A Christmas Carol Foldable

1. A Christmas Carol Foldable

2. A Christmas Carol Information Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in just six weeks of writing. This novel became instantly popular when it was published on December 19, 1843. Dickens started performing it on tour in 1853, making it even more popular.

3. A Christmas Carol Information A Christmas Carol was written in the format of a song/ carol. Staves are verses or stanzas that a composer uses to divide a song or carol. Charles Dickens divided his novel into staves.

4. A Victorian Christmas A Christmas Carol, along with several other Christmas books by Dickens, helped revive the holiday customs. Dickens became associated with Christmas so much that some feared that Christmas would disappear with his death in 1870. Some people even started calling Dickens “The Man Who Discovered Christmas.”

5. A Victorian Christmas Christmas had just been revived shortly before A Christmas Carol was written. -1816– “Silent Night” was written by Joseph Mohr. -1833– Caroling became a tradition in England when Selection of Christmas Carols , Ancient and Modern was published. -1840– Britain’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert from Germany. He brought with him the tradition of the Christmas tree. -1843– The first Christmas Card was made. It was a Christmas scene with a family eating dinner, and it said, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.”

6. Dickens’s Victorian England 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. 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

7. Dickens’s Victorian England 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 Children often worked 16 hours a day, 6 days a week for very small pay. Dickens fiercely opposed this practice and wrote about it often.

8. Dickens’s Victorian England 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.

9. Dickens’s Victorian England 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

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

11. Small Group Discussion • Do you believe that any given person can significantly change the way that he or she see the world and treats others? • What does it take to make people change their ways? • If you were shown your past, present, and future in one night, how do you think you would change?