Good morning.

My name's Mrs. Halliday, thank you so much for joining me today.

It's an absolute pleasure to have you all here.

I'm really looking forward to delving deeper into Christmas and how Dickens represents it in the novella, so let's get started.

So today's lesson is called Stave 3: Christmas Around the World.

And by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to understand Dickens's message about Christmas and how he uses Christmas in the novella to underpin his message of charity and empathy.

Here are some key words you'll need for today's lesson.

We've got portray.

We've got to portray, hyperbolic, abundance, optimistic, and merriment.

Here are the keyword definitions.

If you'd like to take slightly longer to read them, then feel free to pause the video while you read them at your own pace.

And here's our lesson outline.

We're going to begin by looking first of all at Christmas in London, so Christmas at Scrooge's home.

And then we're going to move on to looking at how Dickens presents Christmas in other places around the world.

So let's start first with Christmas in London.

We're gonna start with a quick discussion.

I'd like you, first of all, to discuss with the people around you what is Christmas spirit? We use that phrase all the time, but what does it actually mean? And how do we show Christmas spirit? So I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you have those conversations and before we share a few of our ideas.

So in terms of some answers, I really liked this idea that Christmas spirit tends to mean the kind of jolly and merry and optimistic attitude that people tend to adopt around the festive period.

Now, in terms of what this looks like, it can be singing, it can be giving other people compliments, donating to charity.

It tends to look like people going out of their way to do something good for humanity.

So perhaps doing things that they wouldn't do all year round or that they wouldn't make time for all year round.

So well done if you've got any of those ideas.

So we're gonna start off by reading a passage from "A Christmas Carol." So I'll read it to you first, and if you could be following along, that will be fantastic, thank you.

So this is Christmas in London.

The Grocers.

Oh, the Grocers.

Nearly closed with perhaps two shutters down, or one; but through those gaps such glimpses! It was not alone that the scales descending on the counter made a merry sound, or that the twine and roller parted company so briskly, or that the canisters were rattled up and down like juggling tricks, or even that the blended scents of tea and coffee were so grateful to the nose, or even that the raisins were so plentiful and rare, the almonds so extremely white, the sticks of cinnamon so long and straight, the other spices so delicious, the candied fruit so caked and spotted with molten sugar as to make the coldest lookers-on feel faint and subsequently bilious.

Nor was it that the figs were moist and pulpy, or that the French plums blushed in modest tartness from their highly decorated boxes, or that everything was good to eat and in its Christmas dress; but the customers were also hurried and so eager in the hopeful promise of the day that they tumbled up against each other at the door, crashing their wicker baskets wildly, and left their purchases upon the counter and came running back to fetch them, and committed hundreds of the like mistakes in the best humour possible; while the Grocer and his people were so frank and fresh that the polished hearts with which they fastened their aprons behind might have been their own, worn outside for general inspection, and for Christmas daws to peck up if they chose.

So now that we've read that extract, I'd like you to discuss, please.

Well, what's your impression of the scene that Dickens portrays here? And why do you think he's portrayed London in this way on Christmas Day? So again, I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you have those conversations and before we discuss some of your ideas.

Fantastic discussions.

And here I've given you a little bit of an insight into a conversation that two students were having that encompasses some of the ideas that you might have got in your discussions.

So let's have a look at what they said.

So Alex said, "I love the way that Dickens presents London as a bustling city full of Christmas spirit on Christmas morning.

Everything seems so perfect and utopian, and the narrator describes it with such awe that it's almost as if we're seeing it through the eyes of someone like Scrooge who hasn't seen it before." And Laura replies, "I think that's exactly what Dickens is doing.

Remember that Scrooge just spent his whole life isolating himself from his community, not seeing what he was missing out on?" "Yes! And this is the point where Scrooge sees the life that he could have had.

He also must be seeing all the food he could have been eating, instead of the small saucepan of gruel we see him eating in Stave 1.

I think it's crazy how Scrooge, in being so miserly, has denied himself all of these fulfilling experiences and more exotic and delicious foods." "It's quite sad, really.

Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for Scrooge, and then I remember that he chose to isolate himself from his community." "I think that's what Dickens is illustrating though.

