A Christmas Carol: Study Guide for GCSE English Literature

Set text for: AQA | Edexcel | Eduqas | OCR | WJEC

A Christmas Carol – the enduring tale of transformation, redemption and the power of goodwill that students can enjoy all year round and for years to come! This Study Guide, packed with clear and accessible notes, will help your class take to the streets of Victorian London, to realise how Dickens was able to capture the revival of this important public holiday in his ever-popular text.

The activities in the resource are excellent for both revision and classroom activities. They are effective in allowing students to discover the answers

K Chanter, HoD & Peer Reviewer
  1. Walkthrough – Build understanding of the chosen text with insightful and relevant commentary and analysis. All chapters are concisely summarised, then examined in detail.
  2. Whole-text Analysis – Explores: Characterisation • Relationships • Setting • Themes • Ideas and Messages • Language • Form • Structure • Context

Plus!

  • Student-friendly plot summary
  • Key term glossary
  • Original illustrations
  • Further reading
  • ‘Context’ boxes

Woven into the analysis throughout you will find:

  • Discussion prompts to encourage debate and individual interpretation
  • Active learning tasks to deepen understanding
  • Essay tips and questions for excellent exam practice
  • Key term definitions to ensure students grasp difficult concepts

Includes Suggested answers are provided for all questions and activities.

What do teachers say about this resource? (8547)

Excellent - one of the most comprehensive resources I have read and/or reviewed... Extremely well-written and researched... I loved the comprehensive Teacher Introduction and the detailed plot summaries and analyses. I also loved how the tasks were integrated into them. The exam tips were useful and student-friendly and I liked that the resource covered ideas and messages as well as themes. The Further Reading and Websites appendix were an added bonus... The resource prepares students fully for the GCSE examination questions on the text across a range of specifications. It is not only informative for students, but to teachers new to the text or revisiting it as it offers detailed and comprehensive analysis of key areas of the novel such as themes and characters and its context... The format and structure were excellent, with fabulous use of icons for key words, active learning etc. to make it user-friendly. A very well-presented resource... Matches and interprets the specifications extremely well... I learned a lot about the text and context myself which I will be able to pass on to my students. It's an ideal revision guide to enable students get the best possible grade.

D Massey, Tutor & Peer Reviewer

A nicely summarised and in-depth resource... I liked the summary and analysis sections which were relatively easy to follow and can be set as pre-reading for students to complete before the lesson... Offers a range of interepretations of the different staves, and is mapped against AO2 interlinking how structure, language and genre all impact the meanings created.

D Soltysik, HoD & Peer Reviewer

A really good overview of the text... The latter half of the resource contains some excellent information regarding the recurring motifs and symbols... The activities in the resource are excellent for both revision and classroom activities. They are effective in allowing students to discover the answers for themselves rather than being told the answers... The integrated quotations in the summaries are very nice to see! It's a constant battle to get kids to do this, so it models good practice.

K Chanter, HoD & Peer Reviewer

A great resource which is comprehensive in its design and covers a lot of material. Can be used by teachers to form their planning or by students for independent study.

Useful that the resource was suitable for a range of exam boards.

Love the exam tips and exam questions.

I really liked the mind map of characters on page 50 – I thought this was exceptionally clear and would really benefit weaker students and those new to the text. It could be printed as a poster to be stuck on the wall or in the back of exercise books so students could have a helpful reminder.

Great extension tasks to stretch and challenge most able students.

Love how there are suggested answers at the back of the booklet to aid students if they are working through the booklet independently – it truly makes the resource versatile in that students can use it in class or at home as a revision tool without teachers’ input.

The glossary at the back is a great revision tool.

The keyword ‘bubbles’ were extremely useful scaffolding technique especially for weaker students and they enhance tier 2 vocabulary.

L Ashford, English teacher & Peer Reviewer

It has educational value as it explains various aspects of the texts in a clear and accessible manner. The second half of the pack is good as it looks at key aspects of the text such as characters and themes – the key info needed for the exam... I also like the inclusion of suggested answers.

C Hughes, Teacher & Peer Reviewer