ACT I Study Questions
Reading and Literary Focus
Vocabulary
Recalling
Staging
Word Origins
Staging refers to the scenery, lighting,
sounds, costumes, and acting that bring a
playwright’s words to life on stage in front of an
audience. When we read a play instead of
seeing it in a theater, we enjoy the work more if
we try to imagine how the play might come
alive through staging.
Dicken’s Christmas Carol created a new
noun: A Scrooge has come to refer to anyone
who is miserly or bad-tempered. Many other
words in our language were originally proper
names of people- many of them real people (as
opposed to fictional characters like Scrooge).
Using a dictionary, identify the person to whom
the following words originally referred, and
explain what each word means now.
1. In what terms does the Narrator
describe Scrooge at the beginning of
the play?
2. What is Scrooge’s opinion of Christmas?
What is Fred’s?
3. What is Scrooge’s answer to the
gentlemen collecting for charity? How
does he respond to the carolers?
4. What explanation does Marley’s ghost
give for his visit to Scrooge? Who else
does he say will visit Scrooge?
5. Where does the Ghost of Christmas
Past first take Scrooge? Where does he
take him next? What does Scrooge see?
6. What reason does Belle give for
breaking her engagement to Young
Scrooge?
Interpreting
7. How does Scrooge’s treatment of his
nephew, Crachit, the portly gentlemen,
and the carolers supports the Narrator’s
and Marley’s statements about him?
8. Explain how old Scrooge is different
from his earlier selves, Young Ebenezer
and Young Scrooge. How does Young
Scrooge himself change?
9. What are two or three signs of change
in old Scrooge by the end of Act 1?
We can try to envision what staging
might add to our enjoyment of A Christmas
Carol. For example, if we think about how
Scrooge’s visit to the Fezziwig’s party might be
staged, we might imagine a sad old man
standing in a cold blue light just to the side of a
glowing room, watching his younger self waltz
happily with the girl he once loved. Envisioning
how this scene might be staged gives us a fuller,
more vivid understanding of Scrooge’s regret
over his wasted life.
Thinking About Staging
If you were put in charge of staging the
entrance of Marley’s ghost, what moment on
stage would you want to startle the audience
most? What could you do to make that moment
even more exciting? For example, what kinds of
sound effects would you use? What would
Marley’s ghost look like?
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
boycott
braille
derby
derrick
guillotine
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
mackintosh
sandwich
shrapnel
silhouette
watt
Challenge
Diorama
A diorama is a three-dimensional scene, either
large or small in scale, made out of materials
such as wood or cardboard. Make a miniature
diorama depicting a scene from Act 1. Remove
the cover from a shoebox, and cut away one of
the four sides. Next, paint or draw scenery on
the remaining three sides and bottom. You may
then paste, tape or staple stand-up characters
to the bottom. Decide on the furniture and
other elements you want to portray. Think also
about how you want your characters to look
and what they should wear.
ACT II Study Questions
Recalling
1. Who is Tiny Tim? What does Christmas
Present tell Scrooge about Tim’s future?
2. According to the vision of the future
that Scrooge sees, who will “inherit” his
hard-earned possessions?
3. What does Christmas Yet to Come show
Scrooge in the graveyard? What effect
does this sight have on Scrooge?
4. Describe Scrooge’s reaction when he
wakes on Christmas morning. What
does he do for Bob Cratchit on
Christmas and on the day after? How
does he treat Tiny Tim, according to the
Narrator?
Interpreting
5. In what ways are the Cratchits more
fortunate than Scrooge as he is at the
beginning of Act II? What does
Scrooge’s interest in Tiny Tim suggest
about his character?
6. What does Scrooge’s trip to the future
reveal to him about other people’s
opinions of him? What do the scenes at
the Exchange and pawnshop tell him
about the value of material goods?
7. Scrooge’s final speech refers to a
“wonderful gift.” What is this gift?
Extending
8. What do you think Dickens would make
of our world? Would he see it as better
or worse than his own world in its
treatment of the poor? Explain.
Reading & Literary Focus
The Total Effect
A director staging a play needs to keep in
mind various aspects that contribute to the play’s
total effect- the overall impact of the play as a
whole. The plot, or sequence of actions, must hold
the attention of the audience. The plot presents
conflicts, or struggles between opposing forces.
These conflicts move the action forward to a climax,
the point at which we know how these conflicts will
finally be resolved. Characters must be varied,
interesting, and believable. The setting, the time and
place of the play, must be appropriate to the play’s
action and should add to the play’s power. Finally,
the play’s themes, the ideas it expresses about life,
must grow out of the other elements of the play and
must be expressed in terms that make a strong
impression on the audience.
Thinking About Plot
1. When Scrooge wakes on Christmas
morning, he says of his ghostly visits,
“It’s all true; it all happened.” In your
opinion did it all “happen”? Or do you
think we should view the visits of the
ghosts as Scrooge’s dreams? Give
reasons for your answer.
2. What is the basic conflict that moves
the action of the play forward? Is this
conflict internal or external?
3. What event is the play’s climax? How is
the play’s conflict resolved?
Thinking About Character
4. How does the character of Scrooge
change from the beginning to the end
of A Christmas Carol? What events and
realizations make him change?
5. Most of the other characters in A
Christmas Carol represent a particular
human quality or an aspect of human
life. What might Tiny Tim represent?
Joe, the pawnbroker? Scrooge’s
nephew, Fred?
Thinking About Setting
6. What do the Fezziwigs’ party, the
Cratchits’ dinner, and Fred’s gathering
all have in common? In what ways are
these settings different from Scrooge’s
office and bedroom?
7. What do the pawnshop and graveyard
settings add to the impact of the play?
Thinking About Theme
8. What things does Scrooge learn are
more important than money?
9. What qualities does this play associate
with the true Christmas spirit?
10. What might Scrooge’s reform suggest
about the ability of people to change?