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Year 10
AQA

'A Christmas Carol' Stave 1: Scrooge the Miser

I can understand how Scrooge is portrayed in the opening of the novella

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New
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Year 10
AQA

'A Christmas Carol' Stave 1: Scrooge the Miser

I can understand how Scrooge is portrayed in the opening of the novella

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Scrooge is portrayed as a miser
  2. Dickens experienced poverty firsthand and dedicated his life to campaigning for better legislation to support the poor
  3. Dickens uses the setting of Scrooge's lodgings to reflect his miserly nature
  4. Dickens is critical towards those who lack compassion for the poor, like Scrooge
  5. Scrooge represents selfish and greedy upper-middle class Victorian citizens, who showed little empathy for the poor

Keywords

  • Preface - The preface comes at the beginning of a book and introduces its aims or scope.

  • Impoverished - Someone impoverished would have very little money and very few possessions.

  • Staves - Dickens calls his chapters ‘staves’.

  • Avaricious - Being avaricious means having an extreme greed for wealth or possessions.

  • Miser - A miser is a person who hoards wealth and spends as little money as possible.

Common misconception

Pupils think that Scrooge keeps his money to himself so that he can spend it on himself.

Scrooge's frugality also extends to his own existence: Scrooge refuses to spend money even on himself, choosing to live a meagre lifestyle.


To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: 'A Christmas Carol' Stave 1: Scrooge the Miser, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Make links to any other units pupils may have studied which cover the Victorian era, including topics such as poverty, child exploitation and social injustice.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

You will need access to a copy of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' for this lesson.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What century was 1843 in?
17th
18th
Correct answer: 19th
20th
Q2.
What do we call the era between 1837 and 1901?
Edwardian era
Jacobean era
Elizabethan era
Correct answer: Victorian era
Medieval era
Q3.
Which law was reformed in 1843 to tackle poverty in England?
The Homelessness Law
The Beggar Law
Correct answer: The Poor Law
The Workhouse Law
The Treadmill Law
Q4.
According to the 1834 Poor Law, who had to go to the Workhouse?
any poor person
Correct answer: poor people deemed fit enough to work
criminals
poor people deemed not fit enough to work
Q5.
What might the preface of a book be?
An afterword from the author that comes at the end
The small section of text on the back of a book that states what it is about
Correct answer: An introduction to the book that comes at the beginning
A brief account of the author's life
Who the writer has dedicated their book to
Q6.
Which of the following is an example of pathetic fallacy?
"He was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone."
"Foul weather didn’t know where to have him."
Correct answer: "It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal."
"The city clocks had only just gone three."
Correct answer: "It was quite dark already—it had not been light all day."

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In relation to 'A Christmas Carol', choose the correct statements about Marley.
He was Scrooge's brother.
Correct answer: He was Scrooge's business partner.
He had lots of friends.
Correct answer: He died on Christmas Eve.
He was a very charitable character.
Q2.
What year did Charles Dickens publish 'A Christmas Carol'?
Correct Answer: 1843, 1843.
Q3.
Which two events occurred in Dickens' life?
He campaigned for the rights of the rich.
Correct answer: His father was sent to prison for debt.
He worked as a magistrate
Correct answer: He had to work as a young boy to support his family.
Q4.
Which values did Dickens want to champion through his novella 'A Christmas Carol'? Choose the most appropriate responses.
Correct answer: empathy
religion
Correct answer: charity
wealth
humour
Q5.
Starting with the first, put the plot events from Stave 1 of 'A Christmas Carol' in order from first to last.
1 - We learn that Marley is dead.
2 - Scrooge's nephew visits him to invite him for Christmas dinner.
3 - Scrooge is rude to his nephew and declines his offer of Christmas dinner.
4 - Two gentlemen visit Scrooge and ask him for charity. Scrooge rudely declines.
5 - Scrooge chides Bob Cratchit for wanting Christmas Day off.
6 - Scrooge returns home and sees his dead friend Marley's face in his door knocker.
7 - The ghost of Marley appears in Scrooge's house .
Q6.
In relation to 'A Christmas Carol', match the items with what they represent.
Correct Answer:fire,represents generosity (Scrooge's are always very small).
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represents generosity (Scrooge's are always very small).

Correct Answer:darkness,represents Scrooge's ignorance
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represents Scrooge's ignorance

Correct Answer:gruel,represents Scrooge's miserliness - he denies himself luxury
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represents Scrooge's miserliness - he denies himself luxury

Correct Answer:bitter weather,represent Scrooge's cold-hearted nature
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represent Scrooge's cold-hearted nature