ESL WORKSHEET - Charles Dickens

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

CHARLES DICKENS

LinguaHouse
Dec. 14, 2021

Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Literature and Books; Celebrities and Historical Figures; Vocabulary and Grammar
Publication date: 12/14/2021

This audio-aided lesson tells the life story of the famous 19th-century writer Charles Dickens, who had a huge influence on how we think about Christmas. The lesson focuses on vocabulary, listening comprehension, a short review of the passive, and speaking. There is also an optional extension activity about vocabulary related to Scrooges, misers, penny-pinchers, etc. (by Stephanie Hirschman)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to listen to/download the American English audio (MP3).
• CLICK HERE to listen to/download the British English audio (MP3).

TRANSCRIPT (American English)

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, England. He was the second of eight children, and the family moved around before settling in Camden Town, London in 1822. When Dickens’s father John was sent to prison in 1824 because he had not paid his debts, the young Charles had to work in a factory to help his family. The terrible conditions there, as well as his experiences visiting his father in prison, inspired some of his later writing. He returned to school for a little while, after his father had paid his debts.
As a young man, Dickens worked as a political journalist, and by 1833 he was writing a series of short humorous articles for newspapers and magazines under the name "Boz." His first novel, Oliver Twist, was published in 1838. This was about a poor orphan trying to survive in London’s criminal underworld. In total, Dickens wrote fifteen novels with various themes, but all related to social justice. Some were biographical – David Copperfield (1849) was based on Dickens’s own life story.
Others, like Dombey and Son or Little Dorrit, had plots centering around business or the law, with Dickens criticizing these organizations’ effects on people’s lives. A Tale of Two Cities was set during the French Revolution. Most of his works were originally written as serials, and the plots had multiple cliff-hangers to encourage people to buy the next magazine or paper.
However, it is his 1843 short novel, A Christmas Carol, that Dickens is perhaps best known for. In this story, a miser called Ebenezer Scrooge is forced to consider the effects of his actions on other people. Dickens’s descriptions of Christmas holiday celebrations, particularly food, reflected a new popular focus on this holiday in England.
Today, when many people think of a traditional Christmas, they are thinking of this story. The customs of sending Christmas cards, decorating Christmas trees, and singing Christmas carols also became popular in England around this time. Additionally, Dickens did much to promote the idea of a "white Christmas," or snowy weather during this holiday, as this was what he remembered from his own childhood.
In fact, the white Christmases of the 1810s were unusually cold, and nowadays it rarely snows at this time of year in England. Dickens was well-known around the world and made a lot of money from his writing during his life. He traveled to the United States twice on lecture tours. With his wife Catherine, he had ten children. However, in 1850, his father and one of his daughters died, and his writings show a darker worldview after this. In 1858, he separated from his wife and started a relationship with an actress.
When Dickens died in 1870, he left one unfinished novel – The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Experts are still arguing about how Dickens would have ended the story. He was buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, London and is still remembered today with great respect and affection.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/charles-dickens. Accessed on December 16, 2021. LinguaHouse.com © 2008 - 2021.