A tight-fisted hand at the grindstone

A comparative activity for students to look at Dickens' presentation of Squeers and Scrooge – two of his meanest characters! Students select which quotations describe each of the two men from a list, before analysing the ideas and images associated with Scrooge based on the quotations from Stave 1, and considering his physical appearance.

This activity could be adapted so that students requiring support identify those describing Scrooge, while students looking for a challenge could look further at the presentation of Mr Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby.