The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters.  Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal.  But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part.  Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.
evidence
interpretive perspective
claim
associations
relationships
attitude
mood
tone
when you read, what feeling does the author or poet want you to recognize?
Say something interesting about what you've read.
diction
imagery
details
What can you underline, highlight or point to to prove that this author or poet wants you to feel something?
What connection can you make between this evidence/association and the rest of the story, article, essay, or poem?
repetition
contrast
shift
juxtaposition
arrogance
benevolence
chaos
confidence
confinement
excitement
fear
freedom
order
submission
violence
uncaring, stingy, controlling, miserly
passive, submissive, afraid
The author characterizes Scrooge, "the master"
of the counting house, as an uncaring, distrustful miser
who "kept the coal-box in his own room" and
the counting-house "door [...] open" so that he might
manage even the most basic of necessities.
Scrooge's clerk, however, is depicted as meek and submissive,
a man who would rather "warm himself at the candle" than
approach "the master" to "replenish" his "one coal" fire.
but how?
What meaningful conclusion can you draw about this text from the interplay of associations, evidence, and relationships?
The author creates an uncomfortable narrative tension
as he contrasts the controlling Scrooge and his submissive clerk.
The author creates an uncomfortable narrative tension as he contrasts the controlling Scrooge and his submissive clerk. The author characterizes Scrooge, "the master" of the counting house, as an uncaring, distrustful miser who "kept the coal-box in his own room" and the counting-house "door [...] open" so that he might manage even the most basic of necessities. Scrooge's clerk, however, is depicted as meek and submissive, a man who would rather "warm himself at the candle" than approach "the master" to "replenish" his "one coal" fire.
adapted from the methods and materials of Michael Degen, Ph.D.
as presented at the 2011 College Board APSI, SMU