Good morning.

It's lovely to see you all again.

My name is Miss Halliday, and I'll be your teacher for today.

I can't wait to hear all your incredible ideas and suggestions, so let's get started.

So today's lesson is called "Stave 4: Death in 'A Christmas Carol.

'" And today we'll be looking at death across the whole novella, and then death in stave four.

So by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to understand the significance of the theme of death in "A Christmas Carol." Here are some key words you'll need for today's lesson.

We've got indifferent, callous, to repress, welfare, and social responsibility.

Here are the definitions of these keywords.

If you'd like to take slightly longer to read them and digest them at your own pace, then please do feel free to pause video and do so.

And here's today's lesson outline.

So we're going to start by looking at Scrooge's responses to death across the novella, particularly between staves one and three.

We're then going to look and move on to, well, what does Scrooge learn from death? And again, the focus there will be on stave four.

So let's start with Scrooge's responses to death across the novella.

As a little bit of a recap, I'd like you to discuss what deaths or references to deaths do we see in the novella? Now, you might find it useful to plot this on a timeline like the one below or you can just list them in bullet points, but I've given you an example to get you started.

So here's your first example.

The novella begins with the death of Marley, a selfish and greedy miser.

So I've given you the first death.

You've got to think about which ones come after that.

So I'm going to invite you to pause video now while you either plot the deaths on a timeline or list them.

Off you go.

Some fantastic recall there.

And here are some of the deaths in the novella.

So obviously we start with the death of Marley who's the selfish and greedy business partner of Scrooge.

We then learn of the death of Scrooge's little sister, Fan, in stave two whom he loved really dearly.

And that's not a death that we see in the novella, but it's a death that we hear about.

Again in stave three, we see Scrooge asking about the death of Tiny Tim.

You know, will he live? The Ghost of Christmas Present tells him that unless things change, Tiny Tim will die.

We then hear Scrooge hear the businessmen, Mrs. Dilber and her criminal accomplices, and the young couple all discussing his death unbeknownst to him, okay, because it's just presented to Scrooge as the death of an anonymous man in stave four.

So again, we see a death there as well.

Around the middle of stave four, we see Scrooge seeing the dead body lying cold and alone with nobody to mourn him.

And again, unbeknownst to Scrooge, this is actually his own body.

Scrooge then witnesses the aftermath of the death of Tiny Tim again in stave four.

And finally, at the very end of stave four, Scrooge reads his own name upon his own gravestone.

So well done if you managed to get all of those references to death in the novella.

What I'd like you to do now is discuss, well, how does Scrooge react or respond to each of these deaths? And I've put the timeline back up for you as a reminder of the deaths.

So work your way through each death, and think about, well, how does Scrooge respond or react to these deaths? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you undertake that discussion task now.

And here's what you might have got.

So in terms of the death of Marley, I really liked hearing this idea that actually Scrooge is Marley's sole mourner, but he conducts his mourning in a really callous and indifferent way.

And it's actually almost as if in the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is not at all bothered by the death of his business partner and only friend because he continues his life completely normally and he doesn't seem affected by the death at all, okay? So that response to death there is quite callous and very indifferent.

Now, in terms of the death of Scrooge's little sister, Fan, again, we know that Scrooge responded callously to the death of his sister because even though he is grief stricken and there is absolutely no denying that Scrooge is deeply upset and heartbroken by the death of his beloved sister, he represses his emotions and actually that repression causes him to reject his nephew, Fred, and not take care and responsibility for him in his time of need.

And that's really sad.

I think it's one of the great tragedies of this novella is the fact that when Scrooge's sister dies, he doesn't step up and fulfil his duty of care to his nephew.

Now, in terms of the death of the anonymous man that we know is Scrooge, but he doesn't know he's Scrooge, he's absolutely appalled to see the death of the anonymous man being dealt with so callously by so many groups of people.

At one point, he actually even begs the spirit to show him a scene of somebody who feels any kind of emotion at the passing of this dead man.

And unfortunately, the spirit can only show him a couple who feel the emotion of relief at the death of this dead man, okay? So Scrooge is utterly appalled by people's reactions to this death here.

