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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Marmee says work is a blessed solace and warns the girls not to comfort themselves by trying to forget, so in the week of letters that follows, when does keeping busy help the sisters bear their trouble, and when does it become a way of not feeling it?
The tension The chapter sets the motto against the evidence. At the gate no one cries; a pile of mended hose breaks them all down; Hannah lets the shower pass before she brings the coffeepot and the work. Then the letters speak in six voices, and each one carries both halves: Meg heads the table and feels like an orphan, Jo's washing song says the busy mind has no time for sorrow while her letter says the quarrel hurt and she wanted her mother, Beth winds the clock and airs the rooms and cannot sing one song. Marmee's own words tie forgetting to idleness, not to work, and the chapter leaves the reader to test that.
Follow Marmee's motto, "Hope and keep busy," through the first week and listen for what the letters admit.
Marmee leaves for Washington after telling the girls to hope and keep busy. No one cries at the gate, but a pile of mended hose brings them all to tears, and Hannah brings coffee and the call to work. During the week the family writes to Marmee: Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, Hannah, Laurie, and Mr. Laurence each in their own voice.
Start with the pile of mended hose and ask the student what small thing of a mother's would be hardest to see after a goodbye.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the gate, the hose, the coffeepot, the turnovers, and the letters.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern about someone who knew when to let people feel before asking them to work.
Debate Take sides on the big question: does keeping busy help the sisters bear their trouble, or only help them not feel it? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Alcott gives us the girls' own letters and not a summary.
Easier Read the hose scene aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 2 only.
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 choose one letter and find the line in it that is brave and the line that is sad, and to add that to a critical-thinking answer.
1. At the gate no one cries, but a pile of mended stockings on Mother's table breaks them all down. Why might something so small do what the goodbye could not?Inference
What it asks It asks why a small sign of Marmee's care undoes the girls after they held firm at the gate.
The stockings show that Marmee thought of them to the last minute, and so make her absence real.
showing that even in her last hurried moments she had thought and worked for them
It was a little thing, but it went straight to their hearts
They were only holding back until she left. Once the house is quiet there is nothing left to be brave for.
I feel as if there had been an earthquake
It seems as if half the house was gone
A strong answer At the gate the girls keep their resolution: no one cries and no one runs away. After the carriage leaves, Jo says it feels like an earthquake and Meg that half the house is gone. Then Beth points to the stockings, which Marmee mended even in her last hurried moments. A strong answer says what a small, practical kindness can do that a big goodbye cannot.
2. Hannah lets the girls cry and only then arrives with a coffeepot and a call to work. Was that the right way to handle them?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether Hannah's timing shows good sense or hurries the girls past their sorrow.
Yes. She gives the crying room to finish and then gives them something to do, and they are all right in ten minutes.
Hannah wisely allowed them to relieve their feelings, and, when the shower showed signs of clearing up, she came to the rescue, armed with a coffeepot.
in ten minutes were all right again
Not quite. The sorrow is not gone. It returns as soon as they see something of Marmee's.
The sight of the turnovers made Jo sober again
they looked sorrowfully back at the window where they were accustomed to see their mother’s face
A strong answer Hannah waits for the shower to clear, then brings coffee and the reminder of what Marmee said, and within ten minutes the girls are at the table with their napkins. That is good timing and good tact. But the sorrow comes back when Jo sees the turnovers and when they look up at Marmee's empty window. A strong answer takes a side and uses the chapter's moments for both.
3. In her letter, Jo says she and Laurie were both too proud to beg pardon, yet met at the gate to say sorry. What finally moved them?Character
What it asks It asks what turned two proud friends from waiting to apologizing in the same evening.
Jo remembered her mother's words and her little book, and chose to act before the day ended.
I remembered what you said when Amy fell into the river. I read my little book, felt better, resolved not to let the sun set on my anger
and ran over to tell Laurie I was sorry
Both missed the friendship too much to wait any longer, and pride gave way at the same moment.
It lasted all day; I felt bad, and wanted you very much.
I met him at the gate, coming for the same thing.
A strong answer Jo says the quarrel lasted all day and that she felt bad and wanted her mother. At night she remembered what Marmee said when Amy fell into the river, read her little book, and went to say sorry. The letter does not say why Laurie came, only that he was coming for the same thing. A strong answer gives Jo's reason from her letter and is careful about what we know of his.
