A Christmas Carol - Vocabulary Flashcards

150 English vocabulary flashcards reviewing characters, themes, symbols, techniques, context, key quotations and plot points from Charles Dickens’ novella “A Christmas Carol”. Each card pairs a concise term with its clear definition to aid exam revision.

Ebenezer Scrooge

Miserly protagonist who transforms from a selfish loner into a generous, family-orientated man.

Bob Cratchit

Scrooge’s poorly-paid clerk; kind-hearted, hard-working, and devoted to his family.

Tiny Tim

Bob Cratchit’s fragile, ill son who embodies innocence and the human cost of poverty.

Fred

Scrooge’s cheerful nephew who consistently embodies the Christmas spirit and welcomes Scrooge.

Fan

Scrooge’s affectionate sister whose death heightens Scrooge’s earlier loneliness.

Jacob Marley

Scrooge’s deceased partner; appears as a chained ghost to warn Scrooge to change.

Ghost of Christmas Past

Spirit who shows Scrooge scenes from his own earlier life to awaken empathy.

Ghost of Christmas Present

Jolly, towering spirit who reveals current celebrations and social hardship.

Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come

Silent, menacing spirit who shows Scrooge his lonely future and death.

Fezziwig

Scrooge’s generous former employer whose joyful party exemplifies good leadership.

Belle

Scrooge’s ex-fiancée who ends their engagement because of his growing greed.

Mrs Cratchit

Bob’s supportive wife who maintains warmth and unity in the Cratchit home.

Peter Cratchit

Bob’s eldest son; proud of possibly winning a job that could help the family.

Martha Cratchit

The Cratchits’ eldest daughter; works as a milliner’s apprentice to aid the household.

Belinda Cratchit

Cratchit daughter who helps prepare the family’s modest Christmas dinner.

‘Two smaller Cratchits’

The youngest Cratchit children, symbolising childhood energy despite poverty.

Ignorance

Personified boy representing society’s lack of education and understanding.

Want

Personified girl symbolising crippling poverty and deprivation.

Charity Collectors

Gentlemen seeking Christmas donations; expose Scrooge’s initial callousness.

Joe and the thieves

Underclass characters who profit from stealing Scrooge’s belongings after his death.

Christmas Spirit

Atmosphere of charity, kindness, family and joy associated with the season.

Redemption

Central theme: the possibility of moral transformation through self-reflection.

Poverty

Widespread Victorian hardship highlighted through the Cratchits and London’s poor.

Social Responsibility

Dickens’s message that the wealthy must help the less fortunate.

Family

Source of comfort and joy contrasted with Scrooge’s early isolation.

Isolation

Scrooge’s original state of emotional and social detachment from others.

Generosity

Quality promoted by the novella, shown by Fred, Fezziwig and reformed Scrooge.

Compassion

Sympathetic concern for others’ suffering, urged by the ghosts’ lessons.

Joy and Companionship

Positive feelings linked to music, dancing and family gatherings.

Kindness

Everyday goodwill emphasised as a Christian and social virtue.

Secular Christmas

Non-religious festivities such as games, feasting and parties.

Religious Christmas

Focus on Christian charity, worship and the birth of Christ.

Industrial Revolution

Period of rapid industrial growth that worsened wealth gaps in Victorian Britain.

Overcrowding

Dangerous urban living condition resulting from mass migration to cities.

Poor Law of 1834

Legislation restricting aid and forcing the destitute into workhouses.

Workhouse

Harsh institution where the poor laboured for basic shelter and food.

Sabbatarianism

Practice of strict Sunday observance, closing shops and bakeries.

Education

Tool Dickens believed could combat poverty, crime and disease.

Ragged Schools

Charitable institutions offering free education and food to poor children.

Surplus population

Malthusian term Scrooge uses to dismiss the value of the poor.

Fire (symbol)

Represents warmth, generosity and human connection; Scrooge’s small fire equals isolation.

Music (symbol)

Stands for joy and fellowship, exemplified by Fezziwig’s dancing party.

Weather (symbol)

'Clear' and 'bright' conditions in Stave 5 mirror Scrooge's joyful rebirth.

Scrooge’s bed

Recurring motif; private space where ghosts access his inner thoughts.

Marley’s chains

Symbolic burden forged by selfish deeds and greed in life.

Light of Past

Beam from the Ghost of Christmas Past symbolising truth and memory.

