A Christmas Carol - Stave 1 - Reading Quiz

What is the setting of Stave 1?

• Victorian England
• Scrooge and Marley Counting House
• Scrooge’s bedchamber
• All of these

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.7

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.9

What is the most significant purpose of Dickens emphasizing that Marley is “dead as a doornail” at the onset of the novel?

• To persuade the reader that Marley’s appearance at the end of Stave 1 is as a ghost.
• To inform the reader that Scrooge once had a partner but operates his business solely.
• To entertain the reader by using an amusing idiom and anecdote about a doornail.
• To employ alliteration to emphasize the sound of a nail being hammered.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.7

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.9

What role does the weather play in Stave 1?

• The fog represents holiday cheer in the air.
• The biting cold emphasizes Scrooge’s hard heart and harsh demeanor.
• The ice and snow cover the land indicating peace on earth.
• The darkness foreshadows the approach of Christmas Day.

What does Scrooge mean when he says “Good afternoon” to his nephew?

• Merry Christmas
• Have a pleasant day.
• Get out of here.
• Please leave because I am busy.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

Which detail best supports Scrooge’s treatment of his clerk?

• “The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded.”
• “The office was closed in a twinkling, and the clerk, with the long ends of his white comforter dangling below his waist …”
• “But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room.”
• “… the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle.”

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

What is the significance of the two gentlemen asking Scrooge for a charitable donation?

• Dickens uses this exchange as indirect characterization to convey Scrooge’s motives.
• Dickens inserts the two gentlemen to remind the reader of the Christmas setting.
• Dickens introduces the two gentlemen to foreshadow future arrivals.
• Dickens was paid by the word and padded the introductory scene with the gentlemen.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

What is the significance of the bells ringing while Scrooge sits in his bedchamber?

• The bells ring at the top of the hour reminding Scrooge of the time.
• The bells alert Scrooge to Marley’s arrival.
• The bells startle Scrooge and awake him from slumber.
• The bells foreshadow church bells ringing on Christmas Day.

What do the links in Marley’s chain symbolize?

• the money he collected during life
• the fear he instills in the living
• the sins he committed in life
• the years he has wandered the earth

What does Marley state is the purpose of his and the forthcoming supernatural visits?

• to frighten Scrooge into changing
• to warn Scrooge of a chance to change his fate
• to offer Scrooge comfort
• to provide Scrooge companionship on Christmas Eve

As Marley departs through a window, what does Scrooge witness in the night sky?

• a shooting star
• the Ghost of Christmas Past
• wandering phantoms
• a blizzard forming