And when Scrooge understands that his bed has been robbed and his possession stolen, he's absolutely disgusted and appalled.

And for Scrooge, we see writ here almost where the line of Scrooge's morality is because here a line has been crossed.

Scrooge is disgusted by this behaviour.

And perhaps it's because of the assault of a dead person, we're not sure, but this for Scrooge is where the line is in terms of disrespect.

Now we see we in regards to the death of Tiny Tim, Scrooge's response to be that of grief and compassion, okay? It's only a predicted death at this point because it's in stave three, but he's overcome with penitence and grief when he asks the spirit to say that Tiny Tim will be spared.

So again, we see a much more emotional and warm response and more kind of appropriate response to death here than we see earlier in the text.

And finally, when Scrooge realises that this anonymous man whose death he's been witnessing this whole time is actually his own, he's very, very hysterical, and he cries upon his knees and repents for his previous sins.

So again, here, a more appropriate response to death than we perhaps see in the early stages of the novella.

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

So let's check for understanding.

Which two of the following best describe how Scrooge responds to the death of his little sister, Fan? Is it a, that he doesn't care at all for her death? Is it b, that he's grief stricken, but represses his emotions? Is it c, that he takes the opportunity to look after Fred and forge stronger familial relationships? Or is it d, that he cruelly abandons his nephew in his time of need? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you decide which two of the following best describes Scrooge's response to the death of little Fan.

Off you go.

And well done if you identified that it is in fact b and d.

We know that Scrooge is grief stricken, but he represses his emotions unfortunately, and this leads him to cruelly abandon his nephew in his time of need.

And onto the first task of the lesson.

I'd like you to discuss and bullet point ideas to the following questions.

First of all, where is the turning point in how Scrooge responds to death? At what point does he start to respond to death in a more appropriate way? So when does that happen? Why do you think his responses to the deaths of little Fan and Marley was so callous? And finally, what do you think is behind the change in the way that Scrooge responds to death in the novella? Now, I'd like you to make sure that you are bullet pointing the contents of your discussion as you are having them as these will form really useful revision notes for you when you come back to revise this text.

So make sure that you are indeed bullet pointing the contents of your discussion.

So what I'm going to invite to do now is pause the video while you have those discussions with the people around you.

Some fantastic discussions there.

And I was so impressed by the depth of some of your explanations of your ideas and opinions.

So really well done.

Here are some ideas that you might have discussed.

So you might have talked about the fact that Scrooge's reactions to the first two deaths in the novella are quite callous, and we know that he would be upset, but he represses his emotions and he doesn't express them outwardly.

So he keeps it all into himself.

His response to Marley's death is particularly brutal because he just continues his life as normal and views it as, quote, "all the same to him." That's really quite harsh considering, you know, the fact that Marley was Scrooge's business partner, he'd known him for many, many years, and he was his only friend.

That is a very callous response to the death of your only friend.

We also know that over the course of the novella, Scrooge starts to learn the value of individual human life, and he becomes more affected by the deaths as a result.

So as he starts to appreciate the value of human life, his response to death changes.

He learns to be more emotional and empathetic, so he is therefore able to show his emotions more openly and process his emotions more healthily.

So I guess what we're trying to say here is that he doesn't repress his emotions quite as much as he did in the beginning because he's been shown notably by the Ghost of Christmas Past and Present how to be more emotional and how to process emotions in a more appropriate manner.

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

So onto the second part of the lesson now where we're going to have a look at what it is that Scrooge learns from death.

So in stave three, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the spirit, informs Scrooge of the imminent death of Tiny Tim if things do not change.

I'd like you to discuss how does Scrooge respond to that? So how does Scrooge respond to the ghost's assertion that if things don't change Tiny Tim will die? What do you think that Scrooge could do realistically to improve Tiny Tim's life chances? So how do you think he could help? And what do you think Scrooge could do to support Bob in this hard and difficult time? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss those three questions.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

Now, in terms of some answers, obviously we know that Scrooge is really upset at the prospect of Tiny Tim dying because he realises how much he means to his family.

