Which all the family reëchoed.
"God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all. 5
—A Christmas Carol.
1. A few days before Christmas you should read Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It is one of the best, if not the best, Christmas story ever written. How does Dickens make you feel while you read this selection? How many people are present at the Cratchits'? To whom does your sympathy go?
2. Select a list of words and phrases that suggest happiness. How does Dickens make you wish you were at the Cratchit feast?
3. Appoint a committee of three from your class to report fully on Dickens's life and writings. Take brief notes on their report.
THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
By Émile Souvestre
Twelve o'clock.—A knock at my door; a poor
girl comes in and greets me by name. At first I
do not recall her, but she looks at me and smiles. Ah, it is
Paulette! But it is nearly a year since I have seen her,
and Paulette is no longer the same; the other day she was 5
a child; to-day she is almost a young woman.