This season we will be reading "The Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. Let's get a preview of what we're studying!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxtuLKSmNYs
Before we begin reading, share with me what you already know about The Christmas Carol. What is the story about? Who is the main character? What is the meaning behind the story? These are all questions you may or may not know the answer to.
Did you know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxtuLKSmNYs
Before we begin reading, share with me what you already know about The Christmas Carol. What is the story about? Who is the main character? What is the meaning behind the story? These are all questions you may or may not know the answer to.
Did you know:
- Dickens wrote the book in just two months (October and November, 1843).
- The first printing of 6,000 copies sold out in days.
- A plagiarized version of A Christmas Carol was published on January 6, 1844. Dickens sued and won, but ended up losing money on legal fees when the plagiarists declared bankruptcy.
- The ghost of Christmas present who haunts Scrooge is the traditional Father Christmas of England, dressed in a green robe, bringing with him wine and food, choosing the longest, darkest night of the year to celebrate the spring to come. When America was colonized, this Father Christmas was mixed in with Saint Nicolas of the Netherlands, Kris Kringle of Germany and other midwinter characters, creating our modern day, American Santa Claus.
- When Dickens was a child his father was sent to debtor’s prison. Dickens was made to work in a blacking factory. His resulting compassion for the poor and hatred of London’s prisons and workhouses burn bright throughout A Christmas Carol, but most of all when the the suddenly grim Father Christmas reveals two ghastly, wolfish children clinging to his feet. He names one Ignorance and the other Want, and warns Scrooge to beware them both, but most of all Ignorance.
- There have been more than 20 film versions of A Christmas Carol including versions starring The Muppets, Barbie, Mickey Mouse and Mr Magoo.
- One of the morals in A Christmas Carol is ‘To live our lives in a way that benefits others as well as ourselves’.