English resources/A Christmas Carol/Staves
A Christmas Carol, stave by stave
All 5 staves. What happens, in a line. Then each one in five words.
How many chapters are in A Christmas Carol? A Christmas Carol has 5 chapters, which Dickens called staves, the word for a verse of a song, because he wrote the book as a carol: Marley's ghost in Stave One, then one spirit in each of the next three staves, then Christmas morning in Stave Five.
It opens with Stave One: Scrooge is mean to everyone at Christmas. That night the ghost of his dead partner Marley visits. It warns him three spirits are coming. It ends with Stave Five: Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning. He sends a turkey to the Cratchits, goes to Fred's, raises Bob's pay, and keeps Christmas all year.
Scrooge is mean to everyone at Christmas. That night the ghost of his dead partner Marley visits. It warns him three spirits are coming.
Marley's ghost warns mean Scrooge
The first spirit shows Scrooge his past. A lonely boy. A kind boss called Fezziwig. The woman who left him for his love of money.
First spirit shows Scrooge's past
The second spirit shows Scrooge Christmas now. The Cratchits' small dinner. Tiny Tim. Fred's party. Two starving children called Ignorance and Want.
Second spirit shows Christmas now
The last spirit shows Scrooge the future. A man has died and no one cares. Tiny Tim is dead. The dead man is Scrooge.
Third spirit shows Scrooge's death
Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning. He sends a turkey to the Cratchits, goes to Fred's, raises Bob's pay, and keeps Christmas all year.
Scrooge wakes and becomes kind
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