Which is more important, the community or the individual?


What makes a life fulfilling?


Do others see us more clearly than we see ourselves?


Do we get what we deserve?  Is life fair?  If not, do you wish it was.  


Can bad things bring about good things?  


How can both good times and bad times feed the imagination?

How does an understanding of author’s purpose and choice of techniques help to get meaning from text?


Do we take education for granted?  How does our attitude about school impact us?


Dickens deliberately made "mental notes" of everything he saw, heard, touched, and felt throughout his life.  His mental notes became his stories.  What must happen for you to take mental notes as Dickens did? (29)


What do you think about "pirating" creative expression?


Why do some, like Handel, Dickens, and Hogarth, feel the need of others and actively act to address that need...while most do not feel or act?


Handel, Dickens, and Hogarth utilized their art forms to address social concerns and inspire action.  Compare the effectiveness of the three (music, writing, & painting) to highlight social problems.  Which, for you, do you think would be the most powerful and why.


With the third spirit, Scrooge sees a glimpse of how he is remembered after his death.  How would you like to be remembered?  What would you like to think people would say about you?


Why is it important to live in the past, present, and future?


Dickens' work "held up a mirror" to Victorian society.  What does that mean? How can you benefit from "holding up a mirror" to yourself?