A+Christmas+Carol+Resources

Use the resources below to aid you in your comprehension of //A Christmas Carol// by Charles Dickens
=**Vocabulary words and definitions**=

A Christmas Carol free audiobook

Get to know Scrooge through his "inbox"

"A Victorian Glossary"

Bakehouse and Cratchit Christmas scene vocabulary

media type="custom" key="28106317"

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS: Stave 1 Stave 2 Stave 3 Stave 4 Stave 5

See a photo of the [|original manuscript with Dickens's revisions].

See the [|Library of Congress's illustrated copy of ACC]

Why read [|A Christmas Carol from the Ad Council]

V**IDEO CLIPS on Dickens:** -click [|here to go to my Dickens blog] and watch the two videos in the most recent post (at the top of the first page).

Info on words in the text: Ali Baba Robinson Crusoe

Photos of 'Change or [|The Royal Exchange of London] where Scrooge meets business associates (mentioned on p. 11)
 * PHOTOS:**

photos of [|St. Paul's Cathedral,] (mentioned on p. 12)

photos of [|Cornhill] (mentioned in Bob's walk home from the counting house on p.18)

Camden Town in greater London where the Cratchits would have lived.

16 Bayham Street, Camden Town where Dickens lived as a child, and the house on which he supposedly based the Cratchit home in Stave 3.

Christmas Carol and Dickens videos on YOUTUBE

Thanks to [|Woodlands Junior School in Kent], England (near Dickens's birthplace) for the following information: The British currency is the **pound sterling**. The sign for the pound is **£.** England does not use the Euro. Although a few of the big shops will accept Euro, it is rarely used across Britain.
 * CURRENCY QUESTIONS:**

Today, the pound (**£**) is made up of 100 pence (p) exactly like the dollar is split into 100 cents. The singular of pence is "**penny**". The symbol for the penny is "**p**"; hence an amount such as 50p is often pronounced "fifty pee" rather than "fifty pence".


 * abbreviations:**
 * pounds (£ or l )
 * shillings (s. or /-) and
 * pennies (d.)

But before 1971, England's money was divided much differently than it is [|today].

From 1066 to 1971, and therefore, during the Victorian era, the **pound** was divided into **twenty shillings** and the **shilling** was divided into twelve pennies or pence. Therefore there were **240 pennies** or pence in a pound.


 * 1 £ = 20 s.(shillings)**
 * 1 s.** (**shilling)** = **twelve (12) pennies**
 * 1** **£** **= 240 pence**

there are 12 pence in one shilling and there are 20 shillings in one pound and there are 240 pence in one pound
 * OR**

Check out the Woodlands School's great page to help us understand [|old English money]

**Old money conversions to money used today**
 * Six pence = 2½p today
 * One shilling (or 'bob') = 5p today
 * Half a crown (2 shillings and sixpence) = 12½p today
 * One guinea = £1.05 today

QUESTION: In //A Christmas Carol//, how much was Bob Cratchit really earning?

- On p. 48 of //A Christmas Carol,//we're told that Scrooge paid Bob "fifteen 'bob' a week", and "bob" is an English slang word for shilling. Therefore Bob was earning 15 s. (shillings) a week. 15 shillings is 3/4 of £1.00.

Based on the information below, we could say that Bob was making the equivalent of approximately $100, or a little less, each week.

A few websites that can help you convert currency to today's value:

"A Note on Money" from Kate Sumerscale's novel __The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher__ media type="custom" key="11874710" The [|National Archives Currency Converter] [|Measuring Worth website]

When you find out the answer you may be very shocked. It is impossible to imagine feeding a family of seven on Bob's salary; however, it is important to note that some things like food and rent would have been much less expensive than they are today. Nevertheless, the Cratchits are living dangerously close to complete destitution.