Wilson Nelson A Christmas Story

Imagine a staged production of A Christmas Carol set in 1843. See the stage set in the exact time it was written by Charles Dickens. The foggy, crowded streets abuzz with carolers and shoppers, the children staring wide eyed into the shops and bakeries. Hear the bells ringing as a round of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” fills the gaslit streets with joy. As a child, going to see A Christmas Carol was one of my fondest Christmas memories. To witness Scrooge 's’ transformation from a mean, greedy old man to a joyous, loving benefactor always left me smiling and filled me with hope.

Happiness. Happiness is a state of well-being expounded by enjoyable or pleasant emotions ranging from fulfillment to immense amounts of uncontrollable delight. Happiness can be achieved in contrasting approaches depending on the type of person you are. Despite this, happiness is an extremely difficult jewel to find if you don’t look hard enough in a cave of complications in life. In Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol, the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, faces grueling memories and future experiences that will help determine if he, a crotchety, unkind man, will attain true ecstasy or not. Before the help of spirits, Scrooge thought the only possible way to reached his euphoria was all the wealth and riches he could accumulate. It is soon

Some of these may be very scary and some may only be mildly scary. It

But just like a popped balloon, all the tension was gone. I reel in the remaining line, waiting for the hook to pop out of the water, but it never does. “God damn thing ate the hook and all” my Dad states, my eyes widen, and I look up at him. “What now?” I ask.

It is curious that as children, humans have the ability to observe and remember details of specific situations and instances yet lack the ability to describe them. Truman Capote, as a grown man, took advantage of his vivid memories and composed the short work, "A Christmas Memory." The story begins in late November, a month symbolic of all the years gone by that Capote could remember beginning preparations for Christmas fruitcakes.

cold to help geese land safely. Brian put his food on a rope so the bear couldn’t get to it.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is about six of the worst children in the history of the world, they include Gladys, Claude, Imogene, Leroy, Ollie and Ralph Herdman. Mainly, because they lie; steal, smoke cigars, talk dirty, hit little kids, cuss at teachers, and take the name of the Lord in vain. A small town is turned upside down when the Herdman decide they want to take part in the annual Christmas pageant. According, to Charlie Bradley the best thing about Sunday school is that there are no Herdman there.

Annie Dillard, in “A Christmas Story,” expresses the difference between seeing and understanding, and simply looking without understanding. She begins the story by describing an extravagant banquet. This banquet took place in a hall filled with chandeliers, decorated tables, and centerpieces. Young adults and adolescents were present, while musicians entertained the guests.

Robert Butler used setting and tone to establish thematic meaning in the story “Christmas 1910” by placing the setting at a very cold, isolated, and depressing house. This led to the thematic meaning because the main character, Abigail, is affected by the setting. If the house wasn’t placed where it was the story would be completely different.

The film adaptation of “A Christmas Memory” does very little that differs from the original piece by Truman Capote; however, the film takes the heart of the original, and adds even more through the main characters’ casting and memory-like direction. On the other hand, this move is far from faultless and features some questionable decisions that take away from the movie’s greatness. Even with its faults, “A Christmas Memory” is still a decent movie that would be a treat to any fan of the original work, but those who are unfamiliar with Capote’s work would find very little interest in the story or the characters within.

Merlin Van Tornhout explains what happens in a poem from Witness, by Karen Hesse. A young buck gets chased by dogs toward the West river. The buck tries to jump over the ice jam, but it falls into a crevice. Merlin Van Tornhout discovers the buck, and Constable Johnson comes over to help. The men lift the buck out of the ice. At first, the buck was too cold to move, but it soon jumps back into the same hole. The two men help the buck back out again. This time, the buck trots off with one snort and vanishes into the woods.

A morality play, not unlike some of the popular plays I have seen. I think we all have seen this familiar theme many times over the years. As we head into the Christmas season, where reflective thinking becomes this very theme. I can compare this play with some of these seasonal plays. The play that comes to my mind immediately is, "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

...she vaulted sheer over the turbid current by the shore, on to the raft of ice beyond….The huge green fragment of ice on which she alighted pitched and creaked as her weight came on it, but she staid there not a moment. With wild cries and desperate energy she leaped to another and still another cake;--stumbling—leaping—slipping—springing upwards again! Her shoes are gone—her stockings cut from her feet—while blood marked every step, but she saw nothing, felt nothing...(Stowe 94)

“It’s a Yuletide Christmas Miracle, Charlie Brown” begins with the protagonist of the short story named Marigold Moon Ling venturing into the “Drummond Family Trees”, a family operated Christmas tree farm. Unlike the other customers vigorously searching for the perfect Christmas tree, Marigold was simply there in search of a boy unlike any other she had ever seen, let alone heard. This boy possessed something that other boys simply didn’t acquire: a deep, almost sardonic voice, which was perfect for her latest project. Marigold had an interest in creating animated short films ever since she was a young girl, however as she grew older she realized her passion may be the ticket to get out of the grey-haired town of Asheville. She had just created

“ Spirit, hear me. I am not he man I was. I will not be the man I have been for so many years. Why show me all of this if I am past all hope? Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me. Let the boy live! I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” (Scrooge, p.140). A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is an important story as it has a meaningful theme of change, as the quotes states above. But that isn’t the only theme that this beautiful story shows us. Many different spirits encounter him to help him realize why Christmas is important (I’m pretty sure that is the meaning of the spirits). When the first spirit of the past encounters him, he realizes what he has done, and regrets some of the things he did. The second spirit helped Ebenezer Scrooge recognize how what he has been doing has had an impact in other peoples life. When the frightening third spirit came and showed him his future and others futures, he discovers about himself and how people didn’t care that he died. When we read A Christmas Carol, we learn that it can have many different themes that can be a very important component to the story and even our lives.