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Literature

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

6 lessons

3.5h total length

“It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!”

The best authors open our eyes to truths that we would otherwise miss. They teach us to see the world anew and to catch the importance of things that are lost in our daily routine.

Charles Dickens had this gift, and A Christmas Carol is one of his best expressions of it. 

This Christmas, we invite you to join Professor Dwight Lindley as he leads us through the mysterious world of Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, the Ghosts of Christmas, and Tiny Tim in our newest online course, “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

The course includes six lectures, each approximately 30 minutes long. You will receive a certificate for the course by completing the lectures and short quizzes. You can also access supplementary Q and A videos, study guides, and a discussion board. The best part is that you can do all of this at your own pace and in a manner that best fits your schedule.

By taking this course, you’ll learn profound lessons from the Ghosts of Christmas, explore the true meaning of Christmas through Scrooge’s surprising encounters, and discover how to open yourself to life’s many joys and blessings.

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating the beauty of Christmas by enrolling in “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Taught by Dwight Lindley, Associate Professor of English Literature. 

Lessons in this course

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16:41

lesson 1

Introduction: “A Ghost Story of Christmas”

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843 in response to a report on children’s working conditions in London. This musical ghost story will open any reader's heart, even one like Ebenezer Scrooge.

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40:40

lesson 2

Marley’s Ghost: “Bah! Humbug!”

Scrooge is a cold, “tight-fisted hand at the grindstone,” who curses his own nephew for wishing him a “Merry Christmas!" But there is hope for Scrooge, as his dead business partner, Jacob Marley, pays him a ghostly visit and foretells of three hauntings to follow.

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34:55

lesson 3

Christmas Past: “His Poor Forgotten Self”

Memories of his younger self—a lonely boy left at school, a young clerk, a greedy young man left by his fiancé—awaken Scrooge’s sympathy. To open himself to love others once again, he must first learn to love a lost version of himself.

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34:12

lesson 4

Christmas Present: “An Odious, Stingy, Hard, Unfeeling Man”

Scrooge sees the celebrations of Christmas all around him and begins to realize the simple joys denied by his own choices. The love and joy of Christmas spill over in abundance and reveal the gift in the smallest aspects of life.

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32:22

lesson 5

Christmas Future: “I Hope to Live to Be Another Man”

The lonely, pathetic deathbed on which Scrooge finds himself is a stark contrast with the mourning Cratchit family, who still find joy and comfort in one another after the death of Tiny Tim. After seeing these bitter Christmases to come, Scrooge begs for a chance to make amends.

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23:39

lesson 6

The End of It: “God Bless Us, Every One!”

Scrooges’ conversion is complete. He has learned that at the heart of Christmas is the ability to open oneself up like a child to the joy of the smallest things and the love and charity toward our fellow man.

Watch the course trailer

Enroll in “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol” by entering your email below.

What Current Students Are Saying

This course pulls you deeper into a book you thought you knew well and provides background and insight that greatly enriches this powerful ghost story. I completed it in one morning. It was so compelling that like a good book, I couldn't put it down.

Lisa from Florida

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