第四屆敦煌全國大專盃-英文書評競賽 得獎作品
恭喜榮獲『英文書評競賽』進階/大學組 佳作獎
姓名：蔡佩軒
學校：國立臺灣師範大學
科系：英語系
指導老師：劉宇挺
閱讀書目：A Christmas Carol
Book Review- A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a short Christmas story written by Charles Dickens, one of the greatest writers
in the world. The book, along with other five Dicken’s works, was published by Oxford University Press
and begins with a neat introduction by the series editor, Ruth Glancy.
The main character in A Christmas Carol is Scrooge, a man who is rich in property but poor in
sympathy. He hates Christmas due to the fact that he cannot figure out why people, no matter poor or rich,
generally like to visit and bring food to help people who are in need. Compared to them, Scrooge is
miserable because he does not understand the significance of giving out and sharing happiness with others.
Some day before Christmas, his dreamed about a dead old friend, Marley. In the dream, Marley, who used
to be a stingy man, warns Scrooge not to repeat his path because Marley himself now carries chains, living
a painful life in hell. Furthermore, Marley even calls upon three spirits to illustrate the miserable life
Scrooge used to live (past), the suffering he is undertaking (now), and the torture he will continue to
endure (future). Scrooge eventually realized how pitiful he is and makes a resolution to change his
behavior. He starts to donate plenty of money, help the poor, and even starts to care about others. Finally
he understands the true value of life lies in giving mercy and caring about others.
This story is composed in a well organized plot. The words and language are age-appropriate to its
target audience. One of Dickens’ achievements is that when describing a character, he manages to bring
the character’s personality alive by using lots of description. For instance, in describing Scrooge, Dickens
used the following wording to help readers penetrate the character’s personality: “a squeezing, wrenching,
grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner.” This writing strategy allows the readers to get easy
access to the personality of the roles in the story. However, overusing description can lead to superfluity.
For example, at the beginning of the story, he uses a whole paragraph to explain the reason why he uses
“doornail” to describe Marley which may be perceived by readers who prefer concise story line as being
wordy and unnecessary. The beginning and the ensuing sections of the story will read much better if the
redundancy problem has been taken care of.
Overall, despite a little superfluous description in the story, the whole work successfully arouses
readers’ interest and invites them to dip into the fabulous plot. It is worth reading Dickens’ A Christmas
Carol especially during the Christmas season, because this is a time for people to care more about others
and learn the true meaning of sharing in their life.
1. The overall analysis is clear and well-structured.
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2. The meaning of the Christmas is revealingly shown in the character of Scrooge.
3. The explanation of the value of Dicken’s fiction is relevant.
4. Introduction a bit weak. Plot summary is not very organized.
5. Good paragraph organization.
6. 語言表達很清晰，重點解讀有力。句子簡潔明白，文筆流暢。
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