Original Story: Charles Dickens Adapted Play: Israel Horowitz

 RL.7.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says Use evidence in answers.  RL.7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details Determine the theme. Is it timeless? Universal?  RL.7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot). Analyze certain lines of dialogue.  RL.7.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings. Analyze words with double meanings. Use context to determine meaning.  RL.7.9 Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical or biblical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history. Explore how the time period is used as part of the story, and how the story could be updated for today.  RL.7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, spiritual readings, gospels, prayers, psalms, grade level religion books, and poems in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently with scaffolding, as needed, at the high end of the range.

February 7, June 9, 1870  He was the second of eight children  His father was sent to prison for debt when Charles was just 12 years old, forcing Charles to leave school and work to support his family. How would his life experiences affect what Dickens wrote?

Establish a purpose for reading. To be informed To be entertained To learn about a specific subject To gain understanding To be inspired To gain background related to popular culture

Scrooge

Do others see us more clearly than we see ourselves? As we read the drama, take note of how others see Scrooge and how he sees himself. *What do others think of him and his actions? *What does he think of himself and his actions? *Why aren’t the above the exact same?

Jacob Marley: What do we know about him?

Scrooge: What does Marley tell us about him?

“The cold within him freezes his old features, nips his pointed nose…” It is the middle of winter, yet that is not the “cold” Marley refers to. When he says that Scrooge is full of cold, he means…

“Ebeneezer Scrooge, England's most tightfisted hand at the grindstone. Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous…” In one word, summarize Scrooge based on the above excerpt.

 In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed by Parliament. This was designed to reduce the cost of looking after the poor. Now if people wanted help they had to go into a workhouse to get it.  The poor were given clothes and food in the workhouse in exchange for several hours of manual labour each day. Families were split up inside the workhouse. People had to wear a type of uniform, follow strict rules and were on a bad diet of bread and watery soup. Conditions were made so terrible that only those people who desperately needed help would go there.

Scrooge: What right do you have to be merry? What reason do you have to be happy? You’re poor enough! Nephew: Come, then. What right have you to be dismal? What right have you to be morose? You’re rich enough. What does the dialogue reveal about each character? *What do they value? *What is their outlook on life?

Portly Man: We should make provision for the poor and destitute. May thousands are in want of common necessities; hundreds are in want of common comforts, sir.” Scrooge: Are there no prisons? What do the above lines reveal about Scrooge?

Scrooge: I help to support those establishments (workhouses, prisons) that I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there. What do the above lines reveal about Scrooge? Scrooge believes he has met his duty to help others by paying taxes. Has he met his duty? What is our calling as Catholics to seek social justice in the world?

Cratchit silently squeezes something into the hand of the thin man. Thin Man: What’s this? Cratchit: Shhh. What did Cratchit give him? Why did he do that?

Describe the following characters: Scrooge Nephew Cratchit Thin and Portly Man

Marley: I am here tonight to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate…You will be haunted by Three Spirits. Why is Marley there? How did Scrooge react at first? Towards the end of the scene?

Marley: I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard…Would you know, you, Scrooge, the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? What chain binds Marley? What warning does he give to Scrooge?

Spirit: I am the Ghost of Christmas Past. Scrooge: Not to sound ungrateful, sir, and really please do understand that I am plenty obliged for your concern, but really kind spirit… How has the way Scrooge speaks to others changed? What does it tell us he is feeling?

There are four places that the ghost takes Scrooge to see. 1. A child (Scrooge) all alone sobbing at a desk. 2. A slightly older Scrooge, being rescued from school by his sister. 3. Scrooge at his apprenticeship. 4. Scrooge with a young woman, who breaks their engagement.

Scrooge after looking upon the scene of him as a child, weeping alone, says: “There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol outside my door last night. I should like to have given him something.” How is Scrooge changing?

Scrooge: Oh, my dear, dear little sister, Fan…how I loved her. What did this dialogue reveal to us about Scrooge’s character? Scr

Young Scrooge: If I ever own a firm of my own, I shall treat my apprentices with the same dignity and the same grace. We have learned a wonderful lesson from the master! Scrooge: I should like to say a word or two to my clerk just now! How is the above evidence that Scrooge is changing?

Woman: Another idol has replaced me. The woman whom Scrooge was engaged to tells him that he loves something more than her. What is it that he loves more than her?

 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Key Ideas and Details 3. A: What scenes from his past does Scrooge visit? 3. B. How does each event contribute to his current attitude and personality?

Key Ideas and Details 4. A: What does Scrooge value in life? Support your answer with examples and quotations from the text. 4.B: Do his values make Scrooge a happy man? Explain.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 6. A: What hints in the text suggest to you that Scrooge may change for the better? 6.B: In the future how might Scrooge’s interactions with others differ from his interactions in the present? 6.C: Do you think you will see examples of Scrooge’s changed behavior in the second act of the play? Why or why not?

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7. A: What effects have Scrooge’s past experiences had on the person he has become? 7.B. Based on Scrooge’s past experiences, do you think he should be excused (forgiven) for his current attitudes and behavior? Explain why or why not.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 8. What do you think would have happened to Scrooge if he had not been visited by Marley’s Ghost and the Ghost of Christmas Past? Support your ideas with details from the text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas *9. How do people in Scrooge’s past reveal his own behavior to him? *It’s part of the BIG question: Do others see us more clearly than we see ourselves?