He's showing us what a pity it is that Scrooge chose not to engage.

At this point, he can't get involved, he can only observe.

And in showing this to Scrooge, I think the ghost is trying to make him excited at the prospect of rejoining society and allowing himself to experience all the things that he's denied himself." So bearing that conversation in mind, I'd like you now to take a few moments to discuss, well, how do you feel about Scrooge here in this part of the text? So I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you have those discussions now.

Some lovely discussions there.

I really liked his suggestion that we do actually feel a little bit sorry for Scrooge.

Not necessarily sorry for him because anything bad's happening, more just sorry for him because I think we realise, and he realises just what he's been missing out on all these years.

And it's quite sad to think that he actually chose to isolate himself from this bustling community that surrounds him.

So well done if you discussed any of the above.

So, we're going to have a go at doing some analysis.

We're going to do one together, and then you are going to have a go at yourself.

So our question here is, how does Dickens portray London as a joyful place on Christmas day? And here's our quotation that I've picked from the extract.

So we've got, "The Grocers, oh, the Grocers! Nearly closed with perhaps two shutters down, or one; but through those gaps, such glimpses!" Now in terms of how Dickens portrays London here, obviously he portrays it as joyful, and we know this because of all the exclamation marks and the repetition, and that shows the real excitement and the buzz that's in the air because it's Christmas day.

So that shows the community's enthusiasm for the festive period and how keen they are to get involved and demonstrate their Christmas spirit.

We also see that Dickens presents almost this vision of wonder, and it's almost hidden from Scrooge because it says that the shutters were nearly down, but you could peep through and get these little glimpses of Christmas, okay, and that kind of represents the fact that Scrooge is kind of peeping through, represents the fact that he's an outsider in this society, and that right now he's not integrated into his community.

So he can't join in, he can merely just observe through the slight cracks that the ghost has opened up for him through these visions.

And what Scrooge gets as he peeps in, almost through the gaps in society that the ghost highlights for him, is a vision of absolute wonder and marvel.

And he almost can't believe that all of this has been going on without him.

Okay, and here he's been shown the life that he could have had that he chose to shut himself out from.

So now it's your turn to have a go at some analysis.

So again, it's the same question, how does Dickens portray London as a joyful place on Christmas Day? And this is the quotation that I've chosen for you to analyse.

So we've got, "The raisins, were so plentiful and rare, the almond's so extremely white, the sticks of cinnamon so long and straight, and the other spices so delicious." So what I'm gonna do now is just like we've just analysed the quote about the Grocers, I'd like you to pick a few things out that allow Dickens to present London as a joyful place on Christmas Day.

So I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you have a go at the activity and before we share some suggestions.

Fantastic work there.

And I can see that loads of you have picked out quite a bit from this extract, so well done.

So here's what you could have written.

You could have talked about this idea of the repetition of "so." Okay, the raisins were so plentiful, almonds, so white, cinnamon sticks so long.

And the fact that Dickens repeats this word so so many times, it makes the description really hyperbolic.

So Dickens is almost exaggerating how amazing and incredible London is on Christmas Day.

And actually, it shows the abundance and quality of the food available.

Because remember, people like Thomas Malthus, the Victorian economists, they were going around saying that we didn't have enough food to feed everybody and that the poor should stop having children.

And Scrooge was adopting beliefs like this and this is kind of what was driving Scrooge's miserly attitude.

But here, this is completely contradicted because the reality of the scene that the ghost presents Scrooge with shows him that actually, there isn't a problem with food produce.

And we are able to sustain all of these people.

And actually, there's a real kind of abundance of food available to everybody who chooses to engage with it.

You also might have picked out Dickens's use of adjectives.

So plentiful, rare, white, long, straight, delicious.

And all of these show the quality of the food.

Okay, so we've not just got an abundance of food, but it's also really high quality.

And it's almost everything's described as if it's made a special effort for Christmas, which I think's really nice because it shows this kind of idea of Christmas spirit.

And Dickens almost personifies the food and suggests that even the food is, you know, put on its best dress for Christmas Day and is ready to be eaten and consumed.

So I think this whole description just shows the enthusiasm and the buzz in the community around Christmas and the festive period.

