m house to house on Christmas Eve. The
author calls this ghost story of Christmas a
carol in prose, for it pictures the joys and
sorrows of this season.

What does a stave mean? It keeps up the idea of
a carol. Each chapter is called a stave, or
stanza of the carol.

What is the title of the first stave? "Marley's
Ghost."

Who was Marley? He had been Scrooge's partner,
but was now dead. He had been as miserly as
Scrooge himself.

Where is the scene laid? In London.

When? On Christmas Eve.

Describe Scrooge. "Oh but he was a tight-fisted
hand ... one degree at Christmas". (See Stave I
of _A Christmas Carol_.)

Notice the wonderful accumulation of strong
adjectives and phrases in this description. Why
does the author use so many? He wishes to
emphasize the cold miserliness of this man.

What is the first incident? Scrooge's treatment
of his nephew, who has invited him to dinner on
Christmas Day.

What does this incident show? His churlishness,
and his contempt for those who spend money
freely.

What is the next incident? His refusal to
subscribe to any charities in the city.

What comes next? The account of his treatment
of Bob Cratchit.

What does this show? His meanness and tyranny.

When he returns from his supper, what does he
encounter? Marley's Ghost.

What does the ghost tell him? How it must
wander through the world without rest, in
atonement for Marley's cruelties and his
neglect of other people. It laments his
misspent life.

What does it promise to do to Scrooge? It
promises to send him "Three Spirits".

What good description is found in Stave I?
Besides the character sketch of Scrooge, there
is a picture of Christmas Eve in the London
streets, in the paragraph beginning "Meanwhile
the fog and darkness thickened".

Stave II

What is described in this chapter? The visit of
the first spirit.

What was it? The "Ghost of Christmas Past".

Read me a description of it. "It was a strange
figure ... like a child ... which it held under
its arm".

What does the spirit do? It