A CHRISTMAS CAROL STUDY GUIDE

Name: ____________________________
Fill in the blanks from the notes on the powerpoint.
Dickens applied his unique ________ __ _______________to the city in which he
spent most of his life. He routinely ________the _________,
____________________________________.
His ______________ of nineteenth century London _________ _______________the
_________, ___________, and ___________ of the old city. This ability to immerse
the reader into time and place sets the perfect stage for Dickens to weave his
fiction.
Victorian _________ was the ______________, most spectacular ________________.
While __________was experiencing the _____________________________, its capital
was both reaping the benefits and suffering the consequences.
In ________ the ______________ of London was around one _______ souls. That
number would swell to ________________

by 1880.

While fashionable areas like Regent and Oxford streets were growing in
the________, new docks supporting the city's place as the
_______________________ were being built in the east.
Perhaps the biggest impact on the growth of London was the coming of the
railroad in the 1830s which displaced thousands and accelerated the
expansion of the city
The price of this explosive growth and domination of world trade was untold
__________________________and filth.
Imagine yourself in the London of the early 19th century. The homes of the
upper and middle class exist in close proximity to areas of unbelievable
poverty and filth.
Rich and poor alike are thrown together in the crowded city streets. Street
sweepers attempt to keep the streets clean of manure, the result of
thousands of horse-drawn vehicles.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL STUDY GUIDE

Name: ____________________________
Fill in the blanks from the notes on the powerpoint.
The city's thousands of chimney pots belch coal smoke, resulting in soot
which seems to settle everywhere.
In many parts of the city raw sewage flows in gutters that empty into the
Thames.
Pick-pockets, prostitutes, drunks, beggars, and vagabonds add to the colorful
multitude.
Personal cleanliness is not a big priority, nor is clean laundry.
In ___________, about ___________ of the _________in London, England lived in
poverty.
The ________________________forced the ___________________________that were
little more than prisons.
Dickens wanted to (1.) ________________________________________and
(2.)___________________________________________________________________________
___________________.

Elements of Drama
1. stage directions ___________________ for actors, and stage crew
2. drama ________________ to be ______________before an audience
3. climax- the _____________of highest _____________and _________________ in the
plot of a drama
4. dialogue ______________________ between characters in a drama
5. script ____________________________, including characters lines
6. foil a _____________ who provides a sharp ___________________to the qualities
of the ___________________________________(antagonist)

A CHRISTMAS CAROL STUDY GUIDE

Name: ____________________________
Fill in the blanks from the notes on the powerpoint.
7. props the __________________ the actors use during the play (cup, chair,
book)
8. scenes/acts ____________ in a drama (similar to ________________in a novel)
Vocabulary
1. solitude the ____________of being ______________
2. charitable _______________ in ___________________
3. incoherent ________________ or ____________ one's thoughts in a clear or
orderly manner
4. finale at the ________, the concluding part
5. odious causing or deserving _________dislike
6. currency - ____________
7. welfare a __________ of ___________
8. emerge to _________________________
9. provision - a ______________ of food or other ___________ needs
10.summon ___________________ with authority or urgency
11.mortal ______________, of the earth
12.surplus _____________, more than is needed
13.abundance - great _____________ or supply
14.macabre suggesting the horror of _____________ and _____________
15.endeavor - ___________________
16.transform _________________ the form or appearance of
17.pledge - word of honor, _____________
18.reassurance a ______________ of ___________________

A CHRISTMAS CAROL STUDY GUIDE

Name: ____________________________
Fill in the blanks from the notes on the powerpoint.
19.anonymous not having ones _________________ known
20.destitute ______________ the necessities of life

Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

English _______________________________ wrote numerous highly acclaimed
novels.
Dickens _____________________ is _________ and _________, with a strong
__________ touch.
Many people thought of Dickens as an __________________________________, at a
time when there was little sympathy towards those in poverty.
Dickens other works include: _____________________, David Copperfield,
___________________, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak, House, Nicholas Nickleby, The
Pickwick Papers
The Dickens family was on ____________________________________ from the
beginning
John Dickens did not have a good head for numbers and he dabbled in
_________________, which influenced his son, but failed to bring the family
much income.
By 1823, things had gotten so bad that Dickens was forced to withdraw from
school because they could not afford it.
Two days after his _____________, Charles was sent to work at Warrens
Blacking Factory. His _______________________________ because of failure to
repay a debt. The ______________________ with the exception of Charles and
his older sister Fanny ________________________________________________.
Charles lived ______ at a __________________ while his family was in prison. This
situation was more than the sensitive 12 year old could bear. He became
__________________.
Finally his father inherited some money and was able to arrange to have his
debt paid off and the family moved in together at the boarding house where
Charles had been living. He was able at that time to go back to school.
_____________________________________________________________________. Nor did
he ever forget the deprivations he endured during his family crisis.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL STUDY GUIDE

Name: ____________________________
Fill in the blanks from the notes on the powerpoint.
Scenes from the ___________, the _______________________, and the
__________________________ are seen throughout his fiction.
At 14 he got a job as a law clerk, and started hanging out around Londons
Theater district. He got his first gig as a ___________________ at 16, working as
a freelance court reporter.
Its hard to imagine a Christmas season without the story of old Scrooge,
_________________! and God bless us, every one. At the time this story was
written (1843), the generous spirit of Christmas charity didnt exist in
England. Many people did not believe in generosity to the poor. Instead,
_________________________ somehow brought __________________upon
themselves.
In a clever play on words, Dickens _____________ the book
_________________________ instead of chapters. _______________ is a musical
term, in keeping with the title, A Christmas _____________ which, of course, is
a ______________.