooge, mainly since this quote appears at the very start of the novella.

The supernatural can also be described as catalysts of Scrooge's change, meaning they allow a turning point (peripeteia) to occur in the story. All the Ghosts, including Marley, attempt to push Scrooge to realise his mistakes and sins and try to get him to redeem and change himself.

Of course, AQA does look for AO3 in English Literature, so context is very important. My English Teacher gave us a great booklet with lots of AO3 context for us to use in our Christmas Carol essays. There is a part about Ghosts and Supernatural in the 19th Century:

'The 19th Century was a golden age of beleif in supernatural forces and energies, ghost stories, weird transmissions and spooky phenomena. For a long time, historians ignored these beleifs as ambarassing errrors or eccentricities, signs of the perturbations produced by the speed of cultural change. Particularly significant is how little the supernatural entities in the story have to do with the change in Scrooge; there is no force used, magical or otherwise."

~ That's all the notes I've got that may seem useful to your essay. I hope these points help and actually make sense :smile: :smile:



Hi, did u write the intro paragraph urself? Or is that the mark scheme?

Quick Reply

Latest