So for the first task of the lesson, I'm going to release you and set you off to analyse the rest of the extract independently.

So we're still sticking with the same question of how does Dickens present London as a joyful and festive place? But you're going to look at the rest of the extract that we read together earlier in the lesson.

And while you're analysing this extract, I've just jotted down some quick questions that I think will help guide your analysis.

So I'd like you to consider as you're analysing, Dickens lists aspect of the scene, and what's the effect of that list? Where has Dickens used personification? And again, what's the effect of that personification? How does it make us feel and what impression of the scene does it give us? How does Dickens present the customers on Christmas Day? How are the Grocers presented? And why does Dickens portray London in this way? What's he trying to achieve? Okay, so what is Scrooge learning, but also what do we as the reader learn at the same time? So I'm gonna invite you to pause the video now while you have a go at that activity and before we feedback some answers.

Some fantastic work there, and I could see your extracts looking really full and colourful, full of ideas and suggestions, so amazing work.

Here are some annotations you might have had.

And what I've done is I've just picked a few really key quotations out of this extract.

So in this quotation, "The figs were moist and pulpy, or that the French plums blushed in modest tartness from their highly decorated boxes, or that everything was good to eat and in its Christmas dress," you might have picked out this idea of the personification of the plums. And Dickens presents them as full of life and joy.

Okay, and again, it's almost as if they've come out dressed in their best for Christmas Day, that even they're embodying that Christmas spirit as well that's reflected in the community around them.

Again, we see this hyperbole and this hyperbolic description from Dickens.

And it suggests that everything's making an effort and he's creating this really utopian vision of the scene.

It's almost as if London is bursting at the seams with Christmas spirit, okay, and festive joy, and that's exactly what Dickens was wanting to convey to us.

He was wanting to almost convey the power of Christmas and its ability to transform people's moods and transform a community and unite people together.

And that's exactly the scene that he presents us with here.

You also might have looked at this quotation in a bit of detail.

"The customers were also hurried and so eager in the hopeful promise of the day, and left their purchases upon the counter and came running back to fetch them and committed hundreds of the like mistakes in the best humour possible." So here you might have picked out the enthusiasm, okay, this verb hurried, okay, and this adjective, "They were so eager in the hopeful promise.": It shows kind of the optimism that's around and how people kind of put their worries to one side on Christmas and just demonstrate that real Christmas spirit and energy in the community.

So again, talking about this idea of optimism.

So Christmas is a time for optimism and looking forward and being grateful for things.

And I think that's what Dickens is showing us here, This hopeful promise, That's the gratitude that people are feeling, to be together, to be here, okay.

It's that gratitude for life that Dickens is demonstrating here.

Again, the fact that people are making mistakes, but they're not bothered about their mistakes.

They're in the best humour possible that shows the festive goodwill and the really high spirits at Christmas.

Christmas, It doesn't matter about mistakes at Christmas because it's a time for optimism and it's all about the merriment, it's about celebration.

It's not about dwelling on things that have happened or, you know, dwelling on misfortune.

It's about gratitude and being present and being really lively and joyful.

And here what the ghost is trying to show Scrooge and what Dickens is in fact showing us, the reader, is the power of Christmas spirit and how important it is to get involved with other people and be part of the community, especially at Christmas.

So here Scrooge is being shown the true meaning of Christmas.

In terms of this quotation here, this idea that "The Grocer and his people were so frank and fresh." And here you might talk about the fact that those words, frank and fresh, frank means kind of honest and open.

It shows the honesty of the grocers and their positivity.

And actually, it somewhat reflects the description of the ghost of Christmas present.

So Dickens describes him as having a bare chest and bare feet.

And again, it shows this idea of he's open-hearted, okay? He's willing to open up and show his emotions and affections to the community with no shame and no reservation.

There's no repressed emotion there.

And they're all united in this festive joy.

Now, this idea of polished hearts links really closely to the figure of speech where people say that they wear their heart on their sleeve.

And what that basically means is that they're open and honest about their feelings.

Now, historically, being open and honest about feelings has been something that Scrooge has really struggled with.

