Little Women
Chapter 11 — Teaching Companion
Louisa May Alcott · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Marmee designs her experiment to show that the comfort of all depends on each doing her share, yet the girls sour on idleness before Saturday ever comes and the one who truly suffers is Pip, so what did the week actually teach, and is it the lesson Marmee planned?
The tension The chapter sets the lesson as planned against the lesson as lived. Marmee predicts by Saturday night they will find all play as bad as all work, then quietly does their chores with Hannah so the girls can call the experiment a success while tempers fray, Meg snips her clothes, Jo quarrels with Laurie, and Amy finds her own self a burden. Saturday is meant as the comic finish, and mostly is: bitter tea, salt on the strawberries, laughter with bread and butter. But Marmee said they would not suffer, and Pip starves in his cage while Beth forgets him. The closing talk names shared duty and warns against delving like slaves; it never mentions the bird.
Today's focus
Set the lesson Marmee planned beside the week the girls lived, and notice what Pip adds to it.
Two core ideas
- Marmee gives the girls a week of play to show them that the comfort of all depends on each doing her share, and quietly does their work herself.
- The girls tire of idleness before Saturday, and the week's worst cost falls on Pip, but Marmee's closing talk does not mention him.
The shape at a glance
On the first of June the sisters plan a week of play, and Marmee says they will find all play as bad as all work. The week wears on badly, with Marmee and Hannah quietly doing the work. On Saturday Marmee stays in her room, Pip is found dead, and Jo's dinner party fails and ends in laughter. That evening on the porch Marmee explains the experiment and the girls take up their duties.
A way in
Start with Friday night, when each sister is quietly glad the week is nearly done, and ask what each has learned without saying it.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the week back in order: the plans, the lazy days, the empty kitchen, the dinner, the funeral, and the porch.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern about a duty that makes free time sweeter.
Debate Take sides: did the week teach the lesson Marmee planned, or another one? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Alcott lets Pip's death sit beside Marmee's plan.
Easier Talk through discussion questions 1 and 4 only, with the empty kitchen and Pip's cage as the two pictures to hold.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence.
Harder Ask the student to decide whether Marmee's prediction that they would not suffer held, and to add that to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- Each sister plans her holiday, and by Friday each is glad the week is nearly done. What goes wrong with all that free time?Inference
What it asks It asks why a week of doing just what they like leaves the girls restless, and what the narrator notices about it.
One reading
Without work, time drags, and idle hands find mischief.
The days kept getting longer and longer; the weather was unusually variable, and so were tempers
Satan found plenty of mischief for the idle hands to do
Another reading
Pleasure alone does not satisfy: each girl's chosen treat leaves her tired or sore.
Jo read till her eyes gave out, and she was sick of books
she soon found that accomplished and important little self a great burden
Listen for
- Names one sister's plan and what became of it.
- Says why the days felt long.
If stuck
- What does Meg plan to do, and what does she do?
- What happens to Jo's reading and to Amy's drawing?
- What does the narrator say about the days?
A strong answer Meg lies late and spoils her clothes snipping at them, Jo reads until she is sick of books and quarrels with Laurie, and Amy finds her own company a great burden. The narrator says the days kept getting longer and tempers variable. A strong answer picks one or two of the sisters and says what their free time did to them, rather than listing all four.
- Marmee says nothing and quietly does the girls' work with Hannah all week. What do you make of that choice?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether Marmee is wise to let the experiment run while covering for it, and what that teaches.
One reading
She is wise: the girls must feel the week's effects themselves, and she keeps the house safe while they learn.
She smiled, said nothing, and, with Hannah’s help, did their neglected work, keeping home pleasant, and the domestic machinery running smoothly.
they won’t suffer, and it will do them good
Another reading
It hides the real cost: someone is doing the work, so the girls cannot see what idleness really costs until Saturday.
While Hannah and I did your work, you got on pretty well, though I don’t think you were very happy or amiable
it has been a hard week for her
Listen for
- Uses what Marmee does and what she says she expects.
- Says what the girls would have seen if she had stopped.
If stuck
- What does Marmee say by Saturday night they will find?
- Who is keeping home pleasant all week?
- What do the girls say about the experiment at teatime?
A strong answer Marmee predicts the girls will find all play as bad as all work, then does their chores with Hannah, so the experiment keeps running smoothly. That lets them find out the trouble with idleness in their own tempers. But it also means the girls get on pretty well, as she says, until she stops on Saturday. A strong answer weighs the letting-learn against the covering-for, and uses her words.
- When Saturday comes, the dinner fails in one dish after another, yet the meal ends gayly “with bread and butter, olives and fun.” How does Alcott want us to feel about it?Tone
What it asks It asks what tone the comic disasters take, and what the narrator does to keep Jo's failure from feeling cruel.
One reading
She wants us to laugh with Jo: the catalogue of disasters is a comic set piece, and Jo laughs too.
She boiled the asparagus for an hour, and was grieved to find the heads cooked off and the stalks harder than ever.
the comical side of the affair suddenly struck her, and she laughed till the tears ran down her cheeks
Another reading
She wants us to feel for Jo too: the failure stings, and Laurie's kindness softens it.
Poor Jo would gladly have gone under the table
Laurie talked and laughed with all his might, to give a cheerful tone to the festive scene
Listen for
- Names a specific joke and a specific moment of feeling.
- Says what Laurie does for the mood.
If stuck
- What does the narrator say about the asparagus and the lobster?
- What does Jo feel when she sees the strawberries?
- What does Laurie do when he tastes them?
