Name: Period: ENG I Advanced Sullivan A Christmas Carol

Transcription

1 STAVE ONE Close Reading - Read the following passage. Underline parts of the text that characterize Scrooge. Make at least 5 annotations commenting on the passage. Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, 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 frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dogdays; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn't know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often "came down" handsomely, and Scrooge never did. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, "My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?" No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!" But what did Scrooge care? It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call "nuts" to Scrooge. The author uses what type of characterization to characterize Scrooge? IN YOUR OWN WORDS, write a brief paragraph describing Scrooge. Your description must be a minimum of three sentences, include one correctly embedded quote from the passage above, and describe both physical and personality traits.

2 STAVE ONE DIALECTICAL JOURNAL On the left, write DIRECT quotes from the novel that represent figurative language. On the right, explain the quote and comment on its understood or implied meaning. Find the figurative language: must have examples of simile, alliteration, and allusion Quote one: Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. Explain the literary device used and the understood or implied meaning of the figurative language. The reader can easily appreciate just how cold and hard Scrooge s personality is by the use of the simile to compare him to a piece of flint. The second simile, comparing his nature to that of an oyster, uses the visual imagery of an oyster (hard and rough on the outside yet containing exactly the opposite) to indicate how Scrooge shares little of himself with others. Quote two: Quote three: Quote four: Quote five:

3 STAVE TWO - Comprehension Questions Q: What astonished Scrooge? Q: Why was it a great relief when he looked out of the window? Q: In your own words, describe the ghost of Christmas past. Q: Rewrite the following sentence into modern, correct English: It would have been in vain for Scrooge to plead that the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes Q: Scrooge says that he has a pimple on his cheek; what, in fact, does he have on his cheek and why is this unusual? Q: In your own words, describe the schoolhouse. Q: What is Scrooge talking about throughout the episode in the schoolhouse? Q: Who is Little Fan? Q; What was the atmosphere at Fezziwig s? Give a quotation to support your answer. Q: What is Scrooge s reaction to the spirit s statement about Fezziwig, Is that so much that he deserves this praise?. Why does Scrooge react in this way? Q: In your own words, describe the nature of the conversation between Scrooge and the fair young girl. Q: Who are the people being described in these scenes?

4 STAVE THREE 1. Briefly summarize the events of Stave List the places that the spirit of Christmas Present took Scrooge in Stave 3. What did he learn by going to these places? 3. Rewrite this extract from Stave Three into modern English: They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

5 STAVE FOUR An obituary is a brief history detailing the life and work of someone who has recently died and usually appears in a newspaper. In Stave Four of the story, Scrooge witnesses the reaction to his own death and is shocked by what he sees. Write Scrooge s obituary for a broadsheet newspaper as if he had died without learning his lesson from the four spirits. You should include the following points: Scrooge s childhood and schooling (refer to Stave One) Scrooge s apprenticeship at Fezziwig s and his engagement to Belle (refer to Stave Two) Scrooge s business with Jacob Marley Scrooge s relationship with other people (Bob Cratchit and others) Scrooge s position in the community Remember to write in an appropriate tone; you are, after all, writing about someone who has just died. You should also bear in mind that this is being written for a quality newspaper so keep to an appropriate register, i.e., formal and serious. Use a direct quote (properly embedded) from the novel in your description of Scrooge.

6 STAVE FIVE At the beginning of Stave Five, Scrooge is happy that the "time" before him is his own. Why is time important to Scrooge? Explain and provide at least 2 pieces of text evidence to support your thoughts. Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in (Dickens).

7 ALL STAVES BRIEFLY explain who each of these characters are note any relationship to another character and use at least one word that describes the temperament of their character: Ebenezer Scrooge Jacob Marley Fred Bob Cratchit Mrs. Cratchit Martha Cratchit Peter Cratchit Tiny Tim Belle Fezziwig ALL of the ghosts: