A Christmas Carol: Top 10 Quotes and Key Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key quotations, literary techniques, societal contexts, and exam concepts discussed in Mr. Salles' guide to A Christmas Carol.

Tight fisted hand at the grindstone

A metaphor portraying Scrooge as an unfeeling, mechanical person bound to work, emphasizing his greed and lack of generosity at the novel's start.

Sibilance

A literary device using the repetition of the 's' sound, employed in the text either to convey something sinister (e.g., 'Scrooge squeezing') or soft and gentle (e.g., 'Spirit, said Scrooge').

Idle poor

A Victorian classification for impoverished people who were viewed as deserving of nothing because society believed their poverty was caused by not working hard enough.

Deserving poor

The Victorian concept of impoverished individuals who were deemed worthy of charity, viewed in contrast to the idle poor.

Malthusian economics

The socioeconomic perspective of Thomas Malthus, co-opted by Victorian society and echoed by Scrooge to justify harsh institutions like workhouses and prisons to reduce the population.

Euphemism

A linguistic device used to mask an unpleasant reality, illustrated when Scrooge says 'decrease the surplus population' instead of directly stating 'kill the poor.'

Semantic field of economics

A technique in which Dickens uses business and financial terminology to expose how Victorian society and Scrooge coldly rationalized neglecting the poor.

Mankind was my business

Jacob Marley's realization that true purpose is not monetary trade, but working to improve the world, show generosity, and uplift suffering humanity.

Drop in the ocean

A metaphor used by Marley indicating that personal trade is insignificant compared to the massive responsibility of helping mankind.

Golden idol

A metaphor used by Belle to describe Scrooge's unchristian worship of money and avarice, which displaced his love for her.

Belle

Scrooge's former fiancée, whose name means 'beautiful' in French, representing the genuine love and beauty that Scrooge abandoned in pursuit of wealth.

Fan

Scrooge's sister, whose line 'Father is so much kinder than he used to be' highlights the underlying theme of fatherhood and Scrooge's childhood trauma of paternal abandonment.

Ignorance

The allegorical boy hidden under the robes of the Ghost of Christmas Present, representing the poor's lack of education.

Want

The allegorical girl hidden beneath the Ghost of Christmas Present's robes, representing need and physical poverty in Victorian society.

Doom

The consequence written on the brow of Ignorance, warning that failing to educate the poor will lead society toward crime, violence, and revolution.

1848 Revolutions

The widespread European uprisings that occurred three years after the novel was published, demonstrating the real-world violent unrest Dickens was warning Victorian society about.

Second father

The role Scrooge adopts toward Tiny Tim at the conclusion, fulfilling his redemption and embodying how wealthy citizens should protect vulnerable members of society.

Thirteen quote rule

Mr. Salles' exam strategy for achieving a grade nine essay, consisting of using 10 pre-learned thematic quotes along with 3 quotes selected directly from the exam extract.