Name: ______period: ______
Literary Elements
Match the events in A Christmas Carol with their appropriate place on the plot mountain.
A. Future shows Scrooge the gravestone, and Scrooge desperately pleads for a second chance. B. Scrooge proclaims, and displays that the Spirits of all Three live within him, and he lives up to his word. C. Scrooge comes to realize why Marley is visiting him and that Scrooge may suffer the same fate. D. The Spirit indicates with a wavering hand that all is not lost, yet Scrooge is still uncertain. E. None F. Scrooge travels with the spirits of Past, Present, and Future. G. Scrooge, Marley’s ghost, Cratchit, Past, Present, Future, Fred; Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the morning after Christmas, 1843; Scrooge is a mean-spirited miser who does not like Christmas nor those who celebrate it.
Dynamic Theme Setting Symbolize Ironic Symbolically
§ Scrooge begins the play as a heartless, old miser. After experiencing visits from his business partner, Jacob Marley, and three other ghosts, Scrooge changes. He becomes a generous, caring, loving man. This change in character throughout the play makes him a ______character § All the following can be possible ______of A Christmas Carol. o Moral responsibility and duty to mankind o The possibility of change and redemption o Man’s offenses carry their own punishment § The ______of the play is in London, England in 1843 and spans Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas. § The chains that Marley’s ghost wears can ______the money and priorities that he consumed himself with during his life. § An event is considered ______when the outcome is contrary to what is expected. Such as when Mrs. Dilber, Old Joe, and others were discussing Scrooge’s belongings, but were not upset by his death and justified their actions by thinking Scrooge would have stopped at nothing to make a profit. § The Ghost of Christmas Present ______sprinkles kindness on the poor.
Event What does it foreshadow?
Scrooge’s doorknocker changed into Jacob Marley’s face
“…hurry back… ready for a miser… to turn his coat of gray into a blazen Christmas red”
Check off the key background
information about Scrooge that is provided in Act I, Scene I.
q Scrooge was not a sincere friend to his business Flashback! partner, Jacob Marley q Scrooge values his clerk, Q: Which flashback helped the reader Bob Cratchit understand why Scrooge is as solitary q Everyone in the town avoids as an oyster and a miser? him
A: q He has no sympathy for those less fortunate than him q Scrooge goes to Fred’s house every year for Christmas q Scrooge loved his little sister, Fan
DID YOU KNOW?!
Charles Dickens used the setting of the story to help support his themes of fairness and consideration. He used the problems and character flaws in Scrooge to symbolize what was wrong in Victorian England and how he hoped it might change. Remember the boy ignorance and girl want? Yeah, he wanted that to change. ….Pretty Significant. I think so. WHAT CAN YOU, THE READER, INFER?? Choose all that apply What does Fred mean when he says,
‘“There are many things from which I derive good, by which I have not profited, I daresay. Christmas among the rest. But I am sure that I always thought of Christmastime when it comes around – when it comes around – as a good time: the only time I know of, when men and women seem to open their shut
up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put
a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good; and I say, God bless it!’”
q It is time to erase the boundaries that separate people q It’s time to think ONLY of family q It is time to profit in spirit and emotional ways rather than in material q It is a time to be kinder to others q It is time to forget about family and focus on work
What can the reader infer about Bob Cratchit’s character when he slips something into the thin man’s hand as he is leaving Scrooge’s office after being denied a donation. q Bob Cratchit is a kind, generous, good-hearted person q Bob Cratchit represents the spirit of Christmas that Dickens wishes to see revived q Bob Cratchit is exactly like his boss, Ebenezer Scrooge q Bob Cratchit is nothing like his boss, Ebenezer Scrooge q Bob Cratchit does not like Christmas time
What can the reader infer about Scrooge when his first reaction to the Cratchit’s home filled with so many children is shock, because Scrooge thinks that having so many children on so little salary is foolish. q Scrooge is jealous because he longs to be a part of a loving family q Scrooge is shocked because he thought he knew Bob Cratchit better q Scrooge does not fully understand the purpose of the Spirits’ visits q Scrooge does not want to change his opinions
From all the flashbacks shown by Christmas Past, what can we infer about Scrooge’s childhood? q He was a well-loved, happy boy q He was always a saver and put his money in the bank q He has a great imagination and is making all of the sprits up q He was a lonely, neglected child
What can we infer about Scrooge based on his claim to Ghost of Christmas Future?
“’Spirit, why did you show me this? Why do you show me businessmen from my streets as
they take the death of Jacob Marley? That is a thing past. You are future!’”
q He is still grieving the loss of his old friend q He is growing impatient with the spirits q He has yet to fully understand the lessons of the spirits q He has not fully understood the consequences for his actions
Complete the Summary using your own words and knowledge of the play.
At the start of the play, we meet an old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge living in 1843 London, England. Scrooge is a nasty, greedy, old man who only cares about himself and money. His partner, Jacob Marley, has been dead for seven-years, but on Christmas Eve haunts Scrooge. Marley is very upset with Scrooge because Scrooge wanted to jail the people who ______. At one time during his life, Marley would have done the same as Scrooge. However, he found out in the afterlife he was bound to wear chains that symbolize ______. Marley warns Scrooge that three spirits will haunt him. The first spirit is the ______who states that the visit is for Scrooge’s welfare. The Ghost shows Scrooge flashbacks from his childhood and the reader has a better understanding of why Scrooge is the way he is in life. The second spirit is the ______. This spirit sprinkles kindness on the poor and has over eighteen hundred brothers! The reason why he has so many brothers is ______. Scrooge gets a front row view of the fun he is missing out on by not going to his nephew’s for dinner. But there is hope! The nephew says he will continue to ask Scrooge to dinner every Christmas because ______. Next, the spirit takes Scrooge to visit the Cratchit household where he is surprised to find Bob and Mrs. Cratching toasting to him! To Scrooge! Mrs. Cratchit says she is only toasting to Scrooge for two reasons, ______and ______. Scrooge watches Tiny Tim and sees that he is not in good health. Sadly, the spirit predicts that Tiny Tim ______, which upsets Scrooge and shows a softening of his personality. The spirit then uses Scrooge’s own words “surplus population” and “workhouses” to further make a point that Scrooge needs to change, which makes Scrooge feel ______. The last spirit is ______, who shows Scrooge things that may happen. The spirit shows Scrooge several different scenes. One involving businessmen talking about a dead man and funeral arrangements. Another scene they saw was with Old Joe, Men, Women, and Mrs. Dilbert making deals while selling ______. The spirit and Scrooge also went to the Cratchit home where it is shown that ______. Lastly, it ended with a gravestone with ______carved into the stone. After all the visits, Scrooge realizes and believes that he needs to change his ways! He wakes up and says he feels like a ______because he’s starting a new life. Scrooge apologizes for his actions and even apologizes and ______to the portly man. Scrooge upholds his promise and became a good friend to the Cratchits, donates to the poor, and holds the Christmas spirit all year. Scrooge’s change best helps Dickens’ intended theme of that people have the potential to ______and more specifically that he had hope for his home of ______to change.