英语泛读I_文学名著简介及选读_6_A Christmas Carol_Students' Paper

English Reading I_Literary Masterpiece_A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
Work title: A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
Year of publication: 1843
Background: A Christmas Carol by English author Charles Dickens was written and published in early Victorian era Britain, a period when there was both strong nostalgia (怀
旧) for old Christmas traditions and an initiation (开始) of new practices such as
Christmas trees and greeting cards. Dickens’s sources for the tale appear to be
many and varied but are principally the humiliating experiences of his childhood,
his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales.
Characters in the novel include:
Ebenezer Scrooge: chief character, a miser (吝啬鬼);
Jacob Marley: Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner, dead for seven years;
Fred: Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew, son of Ebenezer Scrooge’s sister Fan;
Bob Cratchit: Ebenezer Scrooge’s clerk;
Tiny Tim: Bob’s son;
Ghost of Christmas Past;
Ghost of Christmas Present;
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
The recording, including three episodes (断，集), is a simplified version of the original novel.
Plot summary:
The tale begins on a cold Christmas Eve exactly seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge hates Christmas, calling it “humbug”, refuses his nephew Fred’s dinner invitation, and rudely turns away two gentlemen who seek a donation from him to provide a Christmas dinner for the Poor. His only “Christmas gift” is allowing his overworked clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay.
Returning home that evening, Scrooge is visite d by Marley’s ghost. Marley warns Scrooge to change his ways or he will undergo the same miserable afterlife as himself. Scrooge is then visited by three additional ghosts who accompany him to various scenes with the hope of achieving his transformation (改变).
The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of his boyhood and youth, which stir Scrooge’s gentle and tender side by reminding him of a time when he was more innocent. They also show what made Scrooge the miser that he is, and why he dislikes Christmas.
The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to the family feast of Scroo ge’s impoverished (穷困的) clerk Bob Cratchit, introducing his youngest son, Tiny Tim, who is seriously ill
but cannot receive treatment due to Scrooge’s unwillingness to pay Cratchit a good wage. The ghost also leads Scrooge to see hi s nephew’s party.
The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, troubles Scrooge with sad visions of the future that may come to pass if he does not learn and act upon what he has seen. These visions include Tiny Tim’s death, and scenes related to Scrooge’s own death, including a conversation among business associates who will only attend the funeral if a lunch is provided. Scrooge’s o wn neglected and untended grave is then revealed, prompting the miser to decide that he will change his ways in hopes of changing these “shadows of what may be”.
Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning with joy and love in his heart, then spends the day with his nephew’s family after anonymously sending a turkey to the Cratchit home for Christmas dinner. Scrooge has become a different man overnight and now treats his fellow men with kindness, generosity and compassion, gaining a reputation as a man who embodies the spirit of Christmas. The story closes with the narrator confirming the validity, completeness and permanence (永久) of Scrooge’s transformation.
(about 400 words)
Topic for discussion: what do you think is/are the theme(s) of the novel A Christmas Carol?
Reader’s task: write a summary for each of the episode in the recording.
Episode 1:
Episode 2:
Episode 3:。