PLEASE HELP QUICK!! In this activity, you will analyze theme, characterization, and Dickens’s use of dramatic irony in chapter 1 of A Christmas Carol.

Part A
Themes are key ideas that stand out or are repeated in a text. Identify and explain one important theme that you noticed in chapter 1. Include evidence from the text to support your response.

Part B
What do the following lines reveal about Ebenezer Scrooge’s character?

“Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”

“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.

“You wish to be anonymous?”

“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned—they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.”

“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Part C
Writers create dramatic irony by telling the reader about an important event in the plot that the characters aren’t aware of. This technique helps writers create effects such as suspense and humor. Identify one example of dramatic irony from chapter 1 of A Christmas Carol and explain why it fits the description of this technique.