And it's something that Dickens kind of criticises about him and makes suggestions as to how he could better himself as a person, it's to be more emotional.

So here these grocers are modelling the qualities and the characteristics that Dickens is promoting in this novella.

They're being honest, they're being transparent, they're being openly emotional.

And that's something that Dickens is really celebrating here.

So to summarise, we'd say that Dickens presents London as a really appealing and lively and united community.

And that's especially obvious during the festive season.

And the way that he does that is by presenting the objects, so the food, et cetera, and the people, as the embodiment of Christmas spirit, okay? Sometimes he does that through the personification of the food, he does it through his verbs and adjectives, but all of these objects and people embody the Christmas spirit and they really embrace Christmas and the festive season.

And again, that's something that Scrooge really struggles to do, and it's something that Dickens harshly criticises him for.

So onto the second part of the lesson now, where we're going to look at how Dickens presents Christmas in other places around the world.

So again, a little discussion just to get us started.

So what do you think that Christmas often represents? And what traditions do people tend to have at Christmas? So I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you have those discussions.

Some fantastic discussions there.

And I'd like you to hold those ideas in your head, because you'll need them in a little bit.

So again, let's go back to the text and have a look at how Christmas around the world is presented.

So our first stop on our tour of Christmas around the world is up north and we're at the place where the miners live.

So I'm going to read you this extract, and if you could follow along that would be fantastic, thank you.

So we've got, "What place is this?," asked Scrooge.

"A place where miners live, who labour in the bowels of the earth," returned the Spirit.

"But they know me, see!" A light shone from thq window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced towards it.

Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled around a glowing fire.

An old, old man and woman, with their children, and their children's children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out galy in their holiday attire.

The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song.

It had been a very old song when he was a boy, and from time to time they all joined in the chorus.

So before we have some discussions, I just want to clarify what a miner is.

Now, a miner is a person who works underground, and they would extract natural resources.

And in this case, the miners are extracting coal.

Now that we know what a miner is, I would like you to look at this part of the extract.

So the very beginning, and have a think about, well, what does a spirit mean when he says, "They know me?" Who is the me that he's talking about here? And also, when we see this glowing fire, what does the fire represent here? So again I'm gonna encourage you to pause the video while you gather your ideas together and fully share some thoughts.

Some fantastic ideas here, and well done if you remembered that actually in "A Christmas Carol," we know that fire is a really common motif and it symbolises generosity and community.

So here, the word company shows that the group are really united in their festive cheer, and they're united around this glowing fire, which again shows us that they are a generous community.

Which again shows us that they are a generous community.

Now the wall of mud stone suggests that they live a more simpler or a more traditional lifestyle than perhaps Scrooge does in London.

And they don't have the same comforts as many of the citizens in London do.

However, they still value community and they still find a way to celebrate Christmas and demonstrate their Christmas cheer and spend time with their families.

So what we see here is a slightly different way of celebrating, but still an equally valid and equally, you know, wholesome and heartwarming scene here.

In terms of what the spirit means when he says, "They know me," well, the spirit is an embodiment of Christmas spirit.

He represents everything that is festive goodwill.

So when he's saying, "Oh look, they know me, see." He's saying, look, they know how to celebrate Christmas.

They're demonstrating Christmas spirit, okay? And he's almost shaming Scrooge in this moment because he is saying, look, you live in London where there's a, you know, a wealth and a multitude of comforts and you don't bother to celebrate Christmas properly.

But look at these people here, who clearly don't have as much money as you do, and clearly live a slightly more challenging life than you do, and yet they still know me, they still appreciate the value of Christmas for what it is.

So here the spirit is saying to Scrooge, "Look, they know how to celebrate Christmas, so what's your excuse?" Okay, and it's really kind of shaming Scrooge in this moment by showing him, you know, a really wholesome and heartwarming instance of other people who are perhaps less fortunate than Scrooge, still finding time to celebrate Christmas in a really nice and wholesome manner.

And he actually even explicitly says, that in the most far-flung corners of the world that appear, quote, dismal and dim, the Christmas spirit lives on.

Okay, so again, we've talked about this idea of him shaming Scrooge, he's saying like, look at the difference between you and them.

