Student Questions for A Christmas Carol

Viewing Comprehension Guide for the Patrick Stewart Version

Jan 7, 2009 Peter Boysen

As students view the 1999 film of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", with Patrick Stewart, they should answer the following questions to show viewing comprehension.

This activity could be used as a viewing guide for students to use during the movie, A Christmas Carol [Turner Network Television, 1999], or as an alternative assessment to gauge what students gained from seeing the film.

Viewing Comprehension Questions

1. Why are the chains and money boxes appropriate symbols that accompany Jacob Marley?
2. Why is Scrooge so close to Fran?
3. Why is Scrooge's father unseen in the movie? Would you have dramatized a scene, either between his father and Fran, or upon Scrooge's arrival home? Why or why not?
4. Books are the way that Scrooge found escape from loneliness as a child. What sorts of things do you use to find escape?
5. Why doesn't Scrooge chase Belle when she breaks their engagement? Would you have? Why or why not?
6. Why does Scrooge shun Fred?
7. As you watch Fred's party, compare and contrast the art of flirting in Dickens' time as opposed to our own time.

Film Analysis Questions

1. Dickens' book does not mention Marley's funeral, except in passing. Why do you think the filmmakers chose to stage it in full at the start of the movie?
2. Look at Scrooge (Patrick Stewart) and Bob Cratchit (Richard Grant). What physical attributes of these two actors make them most suitable to play these parts? Can you think of actors that would have been even better choices? Why?
3. What makes Marley the scariest in terms of makeup and costuming? Can you think of an actor who would have been an even better choice? Why?
4. How do music and lighting affect mood in A Christmas Carol?
5. What are other ways you would have costumed the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come?
6. When Scrooge finally awakens on Christmas morning, he has a delirious fit. Is there another way you would have had him act out his joy? How would you have done it differently?
7. How does Patrick Stewart visibly show the changes that have occurred within Scrooge's soul during the course of the story?

These are just some of many questions that you could have students answer as they watch the movie. The questions occur in roughly the order in which the relevant events happen during the movie. If you do not want the students to respond in writing, you could stop the film at various points along the way and have a group discussion over some, or all, of these matters.

After viewing the film and discussing these questions, you may want to have students take a unit test over Dickens' classic story.

Note: These questions are based on the 1999 version of A Christmas Carol. Here is a citation for the video:

A Christmas Carol. Turner Network Television, 1999.

• Director: David Hugh Jones
• Producer: Dyson Lovell
• Writers: Peter Barnes (teleplay)
• Charles Dickens (original story)

The copyright of the article Student Questions for A Christmas Carol in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by Peter Boysen. Permission to republish Student Questions for A Christmas Carol in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Marley's Ghost	The Ghost of Christmas Past	The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Scrooge and Bob Cratchit at the story's end

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