I LOVE the story of A Christmas Carol: I grew up watching the George C. Scott version every year, I wrote a paper on it in college, when I really read it and understood the satire and "foreboding doom" Dickens was warning society of in the 1840s, and now I teach it to my sophomores at Christmastime.I just love this story! It has such an amazing moral to it that I think sometimes gets lost in the many, many, many versions and variations out there. It's a story about redemption and change. Dickens presents the notion that selfishness and the love of money will only lead you to a sad, lonely demise. There are also some very cool Christian inferences that can be made, like when Scrooge is trying to put out the light that is streaming from the Ghost of Christmas Past's head. He cannot put it out; he cannot deny the light and love he had witnessed... So cool.
I know I'm a really big nerd. Most of the time when I'm teaching this stuff to my students, they look at me like I'm crazy. I get so passionate and excited, and they just look at me... "seriously, she's really THIS excited?" Oh well.
For the last three years, we have seen A Christmas Carol at Orem's Hale Theater. Their rendition of it is awesome; lots of traditional music and some really powerful and beautiful original stuff too. The guy that plays Scrooge has been doing it for years and is fabulous! I cry like a baby every year when Bob Cratchit goes to Tiny Tim's grave, when Scrooge is begging forgiveness, and then when he says that he "doesn't deserve to be so happy" at the end. (Actually, I'm tearin' up a bit now.)
Check it out! And "God bless us, everyone!"
I love this story as well, I love Dickens and his satire. I hate Christmas kitsch (I will be blogging about this later today):) As for your students thinking you're crazy . . . whatever, books rock!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that scene with the Ghost of Christmas Past! (Thanks to you explaining it to me a couple years ago.) I would love to teach the book sometime in like April, just to prove that it's not just a Christmas story. Great post!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! You are a genius! I want to be in your class!! Do you think I could pass as a sophmore?! HARDLY!!!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could be in a book club with you! :)
ReplyDeleteAlicia, you are the best English teacher ever! Your students are so lucky to have you as their teacher! If I had had a great english teacher like you, I may have actually done well because I actually did kind of like english! You're such a good teacher too because it seems like you really love what you do! That's so important! I'm so glad to have found your blog! You're the cutest! :)
ReplyDeleteoh I love it! My favorite is "God bless us, everyone!" Thanks Al, you always make me think! :)I love you more!
ReplyDeleteI want to have you teach me this lesson when we are together (briefly!) Thursday night. Honestly, the reason that good literature becomes classis literature is because its message is timeless. Love, Mom
ReplyDeleteWll done, tach. well done.
ReplyDeleteP.S. let me know when we can all get together!
My mother-in-law went to see it at the Hale Theater. She said it was wonderful as well. We'll have to check it out next year. I'm glad you're teaching your favorites, it makes it so much better to teach when you enjoy it. And I know they enjoyed it too!
ReplyDeleteAhh...wonderful tidbit about the light!
ReplyDeleteYou're not a nerd, by-the-way, You're more of a geek. I'll explain the difference some other time!
(Geeks are better!)
Merry Christmas to the Carters!
Hahaha. Thanks for the comment. I had a great laugh, followed by a strange dream about Jenice Benson.
ReplyDeleteI love this story as well!!! I am glad to see that you are so passionate about it.
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