A Christmas Carol - Stave 1 - Reading Quiz

What is the setting of Stave 1?

• Victorian England
• Scrooge and Marley Counting House
• Scrooge’s bedchamber
• All of these

What is the most significant purpose of Dickens emphasizing that Marley is “dead as a doornail” at the onset of the novel?

• To persuade the reader that Marley’s appearance at the end of Stave 1 is as a ghost.
• To inform the reader that Scrooge once had a partner but operates his business solely.
• To entertain the reader by using an amusing idiom and anecdote about a doornail.
• To employ alliteration to emphasize the sound of a nail being hammered.

What role does the weather play in Stave 1?

• The fog represents holiday cheer in the air.
• The biting cold emphasizes Scrooge’s hard heart and harsh demeanor.
• The ice and snow cover the land indicating peace on earth.
• The darkness foreshadows the approach of Christmas Day.

What does Scrooge mean when he says “Good afternoon” to his nephew?

• Merry Christmas
• Have a pleasant day.
• Get out of here.
• Please leave because I am busy.

Which detail best supports Scrooge’s treatment of his clerk?

• “The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded.”
• “The office was closed in a twinkling, and the clerk, with the long ends of his white comforter dangling below his waist …”
• “But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room.”
• “… the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle.”

What is the significance of the two gentlemen asking Scrooge for a charitable donation?

• Dickens uses this exchange as indirect characterization to convey Scrooge’s motives.
• Dickens inserts the two gentlemen to remind the reader of the Christmas setting.
• Dickens introduces the two gentlemen to foreshadow future arrivals.
• Dickens was paid by the word and padded the introductory scene with the gentlemen.

What is the significance of the bells ringing while Scrooge sits in his bedchamber?

• The bells ring at the top of the hour reminding Scrooge of the time.
• The bells alert Scrooge to Marley’s arrival.
• The bells startle Scrooge and awake him from slumber.
• The bells foreshadow church bells ringing on Christmas Day.

What do the links in Marley’s chain symbolize?

• the money he collected during life
• the fear he instills in the living
• the sins he committed in life
• the years he has wandered the earth

What does Marley state is the purpose of his and the forthcoming supernatural visits?

• to frighten Scrooge into changing
• to warn Scrooge of a chance to change his fate
• to offer Scrooge comfort
• to provide Scrooge companionship on Christmas Eve

As Marley departs through a window, what does Scrooge witness in the night sky?

• a shooting star
• the Ghost of Christmas Past
• wandering phantoms
• a blizzard forming