Quizzing yourself beats rereading, because the effort of recalling an answer is what fixes it in memory. Work through these A Christmas Carol questions and try to answer each one before you reveal it. They cover plot, character, context and quotes, so they also show you where your revision still has gaps.
Plot questions
What does Dickens call the five parts of the novella?
Staves, a musical term that suits the idea of a Christmas carol.
Who was Scrooge's business partner, and how does he warn Scrooge?
Jacob Marley. His ghost, bound in a chain 'forged in life', warns Scrooge to change and announces the three spirits.
What does the Ghost of Christmas Past show Scrooge?
His own memories: his lonely childhood, the kind employer Fezziwig, and Belle, the woman he lost to his love of money.
What are the two children beneath the Ghost of Christmas Present's robe?
Ignorance and Want, symbols of the neglected poor.
Whose deaths does the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come reveal?
Scrooge's own lonely, unmourned death, and the death of Tiny Tim.
What does Scrooge do on Christmas morning?
He sends a turkey to the Cratchits, gives to charity, joins Fred's party, and raises Bob Cratchit's wages.
Character questions
Who is Fred, and what does he represent?
Scrooge's cheerful nephew, who embodies the warmth and goodwill of the Christmas spirit.
Who is Tiny Tim?
Bob Cratchit's frail, good-hearted youngest son, the emotional heart of the novella.
Why does Belle end her engagement to Scrooge?
Because he has come to love money, 'a golden idol', more than her.
Context questions
When did Dickens write A Christmas Carol?
In 1843, during a time of severe poverty in industrial Britain.
What attitude does Dickens attack through Scrooge's 'surplus population' line?
The view, linked to the economist Malthus, that the poor were excess who did not deserve help.
What was Dickens's own experience of poverty?
As a boy he was sent to work in a factory when his father was imprisoned for debt, which shaped his sympathy for the poor.
Quote questions
Who says "God bless us, every one!"?
Tiny Tim, extending goodwill to everyone despite his family's poverty.
What does Marley's chain represent?
The consequences of a greedy, selfish life, 'forged link by link' by his own choices.
Fill any gaps this quiz found using the summary, the key quotes page, the characters and the context page.