Conceptualised responses to "A Christmas Carol." Hello, and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Mr. Young, and it is great to be teaching you on this lesson all about conceptualised responses.

So conceptualised responses are a great way for you to showcase your fantastic knowledge, your fantastic ideas about "A Christmas Carol" into some really amazing responses.

So, let's get started.

So, today's lesson has a very clear learning outcome.

So by the end of today's lesson, everybody should be able to walk away doing the following thing, which is, "I can write a convincing conceptual response, assess it and improve it." And just like in any lesson we have our important words, our keywords, so I do encourage you just to pause the video, jot down any words you are unfamiliar with and their definitions.

So we are going to be revisiting these quite a bit in today's lesson.

So those words are conceptualised, which means, "A conceptualised essay has an ideas-based argument that informs each paragraph or section." To evaluate, "To evaluate something means to weigh up its success against its key purpose and aims." Social responsibility, "Somebody who believes in social responsibility invests in their own community and supports those in need." And finally, subject terminology.

"Subject terminology is any word that is specifically relevant to the study of English." Okay, so I'm super excited to be teaching you on today's lesson, which is all about conceptualised responses.

So I think of it as all about elevating our writing.

So taking our fantastic writing, and I'm sure it already is really, really fantastic, and making it just a little bit better by incorporating ideas in what we are writing.

So our first learning cycle is going to be all about writing our own conceptualised response.

So we're gonna put all of those skills into practise.

And then finally, we're gonna be working on, in learning cycle two, just evaluating student responses just to make them a little bit better.

So without further ado, let's get started.

So, your question for today, and this is a really good one, a really tough one, but a good one.

"How does Dickens use the ghosts in 'A Christmas Carol' to deliver his message of social responsibility?" So by ghosts we mean kind of the ghost of Marley at the beginning, but also those three ghosts throughout the novella.

So ghost of Christmas Present, Past, and Future.

So, quick discussion question for me then, please.

What is this question actually asking you to do? I know that seems like quite a silly question.

It's quite self-evident what a question is asking us to do.

But if you had to focus on any particular parts of that question and their purpose, what would they be? So do hit that pause button, have a conversation in class if you are in a classroom.

If you're working independently, just jot down some ideas and then do push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, fantastic start to this lesson.

Really nice enthusiasm.

Let's keep that going for the whole of the lesson today.

So, how does Dickens use the ghosts in "A Christmas Carol" to deliver his messages of social responsibility? So the first word I'll be picking up on is the very first word in the question, how? And I heard some groups doing that.

So, in terms of how, the question word how means we are being asked to examine and evaluate Dickens's methods, so all of the things he does as a writer throughout the text.

So focusing on this will help make our response conceptualised, that means supported by an idea.

And again, I'll be focusing on the word use.

So we are being asked how Dickens uses the ghosts as a mouthpiece or vehicle to teach Scrooge and readers.

How do we learn from them? So when we talk about a mouthpiece, what we mean is, is that the idea that the novella is the personification of some of Dickens's own ideas, so I'll definitely be picking up on that word, use.

Okay, quick check for understanding for me then, please.

So if you are asked how something is done or created, what are you being asked to do? Is it A, explain the writer's purpose in writing the novella? Is it B, explore the writer's use of methods? Or is it C, recap the plot and key characters of the novella? Really tricky check for understanding it, and certainly for a first one.

So really keen to see how you approach this.

So hit that pause button, have a go, and then super excited to see how you get on with it.

Okay, great job if you picked up on B.

It is of course B, to explore the writer's use of methods.

And remember, methods are all of those things that Dickens does throughout the novella.

Okay, so once again, that question is, "How does Dickens use the ghosts in 'A Christmas Carol' to deliver his message of social responsibility?" So what you are being asked is, "What methods does Dickens use in his creation of the ghosts to teach us about social responsibility?" And we have two steps that will help us with that.

So, number one is to review your notes.

So look at your notes already.

Is there anything that kind of jumps out about social responsibility or the ghosts or anything that could be relevant for this question? And step two is to brainstorm or mindmap all the ideas you can include.

And at this stage, we don't have to kind of have fully formed ideas.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

We're just kind of getting down our initial ideas onto the page that will help us later on when we come up with our conceptualised responses.

So, quick discussion question for you then, please.

Share your ideas with somebody else.

Note down any ideas you didn't get.

