Teacher-of-English.com
A Christmas Carol
Christmas Traditions
& Charles Dickens
Dickens and Christmas
Use your knowledge to complete the following.
Charles _____ has probably had more influence on the way
Christians celebrate _____ today than any other _____ in history.
At the start of the _____ period ___ people celebrated
Christmas. The Industrial Age focused on ____ more than _____.
The rejuvenation of Christmas during Queen _____ reign was
brought about by old customs being reintroduced. Prince Albert,
her husband introduced the old _____ custom of decorating a
_____ ____ to England and the first ever _____ ____ was sent in
1841.
However it was Dickens that rekindled the joy of Christmas with
_ ____ ____ which delivered the message of “_____ to all men”.
Dickens was so closely associated with Christmas that when he died
in ____ a little girl in London was said to have asked, “Mr. Dickens
dead? Then will ____ _____ die too?”
Infer & Deduce
What does the picture
below suggest about
Scrooge?
What does this
image of his home
tell us about Scrooge?
Look carefully at this Victorian illustration what can
you infer and deduce from it about Scrooge?
Ebenezer Scrooge
Adjective
Mean
• What are your first
impressions of Ebenezer
Scrooge? Write down 5
adjectives that describe
Scrooge then find an
example of something
that Scrooge says or does
which reinforces that
idea.
Evidence
Description, Dialogue, Action!
Can you match up the word with its correct definition?
Description
What the character
says
Dialogue
What the character
does
Action
How the character
looks, feels and behaves
Describing Scrooge
Read Dickens’ description of Scrooge. Select words
from the box below to describe his character.
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone,
Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping,
clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint,
from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire;
secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.
The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his
pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait;
made his eyes red, his thin lips blue and spoke out
shrewdly in his grating voice.
a) friendly
b) mean
c) generous
d) warm hearted
e) happy
f) miserable
g) lonely
h) skinny
Scrooge’s Dialogue
Read Scrooge’s dialogue with his nephew.
‘Bah!’ said Scrooge, ‘Humbug!’ This nephew of Scrooge’s had so heated
himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost that he was all a glow;
his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled.
‘Christmas a humbug, uncle!’ said Scrooge's nephew. ‘You don't mean
that, I’m sure.'
‘I do,' said Scrooge. ‘Merry Christmas! What right have you to be
merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.'
‘Come, then,' returned the nephew gaily. ‘What right have you to be
dismal? What right have you to be morose? You're rich enough.’
Scrooge, having no better answer, said ‘Bah!’ again; and followed
it up with ‘Humbug.’
‘Don't be cross, uncle,’ said the nephew.
‘What else can I be,’ returned Scrooge, ‘when I live in such a world of
fools?
Highlight examples of Scrooge’s speech that reveal his
character.
Scrooge’s Actions
Read Scrooge’s actions in the opening chapter. What
can you tell about Scrooge from his actions?
Scrooge took his melancholy dinner
in his usual melancholy tavern; and
having read all the newspapers, and
beguiled the rest of the evening with
his banker’s-book, went home to bed.
a) unpredictable
b) careless c) sociable
c) joyful
f) miserable
d) friendless
g) Sticks to routines
Abbreviations
prep.
adj.
pron.
Abbreviations
conj.
pl.
n.
adv.
vb.
These abbreviations are frequently used in
dictionaries but do you know what they mean?
Origins of Words
Some dictionaries give the country of origin of
words. Can you work out what these stand for?
Hind.
Gk.
U.S.
F.
L.
Think of other countries, other cultures and
ancient languages.
Dictionary Competition
See if your dictionary tells you what kind of word
(adjective, plural etc) and where that word
originates from for the following:
a)café
b)drama
c)safaris
d)shampoo
e)sherbert
You have
five
minutes!
Language changes over time
The phrases on the left are from the first chapter of
A Christmas Carol. Match them up with the modern
version on the left.
Oh! but he was a tight fisted
hand at the grindstone
He was so cold-hearted that he
even looked cold
Stiffened his gait
No one was ever pleased to see
him, or said hello in the street
The cold within him froze his
old features
External heat and cold had
little influence on Scrooge
Nobody ever stopped him in
the street to say, with
gladsome looks, ‘My dear
Scrooge, how are you?’