You live completely different lifestyles, you know, they face more challenges, and yet you are still out here being miserly in London, of all places.

You should be ashamed of yourself, is basically what he's saying.

So in showing Scrooge these scenes, he's inadvertently drawing comparisons between the way that Scrooge lives his life and how selfish that is, and the way that these other communities live their lives and how wholesome and kind of moral they are.

So let's check for understanding.

What does the Ghost of Christmas Present embody? Is it A, Christmas hunger, B, Christmas spirit, or C, Father Christmas? I'm gonna give you a moment to pause the video while you jot your answer down.

And well done if you identified that it is in fact B, he is the embodiment of Christmas spirit.

Yes, his appearance looks like, you know, a Victorian Father Christmas, but that is not what he embodies, okay, that's just his appearance.

He embodies Christmas spirit and festive goodwill.

So well done if you got that right.

So back to the text, and another little section for us to look at.

Again, it's part of the same extract I read out before, so I won't be reading it out again.

I'm going to ask you to read this section and then discuss, well what do the miners value? And why does the ghost show this to Scrooge? And finally, why does Dickens show it to us? Because remember, we're learning at the same time that Scrooge is learning.

So why is it shown to Scrooge and why is it shown to us? I'm gonna invite you to pause the video again while you reread that section and discuss the questions on the right hand side.

Some fantastic discussions again, and well done to those of you that identified that actually the miners value family.

Okay, we're shown all these traditions that the family's passed down, like the song, and Dickens talks about the many generations of family that are present and celebrating together.

So again, the fact that they've brought in so many different generations and they're all still there, they're all still celebrating together, just shows how much they value each other.

So if you remember, after this scene we're actually shown the scene of Fred celebrating Christmas where he raises a glass to Scrooge and is grateful for the fact that, you know, he does have one remaining family member.

And I think that Dickens is purposefully contrasting these two moments where we see this mining community, with their many generations of family all gathered together, and then we realise kind of the family that screwed has neglected because we go and see Fred's Christmas dinner, where he's actually talking about his Uncle Scrooge and saying that he's going to continue inviting him to Christmas dinner forever, because it's the right thing to do.

So here, in showing Scrooge this scene of these miners together with all their generations of family, the the ghost is trying to teach Scrooge the value of family.

And he's suggesting that actually, family's worth a lot more than money and that by neglecting his family, Scrooge has actually done himself a massive moral disservice.

What the spirit is saying is that, Scrooge has a poverty of love and that he's impoverished in a different way.

Not financially, but he's emotionally impoverished because he is neglected his family for so long and the spirit's showing him what a shame that is here.

And also in terms of what we're learning, we learn at the same time that actually social responsibility \and community are really important.

And that looking after one another, especially in the bleak and dark times that we all face in our lives, is massively important.

And Dickens uses the mining community to really emphasise that here.

So onto the last task of our lesson, I'd like you to reread the section of Stave 3 from "The Spirit did not tarry here" to, "they delighted to remember him." Now, this is a section where the ghost takes Scrooge to look at other communities, So the community of men in the lighthouse and the sailors on the ship.

Okay, so that's what's being covered in this section.

I would then like you to complete the Venn diagram, and I'd like you to look at the similarities and differences in the way that these two communities are celebrating Christmas and what it is that they value.

So here's a reminder of what our Venn diagram should look like.

So we've got two circles that overlap in the middle.

the outer circles are both labelled with the two communities, so we've got the lighthouse men on the left and the sailors on the right.

Now in the outer circles, these indicate the differences between the two communities.

So you're gonna populate them with some of the differences between the way that these two communities celebrate Christmas and what they value.

Now, the overlapping section is the section for the similarities.

So you're going to populate this with commonalities between the way that these two communities celebrate and what they value.

So for example, one commonality is that they're both very isolated communities, they're both geographically isolated.

So we'd put that in the middle because it's a commonality, it's a similarity between the two communities.

So now that I've reminded you what a Venn diagram looks like and how you're going to use it, I'm going to encourage you to pause a video while you have a go at populating your own Venn diagram using the extract that I've directed you to.

Some fantastic work there, and I'm seeing some really full Venn diagrams, which is absolutely lovely to see.