Now, in terms of what you think Scrooge could do to improve Tiny Tim's life chances, well, we know and as well in terms of what he could do to support Bob, I think the really key thing would possibly be to increase Bob's wages because this would allow him to perhaps get better support for Tiny Tim, or feed him better, or get him the medication that he requires.

And again, this would allow Bob to really look after and support his own son.

Now, in terms of what he could do to support Bob, remember that generosity doesn't just come in the form of material wealth and money.

And actually time and empathy are both forms of generosity because you can be really generous, you know, with your feelings and you can also be generous with your time.

And I personally think that Bob would really benefit from both of those from Scrooge at this moment 'cause he's going through a really difficult time, and he could just do with a little bit of empathy and a little bit of patience from Scrooge, I think.

So here is an extract from a part of the text in which Bob encounters Fred on the street around the time that Tiny Tim is very, very poorly and has passed away, sadly.

So I'm going to read this extract to you, and you're going to follow along, and then we're going to answer some questions.

So this is set in Bob's house now.

"They drew about the fire, and talked; the girls and mother working still.

Bob told them of the extraordinary kindness of Mr. Scrooge's nephew, whom he had scarcely seen but once, and who, meeting him in the street that day, and seeing that he looked a little- 'just a little down you know,' said Bob, inquired what had happened to distress him.

'On which,' said Bob, 'for he is the pleasantest-spoken gentleman you have ever heard, I told him.

"I am heartily sorry for it, Mr. Cratchit," he said, "and heartily sorry for your good wife.

If I can be of service to you in any way," he said, giving me his card, "that's where I live.

Pray come to me." Now, it wasn't' cried Bob, 'for the sake of anything he might be able to do for us, so much as for his kind way, that this was quite delightful.

It really seemed as if he had known our Tiny Tim and felt with us.

'" So here I want you to use this interaction between Bob and Fred to discuss, well, in what way does Fred help the Cratchits and what point is Dickens making here? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you discuss that now.

Some fantastic discussions.

Now, what I've done is highlighted the significant parts of this in blue for you so that you can see where we see this kind of empathy from Fred.

So Dickens is here illustrating that being charitable doesn't actually require any money.

It just requires time and empathy, just like we were just saying, okay? And here, even though Fred can't really offer Bob anything by means of money, he's offering him his time, he's offering him his empathy, and he's offering him some shelter, okay, so where he can discuss his problems and get some feedback and some empathy from somebody else.

And here Dickens is emphasising the value of social responsibility here, and he's celebrating Fred for taking responsibility for his fellow human being, Bob, and looking out for him even though he doesn't know him that well.

And Dickens is advocating that this kind of interaction is what contributes to a moral and positive society.

So he's really showing Fred here to be the example of how to be generous even if you don't have money.

So let's check for understanding.

What do we learn from the interaction between Bob and Fred in stave four? Is it a, the importance of family? Is it b, the importance of empathy? Or is it c, the importance of wealth? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video now while you jot your answer down.

And well done for identifying it is in fact the importance of empathy, okay? It's not the importance of family because Fred and Bob are not actually related, and it's not the importance of wealth because neither of these characters are well off at all, but instead we learn from Fred the importance of empathy, okay? If you don't have any money to give, that's fine.

You can give your time, and your kindness, and your patience instead.

And that is just as valuable as giving money.

That's what Dickens is saying here.

So back to the text, and we're going to look at some extracts and answer some questions.

So as I'm reading, you should be following along.

"'Spirit' said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, 'tell me if Tiny Tim will live.

' 'I see a vacant seat,' replied the Ghost, 'in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved.

If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.

' 'No, no,' said Scrooge.

'Oh, no, kind Spirit! Say he will be spared.

' 'If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race,' returned the Ghost, 'will find him here.

What then? If he be liked to die, he had better do it, and decreased the surplus population.

' Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief." So now that we've read the extract, I'd like you to consider, well, what is it that Scrooge learns or really recognises in this moment? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you discuss that question now.

Fantastic discussions, and here's what you could have said.

So in this moment, and this is a really pivotal and significant moment in the novella because Scrooge recognises the value of individual human life.

