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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Marmee takes Jo's twenty-five dollars, calls the hair unnecessary, and says she will regret it, while Jo cries for it in the dark and swears she would do it again tomorrow, so what makes a sacrifice worth making when it is not needed?
The tension The telegram turns everyone to help, and the chapter lines the helpers up: Hannah's work, Laurie's desperate ride, Mr. Laurence's wine and offer of himself, Mr. Brooke's escort, Aunt March's money with a croak attached. Only Jo's gift costs the giver something she will weep over, and she made it without stopping to think, wild to do something, feeling wicked beside Meg's salary. Marmee honors the love and refuses to call the act necessary. That night Jo keeps both halves at once: not sorry, and sobbing for her one beauty, which she names the vain, selfish part of herself. The chapter never says which half is truer.
Listen for both halves of Jo's answer: she would do it again tomorrow, and she cries for the hair in the dark.
On a dull November day a telegram comes saying that Father is very ill and Mrs. March must come at once. Hannah, Laurie, Mr. Laurence, and Mr. Brooke each help, and Aunt March sends the money with a note. Jo comes home late with twenty-five dollars and her hair cut short. That night she cries quietly for her hair, and Marmee watches over her sleeping girls as the moon comes out.
Start with the moment Jo takes off her bonnet and ask the student what the family's first words tell us.
Retell The student tells the day back in order: the window, the telegram, the errands, Jo's return, and the night.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern, saying they are not sorry and then admitting a small sadness.
Debate Take sides on the big question: is a sacrifice worth making when it is not needed? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Alcott lets Jo be both unsorry and in tears on the same night.
Easier Talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 only, with Hannah's work and Jo's hair 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 find one more place where someone gives help that is not needed or not wanted, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. When the telegram comes, Hannah says she won't waste time crying and starts to work. What does her way of helping show about her?Character
What it asks It asks what Hannah's answer to bad news shows, and how it sets the tone for the rest of the household.
She believes work is the best answer to sorrow, and she sets a practical example.
with unconscious wisdom she set all the rest a good example; for, with her, work was the panacea for most afflictions
I won’t waste no time a cryin’, but git your things ready right away, mum
She cares as deeply as anyone, and shows it by doing more than anyone.
gave her mistress a warm shake of the hand with her own hard one
went away, to work like three women in one
A strong answer Hannah wipes her face on her apron and says she won't waste time crying, then goes away to work like three women in one. The narrator says work is her cure for most afflictions and that she set the others a good example. A strong answer says that her practical help is how she shows her feeling, and notes that Mrs. March takes her advice.
2. Mr. Laurence offers everything from his dressing-gown to himself as escort, and Mr. Brooke offers to go with Mrs. March. How does each offer differ?Inference
What it asks It asks what the two offers of help show about the men who make them, and what Mrs. March does with each.
Mr. Laurence gives whatever he can think of, and his help is large and quick, though it is not quite what she can use.
There was nothing he didn’t offer, from his own dressing-gown to himself as escort.
Mrs. March would not hear of the old gentleman’s undertaking the long journey
Mr. Brooke gives a quiet, exact help that fits, and gives it with some care for how it is received.
Mr. Laurence has commissions for me in Washington, and it will give me real satisfaction to be of service to her there.
the trifling one of time and comfort which he was about to make
A strong answer Mr. Laurence offers everything he can think of, including himself, but Mrs. March will not let him undertake the journey, though she looks relieved at the offer. He marches off, and Mr. Brooke arrives with an offer to escort her and commissions in Washington. A strong answer compares the two offers and says what each shows about the man, using the chapter's words.
3. Jo says she sold her hair because she was “wild to do something for father.” What do you think was really driving her?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks what pushed Jo beyond love for her father, using what she tells the family about the day.
Love and helplessness: she wanted to add something real to the sum for her father.
feeling as if she could do anything to add a little to the sum for her father
Well, I was wild to do something for father
Also a feeling of falling short beside her sisters, and a hatred of borrowing.
Meg gave all her quarterly salary toward the rent, and I only got some clothes with mine, so I felt wicked
I hate to borrow as much as mother does, and I knew Aunt March would croak
A strong answer Jo says she was wild to do something for her father, and she watched Marmee write for money that must be borrowed. She also says Meg gave her whole salary to the rent and she only got some clothes, so she felt wicked, and that she hates to borrow. The hair came to her suddenly in the barber's window. A strong answer says what drove her, and can allow more than one thing did.