So complete step one and two and then share some ideas with those next to you or around you and really develop your kind of knowledge bank about social responsibility and the ghosts.

So, pause the video, take a bit of time to do that, and then push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, great job on that task.

You know, peer support, peer work is a really, really essential component of great English study.

So well done for engaging with that task so well, so enthusiastically.

Okay, so you might have got the following things.

So these are the things that really jump out to me.

If I'm thinking about social responsibility and the role of the ghosts, I would be looking at the following.

So firstly, Dickens's use of the ghosts' appearance to reflect their purposes and messages.

So this idea that each ghost kind of represents or is there to show a different thing.

So we could talk about the way they're dressed, we could talk about their voices, we could talk about the objects they carry, and we could even talk about the allusions Dickens makes to other figures.

One that always jumps out to me is the Ghost of Christmas Future, how kind of deathly and kind of ghostly that figure is portrayed.

It's almost like they're being presented as the Grim Reaper.

We could also talk about Dickens's use of the ghosts as agents of time.

So what we mean by that is that they teach Scrooge that time is a gift that he can use to fulfil his duty of social responsibility, so each of them kind of embraces that in different ways.

For example, we've got that idea of the Ghost of Christmas Present kind of showing, you know, the plight of the Cratchit family and potentially how Scrooge could kind of assist or show kind of greater social responsibility to them, something that he ultimately does at the novella's conclusion.

We've also got this idea that Dickens carefully selects what the ghosts show Scrooge and how they interact with him to teach him the importance of social responsibility again, 'cause that's our focus.

So again, we could maybe talk about the Ghost of Christmas Past, the idea of kind of how Fezziwig is totally different to Scrooge as an employer.

He's much more kind of supportive of his employees.

He's much more socially responsible, we'd say, than Scrooge.

And finally, well, what I would like you to do, sorry, finally, is to choose one moment from the novella per idea to support your argument.

So look at those kind of bullet-pointed ideas and kind of use your novella or your fantastic knowledge of the plot already just to kind of underpin some examples, some quotes, anything that could support those above.

So, take a bit of time, pause the video, and complete that task now.

Okay, great job on that.

That will really, really support you when you come to write a bit more of an extended response to this later on.

Okay, let's share and collect some ideas then.

So let's have a look at that question again.

"The ghosts and how they convey Dickens's message of social responsibility." So if I was kind of approaching this task, I think I would be really looking at the following things.

So firstly, Marley's ghost, that very first ghost that we encounter in the novella and his use of symbolism with the chains.

I always love reading that passage in the novella.

You know, this character of Marley almost kind of weighed down laden with his chains and chests and all these kind of things, and he imparts that message of social responsibility when he says, "Mankind was my business." So what Marley's getting at here is that when he was alive, he was too consumed with business, with accumulation of wealth, with making money that he did not take any time to show any care to society.

Instead, he's kind of got quite a redemptive figure now, and he says, "Actually, mankind was my business.

I should have done more.

I should have been more supportive.

I should have been more socially responsible." Again, we've also got this idea of the Ghost of Christmas Present, and they show Scrooge the Cratchit family and their struggles with Tiny Tim's condition.

Scrooge is encouraged to take social responsibility to help those in need.

So a really fantastic depiction of a poor family here, the Cratchit family, but what Dickens is doing, he's kind of using this family to personify wider problems in Victorian society.

Lots of people lived like the Cratchits, and what he is doing here is kind of showcasing the need for people like Scrooge, people of the upper middle classes to take greater social responsibility to effectively look after them.

We've also got this idea of Ignorance and Want.

This is, I find this, one of the most heartbreaking parts of the novella, these kind of manifestations of kind of orphaned children.

So Ignorance and Want, the consequences of a lack of social responsibility.

So we kind of see what the kind of conclusion is of people like Scrooge not kind of taking much care in society.

And there's almost this link to Dickens's own childhood as well.

So Dickens would have absolutely been familiar with poverty.

He would have seen poverty.

He would have experienced some poverty, so there's that personal connection there as well.

And finally, we've also got Dickens's use of allusion with the appearance of the last ghost being reminiscent of the Grim Reaper.

So the Grim Reaper is this kind of figure associated with death, and this kind of suggests society is sick from injustice, and that the medicine or cure is social responsibility.

I think that would be a really high-level point if you could pepper that into one of your responses later on.

Okay, so we have reached our first practise task.

Super excited to see how you get on.

