By Charles Dickens SCOPE Magazine Version A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens SCOPE Magazine Version

VOCABULARY preposterous (prih-POS-ter-uhs) adjective; contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd example: Here in upstate Michigan, the idea of an 80- degree Christmas Day is preposterous.

hobble (HOB-uhl) verb; to walk in an awkward way; to limp example: After her ankle surgery, Amanda thought it best to use a wheelchair rather than hobble from class to class on crutches.

miserly (MY-zer-lee) adjective; stingy; inclined toward hoarding money example: The villagers loathed their miserly king, who refused to share even the slightest bit of his wealth during the famine.

dilapidated (dih-LAP-ih-day-tid) adjective; reduced to or fallen into partial ruin or decay, as from age, wear, or neglect example: Aunt Terry refused to walk across the dilapidated wooden bridge after witnessing it shudder and shake in the wind.

squalid (SKWOL-id) adjective; filthy and gloomy, usually because of neglect or poverty example: “I don’t know how you can live in these squalid conditions,” said Emma’s mom. “You must clean up your room this weekend. It’s becoming a matter of safety!”

evoke (ih-VOHK) verb; to elicit, produce, or draw forth example: Our pleas failed to evoke pity from our teacher, who went ahead and assigned a mountain of homework over winter break.

social cause (SOH-shul kawz) noun; a principle, an aim, or a movement relating to society that people support, defend, raise money for, etc. example: The charity event successfully raised thousands of dollars for various social causes.

A Christmas Carol: Background In Victorian England, poor people usually did not get much help. Even young children, sick people, and the elderly went without assistance from the government or charities.

A Christmas Carol: Background If you were a poor, out-of-work Londoner during this time, these were your options: beg on the street go to a workhouse be thrown into prison

A Christmas Carol: Background Workhouses were institutions where people were put to work in exchange for food and shelter. People in workhouses often had little or no heat used rags for blankets did not get nearly enough food were severely overworked and even beaten

A Christmas Carol: Background As a young man, Charles Dickens witnessed a decline in the traditional celebration of Christmas in England. Because of the Industrial Revolution, many employers wouldn’t even give their employees Christmas Day off.

A Christmas Carol: Background The Industrial Revolution was a time of change in Europe marked by the introduction of power-driven machinery the growth of factories a huge increase in the production of goods a shift from a rural, agricultural society to a more urban one

A Christmas Carol: Background A Christmas Carol, along with several other Christmas books by Dickens, helped revive the holiday customs. Some people even started calling Dickens “The Man Who Discovered Christmas.”

A Christmas Carol: Background Scrooge’s story brought about other changes too. For example, because of the book, a home for disabled children was started a factory owner began closing his factory every Christmas and giving turkeys to of all his employees

A Christmas Carol: Background Charles Dickens had experienced poverty as a child, and he was very concerned about the poor people of England. He raised money to help people in need by reading A Christmas Carol at charity events.

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