'A Christmas Carol' Stave 3: Ignorance and Want
I can explain the significance of the characters Ignorance and Want and how Dickens uses them to convey his message of social responsibility.
'A Christmas Carol' Stave 3: Ignorance and Want
I can explain the significance of the characters Ignorance and Want and how Dickens uses them to convey his message of social responsibility.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Dickens believed that the key to a moral and upstanding society, was a carefree and innocent childhood
- The children in the novella either depend on themselves or are depended on by others and therefore are not carefree
- Ignorance and Want represent society - they have been shaped and moulded by the cruelty and injustice of inequality
- Dickens describes Ignorance and Want as animalistic and feral to reflect the neglect and cruelty they have faced
- Dickens uses these two characters to highlight our moral necessity to protect children from misery and ‘Want’
Keywords
Moral - Being a moral person means you understand the difference between right and wrong and do the right thing.
Dependent - If someone is dependent upon someone else, it means that they rely upon them.
To corrupt - If something has the power to corrupt someone, it has the ability to make them behave in a dishonest and immoral way.
To neglect - If someone is being neglected, their basic needs (like love, shelter and sustenance) are not being met.
Hypocrisy - Hypocrisy means claiming to have higher standard of behaviour or morals than you actually have.
Common misconception
Students tend to struggle to understand how Scrooge has metaphorically fathered Ignorance and Want.
By being ignorant, Scrooge has neglected his social responsibility and nurtured inequality and injustice - the two children represent this.
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: 'A Christmas Carol' Stave 3: Ignorance and Want, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: 'A Christmas Carol' Stave 3: Ignorance and Want, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 english lessons from the A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's redemption unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' for this lesson.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
"He's a comical old fellow."
"If he be like to die, he had better do it."
“God bless us every one!”
"My dear... the children! Christmas Day.”
“Have they no refuge or resource?”
Exit quiz
6 Questions
Makes them appear ill (sick with mankind’s disease).
Reminiscent of Scrooge’s lifestyle and miserliness.
Shows they are uncared for and neglected (by mankind).
Angry, hateful & resentful (this is how they will grow up).
Described as animalistic to show lack of humanity.