Super excited to see how you apply all of the knowledge from learning cycle one into a really nice piece of writing.

So, your task is as follows.

Write your response to the essay question using your notes to help you.

How does Dickens use the ghosts in "A Christmas Carol" to deliver his message of social responsibility? A really tricky one, this one, but I totally believe in you.

I believe that you can produce something fantastic to this, and I am really excited to see how you get on.

So in particular, I would like you to include the following.

An introduction with an interesting thesis, at least three analytical paragraphs which have clear topic sentences and a detailed focus on Dickens's methods, selective use of embedded quotations, analysis of language, form and structure, which is tightly focused on your argument, and context integrated throughout with a sharp focus on Dickens's purpose.

And finally, a conclusion which summarises your ideas about the ghosts and how they are used in the novella.

Once again, very best of luck with this.

Super excited to see how you get on, so hit that pause button and then push play when you would like to see some feedback.

Okay, wow, that is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination.

I am super impressed by your hard work and your application to this so really well done.

So I would like you now to do the following.

So assess your work by identifying the following.

Where have you included an introduction with an interesting, critical thesis? Where have you used clear topic sentences? Where have you used embedded quotations? Where have you interwoven analysis of language, form and structure that is tightly focused on Dickens's use of methods? Where have you integrated context with a sharp focus on Dickens's purpose? And where have you included a conclusion which summarises your ideas about the ghosts and how they are used in the novella? So, if you have found you have done all of those things, then my goodness, that must be a fantastic piece of work indeed.

If you have not included any, then please don't worry.

Just jot that down as a target for next time.

That can be a really nice target for you to work towards, particularly in learning cycle two.

Okay, we have made it to learning cycle two, which is all about evaluating responses.

So you had a go at that task.

Now we're gonna get into the habit of kind of peer review, kind of evaluating somebody else's work all with a view to make it even better.

So, let's get started.

So Izzy also completed Practise Task A, and this is her response.

Izzy said, "Dickens portrays the ghosts as terrifying in 'A Christmas Carol' to warn his readers about the consequences of greed and selfishness.

The most frightening ghost is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who is described as a 'solemn phantom.

' Dickens's use of the word 'phantom' is different from the words he uses for the previous spirits.

Therefore, Dickens makes this ghost the most intimidating because he wanted it to represent the Grim Reaper." I think that's a fantastic piece of work there from Izzy.

I think she really captures some of the key ideas we spoke about.

However, that said, I think there are a couple of small things we can say to Izzy to make this even better.

So, what feedback would you give Izzy? So have a little look at Izzy's fantastic work, and then what could Izzy improve upon for next time round? Pause the video, have a quick discussion, and then do push play when you would like to continue.

Okay, some fantastic conversations taking place there, and, you know, I'm really enjoying just hearing people kind of offering some very specific feedback that would definitely make Izzy's comment just a little bit stronger.

So, a couple of things stick out to me, really.

So firstly, Izzy uses lots of great ideas in her writing, particularly when she starts discussing the parallels between the last ghost and the Grim Reaper.

I think that's a really high-level point, and I think it's really well done.

This idea, though, is underdeveloped because it doesn't link back to the question about social responsibility.

So Izzy's got great knowledge of how the last ghost is kind of an allusion to the Grim Reaper, but she doesn't link it back to the terms of the question, which is really, really important.

So we could give Izzy an EBI on this, an even better if.

We could say, "Izzy explains how making the ghost frightening allows Dickens to teach social responsibility." So we could encourage Izzy to kind of tie that comment up back in the terms of the question.

I think that would be really good at elevating Izzy's response.

Okay, Izzy has also used a really nice quotation or a couple of different quotations in there, and she has mentioned the "solemn phantom." So what feedback would you give Izzy about her analysis of this quotation? Once again, hit pause, have a discussion, and then push play when you would like to continue.

Okay, some lovely discussions there talking about the kind of effectiveness of this quotation on potentially what could be done just to make it a little bit better.

So, if I was giving feedback to Izzy, I would say, "Izzy just says that Dickens's use of the word phantom is different from the other words he uses for the previous spirits, but she doesn't explore the connotations of the word 'phantom' and how this characterises the ghost." So a really kind of quick win for Izzy, just to elevate that point, would be to explore the connotations of the word phantom and evaluate why Dickens made this word choice.

So why phantom over spirit? So really kind of talk about the writer's intention.

I think that would be a great way for Izzy to elevate this point.