4. Alcott lets us read the girls' letters and does not just tell us about the week. Why might she do that?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what reading the girls' own letters gives us that a summary of the week would not.
The letters let each sister speak in her own voice, so we see how different they are.
This note, prettily written on scented paper, was a great contrast to the next, which was scribbled on a big sheet of thin foreign paper
Didn’t I make that interrigation point nice?
The letters let the girls say things to their mother that a narrator would have to guess at.
It lasted all day; I felt bad, and wanted you very much.
Oh, do come soon to your loving
A strong answer Meg writes neatly on scented paper, Jo scribbles with blots and flourishes, Beth has room only for love and pressed pansies, and Amy worries about her punctuation. Hannah, Laurie, and Mr. Laurence write in voices of their own. Letters let us hear each one and what she chooses to tell her mother. A strong answer names something a summary would lose.
5. Almost every letter says the girls are well and busy, and also says they miss their mother. Why might they tell Marmee both?Theme
What it asks It asks why the sisters put good news and longing side by side when they write to a mother who is far away.
They want to reassure her and show they are keeping her advice.
The girls are all as good as gold.
I read every morning, try to be good all day, and sing myself to sleep with father’s tune.
They cannot help telling her how much they miss her, because she is the one they tell things to.
We are all well and busy; but we long, day and night, to have you back.
Oh, do come soon to your loving
A strong answer Marmee asked them to hope and keep busy, so the good news shows they are doing as she asked. But Meg says they long day and night to have her back, and Beth ends by asking her to come soon. Telling both keeps their mother at ease while letting her know how they feel. A strong answer quotes both halves from more than one letter and says why a mother would want both.
1. Beth's letter is the shortest, yet it tells Marmee a lot. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Beth is getting through the week.
What it asks It asks what a short letter shows about a quiet girl's way of coping, using two pieces of evidence.
She keeps to her small duties, and they steady her.
I didn’t forget to cover the holders, and I wind the clock and air the rooms every day.
I read every morning, try to be good all day
She is still grieving. Even a song she loves makes her cry.
I can’t sing ‘Land of the Leal’ now; it makes me cry.
Oh, do come soon to your loving
A strong answer Beth tells her mother she covers the holders, winds the clock, and airs the rooms every day, and that she reads each morning and tries to be good. She also says she can't sing 'Land of the Leal' now because it makes her cry, and she asks her mother to come soon. A strong answer uses one piece about her duties and one about her sorrow, and says how the two fit together.
2. Hannah's letter sums up each girl in a line or two. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how she sees Jo.
What it asks It asks what Hannah's plain words show about Jo, and whether she is more amused or more worried.
Hannah admires Jo's energy. She beats everybody for going ahead.
Jo doos beat all for goin ahead
I thought I should a died a laughin
Hannah sees that Jo's speed gets her into trouble, because she does not stop to think first.
she don’t stop to cal’k’late fust, and you never know where she’s like to bring up
she starched ’em afore they was wrenched, and blued a pink calico dress
A strong answer Hannah says Jo beats all for going ahead, and she laughs until she nearly dies over the pink dress. She also says Jo doesn't stop to calculate first and that you never know where she will bring up, and gives the starched clothes as proof. A strong answer uses one piece on each side and explains why Hannah's tone is fond.
3. Colonel Teddy and Mr. Laurence both write to Mrs. March. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how each shows he is looking after the girls.
What it asks It asks what each of the two Laurences does, and how their styles differ, using two pieces of evidence.
Laurie looks after them playfully, as a guard and a comrade in a game.
the Home Guard under Colonel Teddy always on duty
A salute of twenty-four guns was fired on receipt of good news from Washington
Mr. Laurence looks after them plainly, by reports and by offering money.
Beth and my boy report daily
draw on me for funds if expenses exceed your estimate
A strong answer Laurie writes like an army report, with the Home Guard on duty and a salute of twenty-four guns for the good news, so he keeps the girls merry while he watches over them. Mr. Laurence says Beth and his boy report daily and offers to cover any extra expense. A strong answer uses one piece from each letter and says how the playful and the plain forms of care differ.