1. How Dickens presents the poor in Stave 3
Monday 8th January 2018
C/L
How Dickens presents the poor in Stave 3
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
To identify the ways that the poor people in the novella are good people.
LESSON OUTCOME:
To explain how Dickens presents the poor people in a positive way.

2. severe dwellings jovial parapets reveller facetious really bad house
They stood in the city streets on Christmas morning, where (for the weather was severe) the people made the rough, but brisk and not unpleasant kind of music, in scraping the snow from the pavement in the front of their dwellings, and from the tops of their houses, whence it was mad delight to the boys to see it come plumping down into the road below, and splitting into artificial little snowstorms. The house-fronts looked black enough and the windows blacker, contrasting with the smooth white snow upon the roofs, and with the dirtier snow upon the ground, which last deposit had been ploughed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and wagons.
For the people were shovelling away on the house-tops were jovial and full of glee; calling out to one another from the parapets and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball-better-natured missile far than many a wordy jest- laughing heartily if it went right, and not less heartily if it went wrong.
But soon the steeples called good people to church and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the streets in their best clothes and with their gayest faces. And at the same time there emerged, from scores of by-streets, lanes, and nameless turning, innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the baker’s shops. The sight of these poor revellers seem to interest the Spirit very much.
severe
really bad
dwellings
house
jovial
happy
parapets
Top of a wall
reveller
Party/celebratory people
facetious
silly

3. I have underlined some quotations in the extract.
severe
really bad
dwellings
house
jovial
happy
parapets
Top of a wall
reveller
Party/celebratory people
Guided annotating:
I have underlined some quotations in the extract.
For each one give a quick explanation of what they show about the poor.
This suggests/reveals/demonstrates AO2 Challenge: Circle key words too
Independent Find and Annotate:
1.) Highlight a quotation at the start that shows that the poor don’t mind hard work (clue: snow).
2.) Highlight 2 quotations that show how fun and excitable the poor are.
3.) Highlight the quotation that shows that lots of carts have had to go through the town because they are always working hard.
4.) Highlight a quotation that shows that the poor couldn’t afford to cook their own food on Christmas Day.

4. How does dickens present the poor in a positive way?
Remember, Dickens was poor himself and he wanted things to change for the poor!
Dickens presents the poor in a positive way, when in Stave 3 the Ghost shows Scrooge…..
Statement about the poor
Bring in quotation
Explain one thing it reveals about the poor.
Give another layer: what else does it suggest about the poor
Finish with Dickens’s message to the Victorian people- challenge/reverse the stereotype that they are bad.
Happy
Hard-working
Friendly
“jovial and full of glee”
“heavy wheels of carts and wagons”
“calling out to one another from the parapets”

5. How does dickens present the poor in a positive way?
Remember, Dickens was poor himself and he wanted things to change for the poor!
Dickens presents the poor in a positive way, when in Stave 3 the Ghost shows Scrooge how in the city they are happy even though they are poor as they “exchange a facetious snowball” to one another. This reveals that the poor don’t let their lack of money make them miserable, instead they are fun and happy. It also suggests that they are close as a community because they are all playing in the street. Dickens is presenting them in this way to give his message that the poor deserved a better life because they were still so full of joy and happiness and were not bitter about their poverty.
Statement about the poor
Bring in quotation
Explain one thing it reveals about the poor.
Give another layer: what else does it suggest about the poor
Finish with Dickens’s message to the Victorian people.