Abundance of Present

Cornucopia imagery showing generosity and plenty under the second spirit.

Grim Reaper imagery

Visual link between the final ghost and death, intensifying fear.

Fezziwig’s party

Symbolic scene of benevolent leadership and communal happiness.

Cratchit household

Symbol of loving family life flourishing despite poverty.

Tiny Tim (symbol)

Embodiment of vulnerable children whose fate depends on society’s kindness.

Ignorance & Want (symbol)

Warning figures illustrating the dangerous consequences of neglecting the poor.

Scrooge’s office

Setting that highlights his cold, business-only outlook on life.

Small fire

Visual sign of Scrooge’s stinginess toward Bob and himself.

Christmas turkey

Gift that marks Scrooge’s newfound generosity toward the Cratchits.

Empty chair

Foreshadows Tiny Tim’s possible death and the family’s impending grief.

Scrooge’s grave

Bleak future symbol that catalyses Scrooge’s determination to change.

Counting-house

Victorian term for Scrooge’s workplace focused solely on profit.

Schoolroom

Past setting showing young Scrooge’s loneliness and early isolation.

Circular structure

Novella begins and ends in Scrooge’s bedroom, framing the transformation.

Non-chronological narrative

Story jumps through past, present and future rather than linear order.

Stave

Chapter name echoing musical verses, linking story to a carol.

Omniscient narrator

Voice that knows all thoughts and feelings, guiding reader response.

Chatty tone

Informal narrative style that creates warmth and reader engagement.

Sombre tone

Graver narrative mood used for scenes of suffering or regret.

Descriptive lists

Lengthy catalogues of details that enrich Dickens’s sensory scenes.

Five senses imagery

Technique using sight, sound, smell, taste and touch to vivify settings.

Figurative language

Metaphors and similes that create vivid, often symbolic descriptions.

Personification

Attributing human qualities to things, e.g., ‘winking onions’ or Want.

Dialogue

Spoken exchanges that reveal character and set emotional tone.

Rhetorical questions

Queries posed to engage readers and reveal Scrooge’s changing mindset.

Flashback

Narrative device that revisits earlier events to explain motivations.

Foreshadowing

Hints of future events, like Tiny Tim’s empty chair.

Motif

Repeated element—Scrooge’s bed—that structures the narrative.

Symbolism

Use of objects, settings or characters to convey deeper meanings.

Allegory

'A Christmas Carol' as a moral tale critiquing social injustice.

Pathetic fallacy

Weather mirroring emotion, e.g., ‘fog’ for gloom or ‘bright’ for joy.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration such as Scrooge’s ‘squeezing, wrenching’ description.

Direct address

Narrator speaks to the audience, building intimacy and humour.

Thomas Malthus

Economist who argued population growth would outstrip food supply.

Overpopulation theory

Malthus’s belief that unchecked growth leads to famine and poverty.

Charity

Voluntary aid Dickens urges from the affluent toward the needy.

Christian values

Faith-based virtues of love, forgiveness and generosity central to the text.

Upper-class indifference

Attitude of wealthy Victorians who dismissed poverty as self-inflicted.

Rich-poor gap

Economic divide intensified by industrialisation and laissez-faire policies.

Child labour

Exploitation of children in factories, mirrored by the novella’s concerns.

Disease in slums

Frequent outbreaks caused by overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions.

Victorian Christmas

Period when festivities grew into family-centred, charitable celebrations.

Goodwill to all men

Seasonal maxim urging universal kindness, stressed by Dickens.

Factory owners

Industrialists who gained wealth while paying workers minimal wages.

Middle class

Social group that included Dickens and many of his original readers.

Debtors’ prison

Institution where Dickens’s father was jailed, shaping Dickens’s empathy.

Charles Dickens

Victorian author (1812–1870) who wrote to expose social problems.

Personal poverty experience

Dickens’s childhood factory work after his father’s imprisonment.

Publication date 1843

Year ‘A Christmas Carol’ was first released to Victorian readers.

Novella

Shorter prose form than a novel, allowing a concise moral message.

London population boom

City growth from 1 to 6 million between 1800 and 1900.

Factory machinery

Technological advance that increased production but exploited labour.

Sunday closing

Law shutting shops on the Sabbath, limiting the poor’s leisure.

"Bah! Humbug!"

Scrooge’s catchphrase dismissing Christmas as nonsense.