A Christmas Carol

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class reviews, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapter 1

Reading Check

1. What was Jacob Marley’s relationship to Scrooge in life?

2. How does the narrator describe Scrooge’s temperature, both physically and emotionally?

3. On what day does the story take place?

4. What phrase does Scrooge use to respond to people when they wish him “Merry Christmas?”

5. For what reason do the two other men visit Scrooge’s counting-house?

6. Where does Scrooge think orphan children should be sent?

7. What odd thing happens when Scrooge reaches his door?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. To what event does Scrooge’s nephew extend an invitation to Scrooge, and how does Scrooge respond?

2. How does Scrooge treat his clerk?

3. Paraphrase the message the ghost of Marley brings to Scrooge.

Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. What does Scrooge perceive is coming out of the Ghost of Christmas Past’s head?

2. Where is the first place the spirit takes Ebenezer?

3. What kind of childhood did Ebenezer have?

4. Who is Fannie in relation to Scrooge?

5. Who is Fezziwig in relation to Scrooge?

6. Who is the young lady that visits Scrooge in his counting house?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How did Ebeneezer feel about Christmas in the past?

2. Describe the last vision given by the Ghost of Christmas Past.

3. How is Scrooge affected by the visions from the past?

Chapter 3

Reading Check

1. What does the Ghost of Christmas Present look like?

2. Where does the spirit take Scrooge first?

3. Who is Tiny Tim in relation to Scrooge?

4. When the spirit takes Scrooge to his nephew’s home, what does he overhear?

5. What happens to the spirit as the night progresses?

6. What appears from under the spirit’s robe?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is Scrooge’s room transformed before he sees the Ghost of Christmas Present?

2. Whose home do Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present visit, and what do they see there?

3. Explain the conditions of Tiny Tim’s fate, according to the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Chapter 4

Reading Check

1. When Scrooge comes across the men in the street, what do they have?

2. What does Scrooge find when the Spirit takes him to his home?

3. Why are the young husband and wife happy about Scrooge’s death?

4. What is the mood of the Cratchit family and why?

5. Whose name is written on the tombstone?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is different about the appearance and mannerisms of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?

2. What promise does Scrooge make to the Spirit?

Chapter 5

Reading Check

1. What is Scrooge’s mental state when he awakens in his room?

2. What does Scrooge ask of the boy outside?

3. How does Scrooge celebrate Christmas Day?

4. What is Scrooge’s legacy in the town?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How has Scrooge’s attitude about poverty changed? How do readers know this?

2. What does Scrooge do for the Cratchits, on Christmas and in the time that follows?

Paired Resource

"Social Life in Victorian England"

• This article includes a breakdown of social classes in Victorian London.
• Connected themes include The Victorian Attitudes Towards Poverty.
• What elements contributed to widespread poverty in the Victorian era, and why were most people blind to the need for social and economic reform? In what way is Dickens’s novella a response to the prevailing attitudes toward the poor?

Recommended Next Reads

“The Gift of the Magi”

• It is Christmastime in O. Henry’s classic short story; a young married couple worries about how to give one another gifts with so little money. Each learns an important lesson about true generosity and the meaning of love.
• This short story explores similar themes of selflessness and generosity around the holiday season. In true O. Henry fashion, it has a surprising twist at the end.
• "The Gift of the Magi" on SuperSummary

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

• Using an illustrated picture book format, this poem traces the history of the winter solstice and what it means for different cultures across the world and across time.
• The poem highlights the idea of transformation and rebirth with the changing of seasons.
• The illustrations and poetry can be used to explore other ways to celebrate the winter season beyond the Western Christmas tradition and may spark conversations about the roots of some end-of-year celebrations and rituals. Like A Christmas Carol, the poem touches on the importance of familial gatherings and celebrating in groups.