Stave1- Marley's Ghost
The very first sentence-
'Marley was dead: to begin with'
Gives us an idea for the atmosphere of the story, tells us the story will probably be about death and paranormal phenomena.
What to zoom in on: 'was dead' this may give the reader a chill and draw the reader's curiosity. It also tells us that there is something going on as he apparently 'was dead' and not is dead, this tells us also about the paranormal phenomena relation which will definitely draw the readers attention.
You could also zoom in on: 'to begin with' this indicates that Marley's death is important at the beginning and there is most likely going to be more phenomena that happens later on in the story after the explanation of Marley's death and how he returns as a ghost. This zoom however is more complex to explain and you may gain fewer marks for it.
The colon used is to separate the sentence and give the whole sentence a new meaning to if the colon was removed. If the colon was removed the sentence (Marley was dead to begin with) would mean; Marley was dead before the beginning of the story, he was dead to begin the story with, no extra details. However with the colon the sentence (Marley was dead: to begin with) would mean; Marley had died before the story however we have extra detail with no added words but a colon, the 'to begin with' ending tells us that he was dead and he wasn't anymore or that something had happened (paranormal phenomena) where later in the story Marley had an important interaction.
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Useful quotes with context- a Christmas carol
Non-FictionDoing my GCSE's and analysing the book myself, I'd like to share little bit the meaningful quotes I've discovered individually reading A Christmas Carol, and analysed them to help you and me understand the characters, language and environment! Hope...
