Original Story: Charles Dickens
Adapted Play: Israel Horowitz
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RL.7.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
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RL.7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through
particular details
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Analyze words with double meanings.
Use context to determine meaning.
RL.7.9 Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a
historical or biblical account of the same period as a means of understanding how
authors of fiction use or alter history.
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Analyze certain lines of dialogue.
RL.7.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings.
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Determine the theme. Is it timeless? Universal?
RL.7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting
shapes the characters or plot).
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Use evidence in answers.
Explore how the time period is used as part of the story, and how the story could be
updated for today.
RL.7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories,
dramas, spiritual readings, gospels, prayers, psalms, grade level religion books, and
poems in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently with scaffolding, as needed, at
the high end of the range.
February 7, 1812- June 9, 1870
 He
was the second of eight children
 His
father was sent to prison for debt when
Charles was just 12 years old, forcing
Charles to leave school and work to support
his family.
How would his life experiences affect
what Dickens wrote?
Establish a purpose for reading.
To be informed
To gain understanding
To be entertained
To be inspired
To learn about a specific subject
To gain background related to popular culture
Scrooge
Do others see us more clearly than we
see ourselves?
As we read the drama, take note of how others
see Scrooge and how he sees himself.
*What do others think of him and his actions?
*What does he think of himself and his actions?
*Why aren’t the above the exact same?
Jacob Marley: What do we know
about him?
Scrooge: What does Marley tell us
about him?
“The cold within him freezes his old
features, nips his pointed nose…”
It is the middle of winter, yet
that is not the “cold” Marley
refers to.
When he says that Scrooge
is full of cold, he means…
“Ebeneezer Scrooge, England's most
tightfisted hand at the grindstone.
Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching,
grasping, scraping, clutching,
covetous…”
In one word, summarize
Scrooge based on the above
excerpt.


In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed by
Parliament. This was designed to reduce the cost of
looking after the poor. Now if people wanted help
they had to go into a workhouse to get it.
The poor were given clothes and food in the
workhouse in exchange for several hours of manual
labour each day. Families were split up inside the
workhouse. People had to wear a type of uniform,
follow strict rules and were on a bad diet of bread
and watery soup. Conditions were made so terrible
that only those people who desperately needed help
would go there.
Scrooge: What right do you have to be merry?
What reason do you have to be happy? You’re
poor enough!
Nephew: Come, then. What right have you to be
dismal? What right have you to be morose?
You’re rich enough.
What does the dialogue reveal about each character?
*What do they value?
*What is their outlook on life?
Portly Man: We should make provision for
the poor and destitute. May thousands are
in want of common necessities; hundreds
are in want of common comforts, sir.”
Scrooge: Are there no prisons?
What do the above lines reveal
about Scrooge?
Scrooge: I help to support those
establishments (workhouses, prisons) that I
have mentioned: they cost enough: and
those who are badly off must go there.
What do the above lines reveal about Scrooge?
Scrooge believes he has met his duty to help others by
paying taxes. Has he met his duty?
What is our calling as Catholics to seek social justice in
the world?
Cratchit silently squeezes something into
the hand of the thin man.
Thin Man: What’s this?
Cratchit: Shhh.
What did Cratchit give him? Why did he do that?
Describe the following characters:
Scrooge
Nephew
Cratchit
Thin and Portly Man
Marley: I am here tonight to warn you that
you have yet a chance and hope of
escaping my fate…You will be haunted by
Three Spirits.
Why is Marley there?
How did Scrooge react at first? Towards the end of the
scene?
Marley: I wear the chain I forged in life. I
made it link by link, and yard by
yard…Would you know, you, Scrooge, the
weight and length of the strong coil you
bear yourself?
What chain binds Marley? What warning does
he give to Scrooge?
Spirit: I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Scrooge: Not to sound ungrateful, sir, and
really please do understand that I am
plenty obliged for your concern, but really
kind spirit…
How has the way Scrooge speaks to others
changed? What does it tell us he is feeling?
There are four places that the ghost takes Scrooge
to see.
1. A child (Scrooge) all alone sobbing at a desk.
2. A slightly older Scrooge, being rescued from
school by his sister.
3. Scrooge at his apprenticeship.
4. Scrooge with a young woman, who breaks their
engagement.
Scrooge after looking upon the scene of
him as a child, weeping alone, says:
“There was a boy singing a Christmas
Carol outside my door last night. I should
like to have given him something.”
How is Scrooge changing?
Scrooge: Oh, my dear, dear little sister,
Fan…how I loved her.
What did this dialogue reveal to us about
Scrooge’s character?
Scr
Young Scrooge: If I ever own a firm of my
own, I shall treat my apprentices with the
same dignity and the same grace. We have
learned a wonderful lesson from the
master!
Scrooge: I should like to say a word or two
to my clerk just now!
How is the above evidence that Scrooge is
changing?
Woman: Another idol has replaced me.
The woman whom Scrooge was engaged to tells
him that he loves something more than her. What
is it that he loves more than her?
 “For
where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also.”

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths
and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do
not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.”
Key Ideas and Details
3. A: What scenes from his past does Scrooge
visit?
3. B. How does each event contribute to his
current attitude and personality?
Key Ideas and Details
4. A: What does Scrooge value in life? Support
your answer with examples and quotations from
the text.
4.B: Do his values make Scrooge a happy man?
Explain.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
6. A: What hints in the text suggest to you that
Scrooge may change for the better?
6.B: In the future how might Scrooge’s interactions
with others differ from his interactions in the
present?
6.C: Do you think you will see examples of
Scrooge’s changed behavior in the second act of
the play? Why or why not?
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. A: What effects have Scrooge’s past
experiences had on the person he has become?
7.B. Based on Scrooge’s past experiences, do you
think he should be excused (forgiven) for his
current attitudes and behavior? Explain why or
why not.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
8. What do you think would have happened to
Scrooge if he had not been visited by Marley’s
Ghost and the Ghost of Christmas Past? Support
your ideas with details from the text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
*9. How do people in Scrooge’s past reveal his
own behavior to him?
*It’s part of the BIG question: Do others see
us more clearly than we see ourselves?