4. Marmee says Jo's sacrifice was “not necessary” and that she may regret it, though she knows it came from love. Why might she say that?Theme
What it asks It asks why a mother who is moved by a gift still says it was not needed, and what she is trying to tell Jo.
She wants Jo to hear the truth: a gift can be loving and still not needed, and she does not want Jo to pay without knowing it.
I know how willingly you sacrificed your vanity, as you call it, to your love. But, my dear, it was not necessary, and I’m afraid you will regret it, one of these days
I am not quite satisfied, but I can’t blame you
She is honoring Jo's love while being honest that she would not have asked it, and that mothers worry.
“Thank you, deary,”
with a look that warmed Jo’s heart
A strong answer Marmee says she knows how willingly Jo gave up her vanity to her love, so she names the love first. She also says it was not necessary, that she is not quite satisfied, and that Jo may regret it, but that she cannot blame her. Jo answers that she will not regret it, and feels relieved she was not entirely condemned. A strong answer says what Marmee is protecting Jo from by saying it.
5. The chapter ends with Jo crying in the dark, then Meg dreaming of her castle, then Marmee and the moon. Why might Alcott end it that way?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the three closing pictures add to Jo's scene, and what the reader is left feeling.
The order lets Jo's private grief stand without being fixed: it is followed by Marmee's care and the moon's comfort, not by an answer.
I thought you were asleep, so I just made a little private moan for my one beauty.
Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.
The pictures show three ways of carrying trouble: Jo's tears, Meg's small pleasant dream, and Marmee's prayers.
fell asleep to dream of living in her castle in the air
to pray the fervent prayers which only mothers utter
A strong answer Jo's grief comes out at night, in a whisper to Meg. Then Meg falls asleep to dream of her castle in the air, and at midnight Marmee moves from bed to bed, praying, and the moon comes out behind the clouds. The ending does not settle whether Jo was right. A strong answer says what the three scenes do together, and what the moon gives the reader.
1. Laurie rides off on his horse after Mrs. March tells him not to ride at a desperate pace. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what Laurie wants.
What it asks It asks what Laurie's eagerness and haste show about him, using two pieces of evidence.
He wants to be useful, and to do anything he can for the family.
Oh, let me do something!
What else? The horses are ready; I can go anywhere, do anything
He cannot stand still, and he holds back from their grief out of respect.
feeling that their first sorrow was too sacred for even his friendly eyes to see
riding as if for his life
A strong answer Laurie steps out of the room because their first sorrow seems too sacred for him to watch. When Mrs. March asks for him, he cries out to be given something to do, and he rides off as if for his life even though she warned him not to. A strong answer uses one piece about his respect and one about his eagerness, and says what he wants.
2. Mrs. March puts Aunt March's note in the fire and the money in her purse. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what she is doing.
What it asks It asks what Mrs. March's small acts show about how she takes help and advice she does not like.
She takes what she needs and refuses what comes with it.
Mrs. March put the note in the fire, the money in her purse, and went on with her preparations
she had always told them it was absurd for March to go into the army
She holds in her feelings, as Jo would have understood.
with her lips folded tightly, in a way which Jo would have understood if she had been there
A strong answer Aunt March sends the money with a note saying she always told them it was absurd for March to go into the army. Mrs. March burns the note, keeps the money, and goes on working with her lips folded tightly, in a way Jo would have understood. A strong answer uses one piece about what she does and one about the note, and says what it shows about her self-control.
3. The barber did not want Jo's hair until his wife spoke. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what changed his mind.
What it asks It asks what turned a reluctant shop into a sale, using two pieces of evidence from Jo's telling.
Jo's earnest story changed the wife's mind, and she changed his.
I got rather excited, and told the story in my topsy-turvy way, and his wife heard, and said so kindly
Take it, Thomas, and oblige the young lady
The wife had a son in the army and understood what Jo was doing.
I’d do as much for our Jimmy any day if I had a spire of hair worth selling.
Her son, she said, who was in the army.
A strong answer The barber said he did not care for Jo's hair because it was not the fashionable color. Jo told why she was in such a hurry, his wife heard, and she said, “Take it, Thomas,” because she would do as much for her own son in the army. A strong answer uses Jo's story and the wife's own reason, and says how strangers come to feel friendly.