Author
NickBelow you will find a full-mark, Level 6 model answer for a 19th-century novel essay. Commentary below each section of the essay illustrates how and why it would be awarded Level 6. Despite the fact it is an answer to A Christmas Carol question, the commentary below is relevant to any 19th-century novel question.
A student-friendly mark scheme has been included here:
|
Assessment Objective |
Number of marks |
Meaning |
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AO1 |
12 |
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|
AO2 |
12 |
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|
AO3 |
6 |
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The commentary for the below model answer as arranged by assessment objective: each paragraph has commentary for a different assessment objective, as follows:
The model answer answers the following question:
The suffering of the poor is one of the most prevalent ideas within A Christmas Carol and Dickens presents the poor and destitute to the reader from the outset. Dickens depicts the exploitation and ignorance of the poor through various characters in the novella and he demonstrates how they are trapped in a system through no fault of their own, which conveys his message for social change.
Commentary:
In this extract, Dickens uses the two characters, Ignorance and Want, as an allegory, as they are symbolic of society’s cruelty towards the suffering of the poor. Dickens uses these two characters to expose the consequences of society’s greed and avarice. The children are first depicted as emerging from the spirit’s robe which underscores Dickens’s message of how poverty, and its devastating consequences, remain largely shrouded, unseen and ignored by society. Further, Dickens’s imagery depicts the children as emaciated and wretched which induces both horror and pity in the reader. Further, the religious undertones depicted in the phrase: “They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment” suggests how the poor are not provided with the resources to help themselves and instead must grovel and plead for assistance as they are reliant on the charity of others. At other points in the novella, Dickens continues to make the suffering of the poor a serious concern and he demonstrates how poverty can destroy lives. For example, through The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Dickens depicts the devastating consequences of a Capitalist system in which Tiny Tim could potentially die. Similar to Ignorance and Want, Tiny Tim’s potential death highlights the poor living conditions and malnourishment experienced by many poor children and Dickens uses these characters to highlight the high levels of child mortality in Victorian England, especially for those who were poor through no fault of their own. Dickens uses these characters to highlight to the reader that such tragedies are avoidable if greater equality is achieved within society.
Commentary:
Structurally, this extract is significant as the spirit references Scrooge’s exact comments at the beginning of the novella: “Are there no prisons?” … “Are there no workhouses?” By repeating Scrooge’s words verbatim, Dickens reveals Scrooge’s former ignorance of the poor when he associated workhouses with prisons. Although workhouses were very similar to prisons during the Victorian period (both in terms of their harshness and confinement) the poor and destitute who inhabited the workhouses were generally there through no fault of their own. Although Scrooge’s original comments are in response to the charity collectors in Stave I and while they could be viewed as representing goodness at Christmas time, it could be seen that Dickens is suggesting that the poor should be helped at all times of the year. Further, this extract is also deliberately structured after the spirit has depicted multiple scenes of abundance, which further serves to highlight the suffering of the poor as they are forced to do without. Dickens deliberately structures the chapter in this way to illustrate the idea that there is enough for everyone if it is shared equally. Indeed, Dickens uses the Ghost of Christmas Present throughout this Stave to deliver scathing moral discourses about the condition of the poor and to encourage calls for social reform. Dickens presents the spirit as authoritative and commanding (evident through its repeated use of imperative and exclamatory statements) which demonstrates that his views on the suffering of the poor must be heeded. Furthermore, in Stave III, the spirit does not refer to Scrooge by his name, but instead by the word “man” which suggests that the spirit’s message is not just directed toward Scrooge but to all of mankind. The spirit could be seen as a mouthpiece for Dickens’s views on poverty and social injustice and through the spirit, Dickens highlights the selfishness of the rich and their heartlessness towards the plight of the poor.
Commentary:
Dickens uses Scrooge as symbolic of the Capitalist system which Dickens believed denied others access to wealth and opportunity and he represents the self-centred businessman as unconcerned about the conditions in which his employees were forced to work. In the rest of the novella, the suffering of the poor is highlighted through Bob’s character and he is used to demonstrate Scrooge’s cruel and exploitative behaviour. For example, Bob is made to endure difficult work conditions, though they are less harsh than what many other poor people would have endured, especially those who would have been less skilled than him. In Stave I, Bob is too fearful to ask Scrooge for more coal to replenish his fire and instead tries “to warm himself at the candle”, which highlights the dreadful conditions that employers could make employees accept. Indeed, Bob works in a “dismal little cell” which Dickens uses to convey the gloomy confinement from which he cannot escape and which could be viewed as a wider symbol of his poverty. Similarly, Bob is also symbolic of the lower classes and their dependence on their employer as his situation, and thus the fate of his family depends on businessmen like Scrooge. While Bob Cratchit is first introduced in Stave I, his character remains unnamed and silent in this chapter and he is simply referred to as “the clerk”: By omitting Bob’s name and referring to him by his occupation, Dickens conveys Scrooge’s myopic perception of Bob in terms of labour, rather than as a human being. Bob’s silence also signifies his irrelevance and insignificance as a poor person in the views of the wealthier classes such as Scrooge. Further, by titling the character “Bob” (a Victorian colloquial term for a shilling) Dickens may be suggesting the poor are viewed merely in terms of capital and thus their suffering is inconsequential to them.
Commentary:
To conclude, Dickens presents the suffering of the poor throughout the novella and highlights the selfishness of the rich and their heartlessness towards the plight of the poor. While Dickens is keen to highlight the importance of charity and benevolence, he also illustrates how the poor are not provided with the resources to help themselves and instead is reliant on the charity of others. Dickens’s depictions of the cycle of poverty urge the reader to confront the issues of poverty within their own societies.
Commentary:
It is important to remember that examiners are looking for and rewarding your own
understanding and interpretation of the novel you have studied. The questions are intended as an invitation for you to write about your own understanding of the ideas and an examiner will reward where this happens in your response.
to absolutely everything:
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Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.