This poem is from Punch, a journal that we are accustomed to associate with satire. What, if anything, is being satirized here? The pauper himself? His attitudes toward Christmas (and what could, potentially, be seen as reckless spending on that day)? The society that has created the pauper and left him only one day for enjoyment? Does Dickens's portrayal of Bob Cratchit seem similar to that of the figure being represented in the poem?
What is the argument made by this article? How does the author feel about Christmas and the way that it is practiced in the present (the piece was published in the London Pioneer on December 30, 1847)? Can we compare the sense of Christmas here to the scenes of Christmas that Scrooge sees in the company of the second spirit? Dickens's novella was published in December 1843 -- would readers have seen it as an "accurate" representation of Christmas at that time, or would they have imagined it to be back-dated (like Jane Eyre and Vanity Fair)? After reading this article, do you imagine a different reception for A Christmas Carol than you did before?
