‘A Christmas Carol’
by Charles Dickens
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Stave One of ‘A Christmas Carol’
by Charles Dickens
‘A Christmas Carol’ is a short novel, or novelette, about Ebenezeer
Scrooge, a miserly old man who, through his meetings with four ghosts,
changes his lifelong habits and learns the true meaning of Christmas.
In Stave One Dickens describes Scrooge in such a detailed, vivid manner
that the reader is left in no doubt as to what his character is like at the
beginning of the story.
1. Re-read the section beginning ‘Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand…’
(page 1) and ending ‘he failed’ (page 2).
2. Use the above extract as a basis for creating a spider-diagram that
will illustrate Scrooge’s character. On your spider-diagram you should
have at least five points about Scrooge and make sure you use a
short quotation to support each point.
An example is:
Scrooge is lonely and disliked, ‘Nobody ever stopped him in the
street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you?”
3. Now find five points of your own and create a spiderdiagram for
Scrooge.
4. Now look up the following words from pages 1 and 2 in a dictionary and
write out the meanings:
 ironmongery
 rime
 external
 bestow
5. Write out the following extract in simplified, correct English:
Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much
smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for
Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk
came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be
necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white
comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort,
not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.
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Stave Two of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens
Comprehension Questions
Q: What astonished Scrooge? P1 (5)
Q: Why was it a ‘great relief’ when he looked out of the window? P1 (5)
Q: In your own words, describe the ghost of Christmas past. P2 (5)
Q: Why do you think Dickens puts Scrooges words in reported speech
rather than direct speech for most of page 3? (2)
Q: Rewrite the following sentence into modern, correct English:
Q: It would have been in vain for Scrooge to plead that the weather and
the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes… p3 (3)
Q: Scrooge says that he has a ‘pimple’ on his cheek; what, in fact, does he
have on his cheek and why is this unusual? P4 (2)
Q: In your own words, describe the schoolhouse. P4 (5)
Q: What is Scrooge talking about throughout page 5? (3)
Q: Who is Little Fan? P6 (1)
Q; What was the atmosphere at Fezziwig’s? Give a quotation to support
your answer. P8 (4)
Q: What is Scrooge’s reaction to the spirit’s statement about Fezziwig,
‘Is that so much that he deserves this praise?’. Why does Scrooge react
in this way? P9 (3)
Q: In your own words, describe the nature of the conversation between
Scrooge and the ‘fair young girl’. P9-10 (4)
Q: Who are the people being described in these scenes? P11 (3)
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Stave Three of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens
1. Summarise the events of Stave 3 in approximately 100 words.
2. Imagine you are Martha Cratchit, home to spend Christmas day with
your family. Write your diary entry at the end of Christmas day.
Make sure you include the following:
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what family members were present
what the dinner was like
your feelings about your parents and Tiny Tim
your feelings about Scrooge
what the weather was like
the games you played with your family
what you all wished for, for next year
how you believe your father should be treated by Scrooge
your thoughts on returning back to work as a seamstress
tomorrow
3. List the places that the spirit of Christmas Present took Scrooge to
and what he learnt by going to these places.
4. Rewrite this extract from Stave Three into modern, correct English:
They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish;
but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have
filled their fetures out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale
and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and
pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils
lurked, and glared out menacing.
No change, no degradation, no
perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of
wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.
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Stave Four of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens
1.
An obituary is a brief history detailing the life and work of
somebody who has recently died and are usually printed in
newspapers.
In Stave Four of the story, Scrooge witnesses
reactions to his own death and is shocked by what he sees. Write
Scrooge’s obituary for a broadsheet newspaper as if he had died
without learning his lesson from the four spirits.
You should include the following points:
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Scrooge’s childhood and schooling (refer to Stave One)
Scrooge’s apprenticeship at Fezziwig’s and his engagement to Belle
(refer to Stave Two)
Scrooge’s business with Jacob Marley
Scrooge’s relationship with other people, eg, Bob Cratchit
Scrooge’s position in the community
Remember to write in an appropriate tone; you are, after all, writing
about someone who has just died! You should also bear in mind that
this is being written for a quality newspaper so keep to an appropriate
register, ie, formal and serious.
2. Look up the following words in a dictionary and write a sentence
containing each one.
Example: concealed – hidden from view or covered
I concealed the broken pen in my bag.
Spectral
Scrutinise
Dominion
inexorable
Esteem
Foreshadow
disinterested
detestation
resume
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Stave Five of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens
1.
Create a spider-diagram for Ebenzeer Scrooge as he is at the end of
the story. On your spider-diagram you should have at least five points
about Scrooge and make sure you use a short quotation to support each
point. This is just like the exercise you completed for Stave 1.
An example is:
At the end of the story Scrooge has learnt the importance of
generosity: he tells Bob Cratchit that he will raise his salary and
assist his ‘struggling family’.
2. Write a letter from Scrooge’s nephew to a friend describing the
scenes at their house on Christmas day. Describe in detail the people who
were assembled there, the food they ate, the games they played, the
presents they opened and, most importantly, describe and comment upon
the changed behaviour of Scrooge.
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