Mark my ACC answer (AQA) and give a mark range for it

Answer to 30 mark question about ACC: Starting with this extract, explore how Dickens uses the ghosts to help Scrooge change his attitudes and behaviour.

Write about:

How Dickens uses Marley's Ghost in this

extract

• How Dickens uses the ghosts to help Scrooge change his attitudes and behaviour in the novel as a whole

Answer:

Throughout the novel and extract, Dickens uses the ghosts to show Scrooge’s own bitter and distasteful attitudes towards Christmas, as well as the lower class.

In the extract, Dickens uses Marley’s ghost to show Scrooge the consequences in his afterlife. We see Marley admit to the reader and Scrooge his wrongdoings when he says, “I wear the chain I forged in life... I girded it of my own freewill, and of my own free will I wore it.” The quote states how he has created his own doom, in other words, he dug his own grave and has to lie in it now. The noun “chain” symbolises the capitalism and good and bad Marley was guilty of in his life. He had built up his misery in the afterlife, slowly shown by the verb “forged,” which indicates to the reader that Marley hadn’t been aware of his wrongdoings. The repetition of “free will” is used by Dickens to promote to the Victorian society the responsibility capitalists and higher-class people failed to show towards the less fortunate in the 1800s. He uses the noun “free will” to tell the audience how the wealthy have a huge impact on the poorer society due to their lack of empathy and a “giving” attitude. Dickens states this message of poverty through Marley to show Scrooge himself the consequences of his selfish actions and warns Scrooge to change.

Later, after this scene when Marley disappears, Scrooge looks out of his window to see countless spirits crying in pain and misery. When it says, “Many had been known to Scrooge,” it shows the reader how Scrooge associates with people selfish and avaricious like himself. Dickens has written this to show Scrooge and the reader that what Marley has told him is in fact true, and due to his association with those kinds of people, the same ending will happen to him no doubt. This is meant to act as only the beginning of Scrooge’s transformation.

In the beginning of Chapter 2, at the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, the spirit is described as old but not young, “like a child: yet not like a child.” This unsure description of the spirit gives a mysterious aura about it. From his head shone a bright, clear jet of light. The adjectives “bright” and “clear” are from the semantic field of hope and innocence. This symbolises Scrooge’s awaiting journey of transformation. The noun “light” can be used to symbolise God and has religious connotations to it, signifying the spirit as also an angel sent by God to change Scrooge’s avaricious nature. This is important as in the 1840s the Victorian society had strong religious beliefs, so Dickens used “light” as a symbol of hope for society.

Reply 1

mjflay0923

Your essay effectively analyzes how Dickens uses the ghosts to facilitate Scrooge's transformation. You explore how Marley’s ghost is used to show the consequences of Scrooge’s actions and how the subsequent ghosts help reveal his need for change. Your analysis of Marley’s chain and the use of “free will” to comment on societal issues is insightful. You also effectively link the imagery of light with Scrooge’s spiritual transformation in the second part of the essay.
Mark: 17/20 Grade: B+ Suggestions for improvement:

•

Consider providing a little more depth on the emotional and psychological impact of the ghosts on Scrooge, beyond just the symbolism.

•

The conclusion could be stronger by explicitly tying together how the ghosts as a whole help Scrooge evolve across the entire novel.

•

Some sentence structures could be clarified for easier reading, particularly where multiple ideas are packed into one sentence.

Reply 2

MysteriousHuman

Original post

by mjflay0923

•

Consider providing a little more depth on the emotional and psychological impact of the ghosts on Scrooge, beyond just the symbolism.

•

The conclusion could be stronger by explicitly tying together how the ghosts as a whole help Scrooge evolve across the entire novel.

•

Some sentence structures could be clarified for easier reading, particularly where multiple ideas are packed into one sentence.

Alright, thanks!

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