No wind that blew was bitterer
than he
He was meaner and more
spiteful than the coldest wind
He walked as if he were stiff
He was a mean man who made
everyone work really hard all
the time for poor wages
Whether it was a cold winter’s
night or a pleasant summer
morning Scrooge never
changed
Chapter One – Marley’s Ghost
Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.
The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the
Read the opening to A Christmas Carol again.
undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name
was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old
Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there
is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself,
to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade.
But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed
hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore
permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a doornail.
Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise?
Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge
was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole
residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge
was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an
excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised
it with an undoubted bargain.
What
narrative
hook is
used
here?
Dickens’ Technique
Chapter One – Marley’s Ghost
Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no
doubt whatever about that. The register of his
burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk,
the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge
Highlight
signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon
examples
'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.
of words
Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
associated Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own
with death knowledge, what there is particularly dead about
a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself,
to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of
ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our
Why does ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed
Dickens
hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done
address
for. You will therefore permit me to repeat,
the reader emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a doorhere?
nail.
What clue
does the
chapter
title give
us?
What
technique
is used
here?
How does
the
opening
try to
keep the
reader
engaged?
Dickens’ Technique
Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he
What
did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge
does the
and he were partners for I don’t know
word
how many years. Scrooge was his sole
‘sole’
sole
mean in executor, his sole administrator, his sole
this
assign, his sole residuary legatee, his
context? sole friend, and sole mourner. And even
Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by
the sad event, but that he was an
excellent man of business on the very
day of the funeral, and solemnised it
with an undoubted bargain.
Are there any other techniques that
Dickens uses to engage the reader?
What
clues does
Dickens
provide
here about
Scrooge’s
character?
Can you
find an
example
of irony
in this
extract?
Speaking & Listening
Level 5
What would you need to do to
achieve a level 5 in speaking and
listening?
Four things to remember
1. Stay in character. Try not to giggle. If
you’re confident try a different accent and
facial expression.
2. Use words and phrases from the book that
Scrooge uses himself.
3. Explain your ideas in as much detail as
possible. Don’t just say “Christmas is
rubbish”, explain why.
4. LISTEN carefully to other presentations.
Learn from the things they do well and from
their mistakes.
Christmas Past
Read the section of the book where the Ghost of
Christmas Past takes Scrooge to visit himself as a boy.
What do you think Scrooge is thinking at this stage in the
story?
The Ghost of Christmas Past
Point
To show detailed
understanding you
will need to write
about Scrooge, find
evidence about his
feelings in this
section and explain
what the evidence
shows.
To gain a secure
level 5 you must be
able to use and
explain evidence in
your answers.
Scrooge is
upset
Evidence
Explain
Who said that?
Can you match up the statements below with the
appropriate character from the story?
I don’t make merry
myself at Christmas, and
I can’t afford to make
idle people merry
God bless us,
every one
I have always thought of
Christmas time, as a good
time; a kind, forgiving,
charitable, pleasant time
Come, take my robe. You
still have much to see and
little time
I came here tonight to
warn you that you have
yet a chance of escaping
my fate
I give you Mr. Scrooge,
the founder of the feast
Meet the Cratchits
Use the table below to list the opinions the different
members of the Cratchit family have about Scrooge
Member of family
Opinion of Scrooge What this tells me
about Scrooge
‘I’ll give you Mr
Scrooge, the founder
of the feast!’
Bob Cratchit
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Look at how Scrooge speaks to the final spirit. What
do Scrooge’s actions and dialogue reveal about his
changing character?
Quote
‘Ghost of the future!...I fear you
more than any spectre I have seen.
But I hope to live to be another
man’
What it reveals about Scrooge
•Scrooge knows his future is bad
•He realises he must change
A New Man
Look at how Scrooge has changed in the final part of the story.
Find as many examples as you can of things that Scrooge says to
Bob Cratchit to show his transformation.
Quote
‘I’ll raise your salary’
Transformation
•Scrooge did not even want to give
Bob Christmas Day off.
•Scrooge was very mean with money