A strong answer The narrator piles up the disasters with relish: asparagus boiled to pieces, a scarlet mystery of a lobster, lumpy blancmange. But she also says poor Jo would gladly have gone under the table, and Laurie eats the salted berries manfully to keep the mood light. Jo finally laughs, and so does everyone. A strong answer hears both the fun and the sting and says how they fit together.
- Beth says “I forgot him,” and Jo says “Pip has had the worst of the experiment.” Who or what is to blame for Pip's death?Character
What it asks It asks how to weigh Beth's forgetting, the week's idleness, and Marmee's plan in the canary's death.
One reading
Beth is to blame: Pip was her pet, and she forgot to feed him, as she says herself.
It’s all my fault—I forgot him—there isn’t a seed or a drop left.
I am too bad to own one
Another reading
The week is to blame: no one was doing the daily duties, and even careful Beth let one slip.
nothing goes right this week, and Pip has had the worst of the experiment
Beth got on pretty well, for she was constantly forgetting that it was to be all play, and no work
Listen for
- Uses Beth's words and Jo's.
- Does not settle on a single cause too fast.
If stuck
- What does Beth say about Pip?
- What does Jo call the week?
- What had Marmee said about who would suffer?
A strong answer Beth takes the blame herself: she forgot him and there is not a seed or a drop left. Jo's line puts it on the experiment, saying Pip had the worst of it. Earlier Marmee said the girls would have a hard time but would not suffer, and the chapter never comments on that. A strong answer says where the blame sits and what it would do to the answer if Beth had been carefully reminded.
- Marmee's closing talk names shared duty and warns against working like slaves, but does not mention Pip. Why might Alcott leave him out?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the silence about Pip does to the lesson, and whether the chapter's ending is honest.
One reading
She keeps the ending on the lesson and lets Pip stay as a sad cost that the girls remember without being told.
It can’t seem so without Marmee and little Pip,” sighed Beth, glancing, with full eyes, at the empty cage above her head.
“We’ll remember, mother!” and they did.
Another reading
She lets the reader notice that the plan and the week did not line up, since Marmee said they would not suffer.
they won’t suffer, and it will do them good
I wanted you to see how the comfort of all depends on each doing her share faithfully.
Listen for
- Sets Marmee's prediction beside the dead bird.
- Says what a reader might feel at the ending.
If stuck
- What do Beth and the others say about Pip on the porch?
- What does Marmee say about the experiment at the end?
- What did Marmee say earlier about suffering?
A strong answer Pip is mentioned on the porch, where Beth glances at the empty cage and someone promises her another bird tomorrow, but Marmee's closing speech is about shared work, not about Pip. Earlier she said the girls would have a hard time but would not suffer, and a canary did. The chapter sets these side by side without comment. A strong answer says what the silence lets the reader see, and does not claim Marmee was wrong or right.
Critical thinking
- Jo runs from Aunt March's carriage in the opening scene. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how she feels about her aunt.
What it asks It asks what Jo's story of her escape shows about her feelings, using two pieces of evidence.
One reading
She dreads her: she is afraid to be asked to join her trip.
I was mortally afraid she’d ask me to go with her
I basely turned and fled; I did actually run, and whisked round the corner, where I felt safe.
Another reading
She also feels duty and some fondness, and later wishes she had gone.
if she had, I should have felt as if I ought to do it
she desperately wished she had gone with Aunt March
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- A reason that explains why she feels both ways.
If stuck
- What does Jo say she was afraid of?
- What does Jo wish later in the week?
A strong answer Jo says she was mortally afraid her aunt would ask her to go, and describes fleeing around the corner. But she says she would have felt as if she ought to do it, and by the end of the week she wishes she had gone. A strong answer uses one piece for the dread and one for the duty or regret, and explains how both can be true.
- Marmee receives the girls' bad breakfast with thanks. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what she is doing.
What it asks It asks what Marmee's choice at the tray shows about how she treats the girls, using two pieces of evidence.
One reading
She is sparing their feelings with a kind deception.
producing the more palatable viands with which she had provided herself, and disposing of the bad breakfast, so that their feelings might not be hurt
a motherly little deception, for which they were grateful
Another reading
She is also enjoying a joke on herself and them, and letting the lesson work.
laughed heartily over it after Jo was gone
Mrs. March, who had a good deal of humor
Listen for
- Evidence from what she does and from what the narrator says.
- A reason that explains why she does not tell them.
If stuck
- What does Marmee do with the bad breakfast?
- What does she do after Jo leaves the room?
A strong answer Marmee thanks the girls for the boiled tea and scorched omelette, then laughs heartily after Jo leaves and eats breakfast she had provided for herself, hiding the bad one so their feelings are not hurt. The narrator calls it a motherly little deception. A strong answer uses one piece on the kindness and one on the humor, and says why letting the lesson stand is part of her plan.
- After Saturday, each sister makes a resolution. Using two pieces of evidence, explain which resolution seems most likely to last.
What it asks It asks the student to weigh the four resolutions, and to back a choice with two pieces of evidence.
One reading
Jo's is most likely to last because it is concrete and answers her own failure.
I’ll learn plain cooking for my holiday task; and the next dinner-party I have shall be a success.
Another reading
Meg's is most likely to last because it is a task with a clear end, and is for someone else.
I’ll make the set of shirts for father, instead of letting you do it, Marmee.
I can and I will, though I’m not fond of sewing
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- A reason that explains why a resolution might hold.
If stuck
- Which resolutions name a clear task?
- Which ones name a clear person they are for?
A strong answer A strong answer picks one and backs it twice. For Jo, she names plain cooking and links it to the ruined dinner. For Meg, she names the shirts for Father, says she is not fond of sewing, and says she will do it anyway. It should say why a clear task tied to a person or to a failure makes a resolution stronger, and it should not claim to know what happens later.