Okay, my final question for you then with Izzy's response is, what feedback would you give Izzy about her specificity and clarity? Her specificity and her clarity.

What specific points does she make and are her points clear? Do they have clarity? Remember, if something has clarity, it is clear and intelligible.

So once again, pause that video, have a discussion or jot down some ideas if you're working independently, and then do push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, some lovely conversations that are taking place.

And again, I agree with lots of what I'm hearing.

So I would say about Izzy, you know, the comments here, Izzy is not specific enough in her response.

There are missed opportunities to use subject terminology to make her explanations clearer and missed opportunities to use more specific vocabulary.

So we can frame that as a really nice target for Izzy.

We can say, "Izzy considers carefully her use of vocabulary to pinpoint exactly what Dickens is criticising.

Izzy needs to use subject terminology to make her analysis clearer." So any kind of words very specific to the study of English.

Okay, check for understanding for me then, please.

I'm going to see just how much you have taken on board.

So how can you ensure that you remain focused on the question you have been given? Is it A, continuously proofread your work as you write, checking for errors? Is it B, explain your own thoughts and ideas about what the writer was trying to do? Or is it C, keep linking your ideas back to the question focus and explaining how they relate? Excited to see how you get on with this one.

Hit pause, complete the task, and then do push play when you would like to continue.

Okay, really well done if you identified it as C, keep linking your ideas back to the question focus and explaining how they relate.

As a teacher, I see this quite a lot.

Sometimes some really fantastic ideas, really fantastically kind of articulated, but they're not necessarily linking to the question and they kind of lack effectiveness.

So always make sure your ideas link back to the question's focus.

Okay then, we have made it to our final practise task of today, and we are going to revisit Izzy's response once again.

So I would like you to rewrite Izzy's paragraph to incorporate the EBIs given, the even better ifs.

And those EBIs are, remember, explain how making the ghost frightening allows Dickens to teach his message of social responsibility, to explore the connotations of the word phantom and evaluate why Dickens made this word choice.

And finally, use more specific vocabulary to pinpoint exactly what Dickens is criticising.

Use subject terminology to make the analysis clearer.

I will be honest with you, I think this is a really challenging task.

It is really difficult to take somebody else's work and try and improve it, but this is a great skill to get into the habit of, and you will be able to bring some of these skills back to your own pieces of writing.

So, super excited to see how you get on with it.

Do push pause, have a go, and then push play when you would like to see some feedback.

Okay, fantastic effort on that task.

It is wonderful to see people working so hard and applying all of those things that you have learned in today's lesson.

So let's see how you could have approached this task.

"Dickens portrays the ghosts as terrifying in 'A Christmas Carol' to warn his readers about the consequences of willful greed, ignorance, and avarice.

Arguably, the most frightening ghost that Scrooge encounters is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, whom Dickens describes as a 'solemn phantom.

' Dickens's use of the word 'phantom' has much more sinister and menacing connotations than the word 'spirit,' which he often used for Scrooge's earlier visitors.

Dickens also uses the phantom's 'draped and hooded' appearance in deep black to allude to the Grim Reaper, a well-known personification of death in popular culture." The answer continues.

"Through making this allusion, Dickens could be suggesting that society is sick with the illness of greed and ignorance, and that the only way to cure this sickness is by taking social responsibility for others.

Thus, in characterising the ghost as frightening, Dickens shows his own fears for society, the lack of care Victorian citizens were showing one another, and suggesting that this kind of selfishness will be the undoing of society." So, hopefully you can see that just by making a few minor changes, we've been able to make Izzy's fantastic paragraph just a little bit better.

So well done if you are able to replicate anything in your own work.

Okay, we've made it to the end of the lesson.

We've learnt an awful lot today, so let's take a look at exactly what we have covered.

A conceptualised response follows the same line of arguments and approaches each paragraph or section with a similar approach.

When given a question that asks you how something is done, your primary aim is to examine the writer's use of methods and evaluate to what extent they help them achieve their aims. You should always link your ideas back to the question focus and explain how your ideas support your argument.

Your analysis should be explorative and clear.

You should explain the effects of the writer's methods, not just identify them.

Your essay should be precise and specific.

And finally, using subject terminology and key vocabulary can help make your writing clearer and more specific.

Thank you very much for such a fantastic lesson.

I hope you learned a lot today, and I really look forward to teaching you on another lesson in this sequence.

Thank you very much and goodbye.