Charles Dickens

1. Charles Dickens 19th Century English Author

2. The Early Years… • Born February 7, 1812 • He attended school till the age of 9. • He had to stop going to school because his father went to jail for having bad debt. • After three years, he was able to go back to school.

3. The Early Years… • He had six brothers and sisters (and it is thought that he used his brothers and sisters as characters when he began writing). • When he was 12, he was forced to work at a factory.

4. The Early Years… • As an adult, Dickens found work first in a law office, then as a newspaper reporter. • He realized then that he loved writing, and wrote for the newspaper as well as stories during his personal time.

5. The Early Years… • Dickens wrote Pickwick Papers, which was a series. • He wrote 12,000 word sections every month, and sold it for a shilling. • People loved this idea, especially the ones that couldn’t afford to buy entire books. • Every book he wrote after that was sold the same way, until he published A Christmas Carol.

6. Infamous Author • Dickens wrote many more stories in the years to come. • He moved his family to Italy, Switzerland and Paris, where he wrote some of his best works.

7. Infamous Author • Once, he returned to England, he wrote some of his best works, such as Great Expectations and a Tale of Two Cities. • His work always drew attention to the sensitive conditions of the poor, modeled after the poor life that he had lived.

8. Haram…and then… • Dickens had ten children. • While working on his last work The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dickens had a stroke and died on June 9, 1870.

9. Haram…and then… • Dickens tombstone on Westminster Abbey, England, reads : he was a sympathizer to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world.

10. London Times • What was it like in Dickens time? • Certain Laws in England were passed that made living conditions horrible for working and lower class people. • London was one of the first large industrial cities, it quickly became very polluted and unhealthy for people to live there.

11. London Times • Most of London’s youth was poor and homeless. • Because of extreme living conditions, many children were very sick and died young. • In 1839, nearly half of the funerals in London were for children under the age of 10.

12. London Times • Many children grew up without education and no chance to escape poverty. • Dickens believed this was wrong and became interested in the “Ragged Schools” in London: Schools for poor children that could not afford tuition for private schools.

13. A Christmas Carol • Published in 1843. • When Dickens wrote it, people had not celebrated Christmas in England for years. • Stores and factories remained opened on December 25 and many people were forced to work.

14. A Christmas Carol • The themes present in the story were also common themes seen throughout society. • For example, homelessness and poverty.

15. A Christmas Carol • The story also relates to his home life growing up with his brothers and sisters.