GCSE Set Text Student Guides - AQA GCSE (9-1) English Literature and Language - A Christmas Carol

Exam Board: AQA

Level & Subject: GCSE 9-1 English Language, GCSE 9-1 English Literature

First teaching: September 2015

Next exams: June 2025

Develop your students’ skills in English Literature and English Language as you study A Christmas Carol.

This Student Book offers English Literature lessons to help your classes explore the set text in depth. In parallel, English Language lessons give students the opportunity to respond to fiction and non-fiction extracts that will deepen their understanding of the novel’s themes and contexts.

This practical resource is designed for in-class study, as well as exam preparation.

• Give students a supportive route through the set text, with pre-reading, close reading and whole-text review chapters to help them understand the plot, characters, themes and contexts and to analyse the writer’s methods.
• Build writing stamina with the longer, passage-based tasks at the end of each chapter.
• Support all learners with clear plot summaries and a ‘Who’s who’ guide to the main characters.
• Prepare for examination success with a final chapter on the Literature exam, including exam-style questions, step-by-step guidance for writing an effective response, and sample answers at different levels.
• Practise all the AQA English Language Paper 1 and 2 question formats. Students will learn how to locate information, analyse language and structure, synthesise, critically evaluate and compare as they read texts about life in Victorian London, charity at Christmas, haunting, murder and mysteries. They will also be given the opportunity to produce their own narrative, descriptive and argumentative writing.