1. Define External Conflict . Give One Example Of

Study Guide

Name:______

Event Scrooge Before What Changes? Scrooge After Reaction to Nephew’s Invitation

Reaction to the Gentleman’s request for money for the poor

His treatment of Cratchit

Reaction to carolers/people in the streets 1. Define External conflict. Give one example of:

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. Society

2. Define Internal conflict. Give one example:

Man vs. Self

3. (Direct/Indirect Characterization). A novelist can use any of five methods to reveal the personality of a character. The novelist can give:

(1) Physical description of the character

(2) Comment directly about the character

(3) Show the character’s actions and let the character speak

(4) Reveal the character’s thoughts

(5) Tell what others think or say about the character

a. List five details from stave 1 describing Scrooge’s physical appearance.

b. List five adjectives that Dickens uses to comment directly on Scrooge’s personality. c. What does Scrooge’s responses to his nephew, the two gentlemen, and to the caroler reveal about his personality?

d. Scrooge initially refuses to think that Marley’s Ghost is real. What does he think of the ghost instead? What does this manner of thinking reveal about Scrooge’s personality?

e. Marley’s Ghost says to Scrooge that without the visits by the Three Spirits, “you cannot hope to shun the path I tread.” What do Marley’s words reveal about Scrooge?

4. The Ghost of Christmas past helps Scrooge revisit scenes from five past Christmases. Briefly summarize the events that Scrooge witnesses in each of these scenes. 5. In Stave One you were introduced to Dicken’s technique of contrasting visual images that are dark with visual images that are light. (A visual image is a picture a writer creates in the reader’s mind through the use of words). In Stave Two the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge in the dark of night while glowing with a “clear jet of light.” What do you think is the significance of this contrast of dark and light? What is the meaning of Scrooge’s inability, at the end of the stave, to extinguish the Ghost’s light? What could this symbolize?

6. Describe the physical characteristics of the Ghost of Christmas Present. What does he carry in his hand? For which class of people does he have the most sympathy?

7. Why do the young man and his wife Caroline feel relieved that the unnamed businessman has died in Stave 4? What is Scrooge’s reaction to this scene?

8. List three details that alert you to the fact that Tiny Tim has died. In what ways has Scrooge’s nephew show “extraordinary kindness” to the Cratchit family? 9. The climax of a story is the point where the main character’s conflict reaches an intense turning point. Identify the climax of A Christmas Carol. What is the result or resolution of Scrooge’s conflict?

10. What joke does Scrooge play on Bob Cratchit? What is Bob’s first reaction to the new Scrooge? What does Scrooge do to make up for how he has treated Bob in the past?

11. Explain how the conflicts were resolved:

a. Man vs. Man

b. Man vs. Nature

c. Man vs. Society d. Man vs. Self