And he recognises here that actually Tiny Tim is a child worthy of life because Tiny Tim is exactly the kind of person that Scrooge would've just condemned to death, okay? Unfortunately, Tiny Tim is somebody who cannot contribute financially to society because of his disability, and therefore, Scrooge sees him as a waste of human life.

He's not worthy of living because he doesn't contribute anything, because he can't, you know, he can't support himself and therefore he's exactly the kind of person that would need charity and that Scrooge would view, and Malthus indeed would view, as a drain on the resources of society.

So this is exactly the kind of person that Scrooge would wish to die, and quote, "decrease the surplus population." So basically Scrooge views Tiny Tim as just one member of this surplus population that he would wish to be gone.

And that's really sad here.

But in this moment, fortunately, Scrooge realises that actually these people that he's been condemning to death are actually people and are worthy of human life.

And Scrooge recognises the value that Tiny Tim brings here.

So again, it's not about what he can contribute financially to society, it's about the positivity and the kindness that he contributes instead.

And as I said before, in this moment, and this is a really key moment, because Scrooge realises that Tiny Tim is not just surplus population, but he's actually a really valuable human being who needs to be given a full life to live.

Again, let's return to the text.

"He recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and now he almost touched a bed: a bare, uncurtained bed: on which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay something covered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in awful language.

The room was very dark, too dark to be observed with any accuracy, though Scrooge glanced around it in obedience to a secret impulse, anxious to know what kind of room it was.

A pale light, rising in the outer air, fell straight upon the bed; and on it, plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man." So I'm sure that you'll have noticed that this is an extract from stave four when Scrooge gets to see the body of this anonymous dead man and is appalled.

And I'd like you to consider now, well, how does Scrooge respond to the death of this anonymous man here? And why is it important that the narrator makes us feel sympathy for the dead body here? So I'm going to invite you again to pause the video while you discuss those questions and before we share some ideas together.

So off you go.

Again, some fantastic and really fruitful discussions, and let's have a look at some of the things you might have said.

So first of all, we see from Dickens's use of, "He recoiled in terror," and it, "announced itself in awful language," that Scrooge is utterly horrified by the dead body and is actually really frightened of it.

Now, Dickens repeats the word dark quite frequently throughout this extract, and that shows that death has not brought this man any comfort or peace, and he's not being given any kind of divine reward or comfort because of the way he behaved in life.

So death here is not presented as peaceful.

It's actually presented as really kind of lonely, and isolated, and traumatising.

Now, this triple here, I must say, I love this triple.

And the reason I love it is because it creates such sympathy for this dead body.

Even though we don't know who it is, it's an anonymous dead body, such sympathy is created for it because we can't imagine what it would feel like to have literally nobody weeping for you, nobody caring for you, nobody watching over you in your time of death.

Like, that must be awful, okay? So here, we learn the value of human life alongside Scrooge.

And this is such a sad moment because Scrooge realises that this man has wasted his life, okay? And that he has ended up alone because he has not bothered forming human connections with others.

And that's really sad.

And here the reality of the consequences of that decision are presented in the most awful way.

So back to the text again, and this is a continuation of the previous extract.

So as Scrooge stared at the dead man's body, "He thought, if this man could be raised up now, what would be his foremost thoughts? Avarice, hard-dealing, griping cares? They have brought him to a rich end, truly! He lay, in the dark empty house, with not a man, a woman, or a child, to say that he was kind to me in this or that, and for the memory of one kind word I will be kind to him." So what I'd like you to do now is consider the following questions.

First of all, what does Scrooge conclude about the dead man here? And secondly, what does he learn from seeing this uncared for body? So again, I'm going to invite you to pause video while you have a go at answering those questions.

Again, some really fantastic discussions.

I'm really impressed.

So I'm hoping that you got this idea that Scrooge manages to conclude from the dead man's state, the fact that he's alone, uncared for, unwept for, that he was a cruel, callous, and avaricious person in life.

So Scrooge does manage to realise that, and he does actually make the connection, which again is significant, between the fact that this man is alone and that this was a choice that he made in his own life.

And Scrooge pities him for making that choice actually, which is really significant because Scrooge at this moment doesn't realise that that is him.