So here's some of the ideas that you could have got.

And as we're going through, if you've missed any of them, I suggest that you add them in onto your Venn diagram so that you've got a complete set of notes.

So you might have identified that the lighthouse men, they're gathered round a fire, okay? They're joining hands, they're drinking cans of grog, and they're wishing each other a merry Christmas.

So now let's have a look at the way that the sailors are celebrating.

So they're sharing stories of previous Christmas days, they're thinking of home and their family and their loved ones, and that's what they value, they view them as really important.

And they're also saying really kind words to one another.

So now let's have a look at the similarities.

So this was our example from earlier, that they're both really isolated communities.

And when I'm talking about isolated, I'm talking about geographically.

'Cause obviously the fact that they're a community, they're not isolated within themselves, but they're isolated geographically.

We've got the sailors on the sea and the lighthouse men in a very far-flung corner of the Earth.

Now, neither of these communities have wealth.

That is a similarity that they share, they're both quite impoverished communities.

And they're also both singing and humming Christmas tunes.

Now, again, throughout the novella, this idea of singing is a really common motif and it represents kind of merriment and joy.

So again, here, in the fact that we see them both singing, we see them both as really merry and optimistic communities, especially during the festive period.

Now, in both of these scenes, we see the people being described as tired or worn.

Okay, sailors are tired from the journey, the lighthouse men are weary and old.

Okay, so again, the spirit is suggesting that there is really no excuse for not celebrating Christmas.

It doesn't matter if you're tired, it doesn't matter if you're older, everybody has it within them to embody that festive cheer and goodwill.

And finally, both of these communities so clearly value human connection.

The fact that they're singing these songs, they're gathered around these fires, they're joining hands and wishing each other Merry Christmas, that illustrates how much they all mean to each other and how highly they value community.

So what I'd like you to do now is think, well, which of these did we see in the mining community as well? Do they share any similarities with either of the way that these two other communities celebrate Christmas? So what I'd like you to do is I'd like you to tick on your Venn diagram, which qualities or which methods of celebration we also see the mining community participating in.

So I'm gonna give you a few seconds to pause the video while you undertake that task now.

Fantastic, so here's what you could have identified as further similarities.

So the mining community are also gathered around that glowing fire.

If you remember, that represented generosity.

They're also singing Christmas tunes from, if you remember, the older man is singing tunes from when he was a young boy.

They also clearly value human connection, 'cause all of their generations have been brought together.

They're also, you know, viewing family and loved ones as really important and thinking of home because the older man's singing songs from his childhood, so he's probably thinking about his childhood home.

Again, they're described as kind of tired and worn from all their work.

You know, their environment's described as quite bleak and dismal.

So again, you know, Dickens is suggesting that even when you're tired, even when you are not feeling super optimistic the rest of the year, there's always time for Christmas spirit.

Again, the mining community are not a wealthy community, but it doesn't matter because Dickens is making the point that Christmas is not about money.

It's not about, you know, materialism, it's about community, empathy, and kindness.

So well done if you identified the further similarities between these two communities and also the mining community.

So in showing us all three of these scenes, Dickens is really emphasising what Christmas really means and what the true value of Christmas is.

And that is that charity, empathy, kindness, and community spirit.

So to summarise the learning from today's lesson, first of all, we've got this idea that the ghost of Christmas present embodies Christmas spirit.

And he shows Scrooge different scenes of Christmas being celebrated all around the world, especially in isolated or really challenged communities.

Now, Scrooge, when he's watching these scenes observes the Christmas spirit that they're all demonstrating and the regard and the respect that they hold for family and human connection.

And we recognise in these scenes that though there may not be an abundance of wealth, that doesn't matter, because there's an abundance of joy and an abundance of merriment.

And Dickens is illustrating the importance of community in this section of the novella because Scrooge is observing what he has missed out on all these years.

And it's a bit of a sad moment there for Scrooge because he realises, you know, exactly what he's denied himself through his miserly and selfish behaviour.

So I'd like to thank you for coming to today's lesson and engaging so positively in the learning.

I've really enjoyed teaching you and I'm looking forward to seeing you next time.

So have a fabulous day and I'll see you later.