Introduction
In the HA part, I chose a paper related to literary works. The name of the paper is “Thesis of “A Christmas Carol”–A process of Redemption”. It is an analysis based on the novel “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens in 1843. In this paper, I used information and content from different sources to demonstrate my subject. At the same time, I also used many theories to respond to counter-argument. I will also give a more detailed introduction in the article.
Theme construction
“A Christmas Carol” is a famous novella written by Charles Dickens in 1843. This is a story of a miserly old man- Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation, brought about by three Spirits, from being selfish to a kind-hearted man forms the storyline of this Well-known novella. Literature has provided us with numerous characters with a varied range of behavior. Literature and literary characters are results of human imagination whereas Psychology is the study of human behavior. So in my thesis, I mainly chose psychology and philosophy as the main theoretical support. My main thesis is that “This book is a story about salvation that is centered on the protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge.”
Argument support
First of all, I introduced the psychological theory of “phenomenon” in the article to try to analyze the significance and contribution of Spirit in the book. I also defined this theory first in my thesis. (See below)
Then I corresponded to the theory of the characters in the book and concluded that Ghost is the person who enters the phenomenon field. That is, Ghost redeemed Scrooge. While demonstrating Ghost’s redemption of Scrooge, I further explained the “phenomenon field” theory and compared the original text. In this part, I put forward the first sub-argument by combining the sentences mentioned in the literary works as references and psychological viewpoints.
Next, I put forward a second point of view on the theme, that salvation is not only external, but internal salvation is also very important. Therefore, in the second part, I borrowed Winnicott’s psychological theory of “vitality” to make an argument. Similarly, I first gave a definition of the theory in the article through research. (See below)
Immediately afterward, I found the evidence that supports this argument, which is the description in the article. In the last chapter of the work, Scrooge re-recognized the bad influence of his initial miserly behavior, and he began to feel regret. (See below)
This is actually a process of seeing, through which he completed his redemption. So I quoted this part as my evidence support. By organizing the original text in the theoretical work, I proposed my second sub-argument, that is Scrooge completed his self-redemption
In the end I responded to the possible negative views. After searching, I found that the negative view may be a philosophical “deterministic” view. Determinism believes that people cannot be redeemed in a short period of time because people’s current state is actually composed of everything in the past. In fact, the article does not contradict Scrooge with determinism. I responded through Erikson’s developmental psychology. Erikson suggested that in old age, people will reflect on and review their lives to determine whether it is meaningful. Therefore, although Scrooge’s redemption and reflection process are intervened by external factors, it is not sudden and irregular. I have also summarized in the article. (See below)
Self-Reflection
Things I have done Well
- In this Essay, I think the overall structure of my article is very complete. I have concatenated different sub-arguments in layers, progressively, and the whole thesis is more structured and persuasive. In the end, the response to the counter-argument also seemed stronger.
- At the same time, I think my way of discussion is more reasonable. I have quoted different information and theories to assist in my opinion. At the same time, I have quoted many authors or original texts of the theory to ensure the accuracy of the information. After quoting theory, I have closely combined theory and work through my own narrative. Most of these combinations include the content of key nodes in the book, which also ensures that the original content is not ignored.
- In terms of overall information organization, I have done a relatively complete job. Through the quotation of information (psychology and philosophy) from different sources, I better achieved my goal of the thesis, namely “This book is a story about salvation that is centered on the protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge.” And also my format is standardized.
Things I need to improve
- What I need to continue to improve is mainly my argumentation perspective. Although this paper has included two perspectives, they are mainly focused on social sciences. In subsequent articles related to literature, I can try more analytical methods related to literature such as literary criticism, literary theory, etc. These can make my literature-related articles more professional.
Stacy Zhao
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