But the fact that he manages to draw the connection between the fact that this man is not mourned and the fact that he must have behaved really awfully in life is very important because it shows that Scrooge now understands that actions have consequences, okay? So again, like I've just said, Scrooge learns that these specifically are the consequences of living a selfish and avaricious life.

And he learns the importance here, not just of living, so he doesn't just learn the value of human life, but he learns about the importance of what you do with that life.

So the importance of living well, being moral, and contributing to others' happiness and welfare.

And he actually pities this man for not using his life and not taking advantage of his opportunities to contribute positively to other people.

And again, I think that is so important.

You know, Dickens really promoting this idea of it's not about, you know, having a life, it's about what you do with your life that's really important, okay? So I think that really comes through here.

So onto our last task of the lesson, and again, I'm really looking forward to this task just 'cause I can't wait to see what you come up with.

So Charles Dickens stated, "No-one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else." What I'd like you to do now is use that quotation and complete the four sentences below.

So we've got number one, according to Dickens, our purpose in life is to, dot, dot, dot.

So you're going to look at the quote, and you're going to think, well, what, according to this quote, do you think Charles Dickens is saying our purpose in life is? Second sentence is, arguably Scrooge, according to Dickens, has been useless because.

So again, you'll look at the quotation, and you'll think, well, what is Dickens saying makes a useless person? And why could Scrooge considered useless? Sentence three, Scrooge could become more useful by, dot, dot, dot.

So again, what is it Charles Dickens thinks that we need to do in order to be useful human beings? So what could Scrooge do in order to fulfil that? And finally, through witnessing the deaths of Tiny Tim and the death of the anonymous man, Scrooge has learned, dot, dot, dot, and you'll complete the sentence.

So I am now going to invite you to pause the video while you have a go at completing these four sentences providing as much detail as possible.

Off you go.

Fantastic work.

So here's some suggestions that you can use to compare to your own answers.

And obviously as with anything, please do feel free to steal anything that you like, that you see on the slide, that you think maybe might enhance your own answer.

So according to Dickens, our purpose in life is to contribute to the welfare and happiness of others, ensuring we invest in our communities and leave a positive impact on those around us.

For the second sentence, you might have put, "Arguably, Scrooge, according to Dickens, has been useless because he has prioritised the selfish pursuit of wealth and material gain over positive social and moral contributions to society.

He has profited from others' financial ruin, thereby exacerbating the burden of poverty rather than easing it." So basically Scrooge has been useless because he has actually made people's burdens worse in life rather than easing them.

And that's something that Dickens feels is our basic fundamental humanitarian purpose.

You might have said, "Scrooge could become more useful by giving back to his community through being more charitable and generous not only with his wealth, but also his time, patience and kindness." And finally, for the fourth sentence, you might have said something like this.

"Through witnessing the deaths of Tiny Tim and the death of the anonymous man, Scrooge has learned not only the value of human life and the idea that these members of this surplus population are in fact human beings who contribute positively to to society, but also the importance of living a fulfilling life in which one contributes both socially and morally to the welfare of others.

Scrooge realises the impact one person can have on a community if they take social responsibility seriously.

And thus, Dickens emphasises the importance of our individual actions on others." So as I said, please do feel free to steal any of those phrases or sentences that you think might be useful in future for your notes.

So to summarise today's learning.

Scrooge's reactions to the first two deaths in the novella do seem quite callous, okay, and he represses his emotions, doesn't express them.

But over the course of the novella, Scrooge learns the value of individual human life, and he therefore becomes more affected by the deaths.

Through witnessing the aftermath of Tiny Tim's death, Scrooge recognises that members of the surplus population are in fact human beings who contribute positively to society and deserve to live.

Now, through the death of the anonymous dead man in stave four, Scrooge recognises the importance of living a fulfilling life in which one contributes positively to the welfare of others.

And finally, I think this most importantly as well, Dickens emphasises that having a positive impact on others doesn't always require money.

It requires compassion and empathy above all.

Thank you for coming to today's lesson.

I have really enjoyed teaching you.

I just love "A Christmas Carol." I think it's fantastic, and I hope you're loving it as much as I am.

I'm really looking forward to seeing you next time and hoping that you'll join me.

So until then, have a lovely day.

Thank you very much.