Chapter 17

Little Women

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

So Beth lay down on the sofa, the others returned to their work, and the Hummels were forgotten. An hour passed: Amy did not come; Meg went to her room to try on a new dress; Jo was absorbed in her story, and Hannah was sound asleep before the kitchen fire, when Beth quietly put on her hood, filled her basket with odds and ends for the poor children, and went out into the chilly air, with a heavy head, and a grieved look in her patient eyes.

Read your copy aloud. Count the people in the second sentence and say what each one is doing when Beth puts on her hood. Who in the house knows she has gone?

Discussion

Narration Retell the ten days in order: the week of virtue, the excuses about the Hummels, Beth's visit, the baby, and Amy's move to Aunt March's.

1. The narrator says the girls felt “Endeavor deserved a holiday.” How does she sound when she says it?Tone

2. Jo says her cold is well enough for going out with Laurie but not for the Hummels', and laughs at herself. What does that laugh tell us?Character

3. Beth is tired and headachy, waits an hour for someone to go, then goes herself. Was that the right thing for her to do?Moral reasoning

4. Meg thinks Marmee should be told if Beth is really ill. Hannah says it would only make them anxious. What is each trying to protect?Theme

5. The chapter ends with Polly screaming at Amy and Amy sniffing. Why might Alcott end there, right after a baby's death?Author's choice

Make a Connection Tell about a time everyone expected someone else to do a job.

Vocabulary

Crossword

1

2		3

	4		5	6



				7






	8




9

Across

Across 1. So taken up with one thing that nothing else is noticed.
Across 2. Little by little, without noticing.
Across 4. Slips back into an old state.
Across 7. Full of sorrow for a wrong done.
Across 9. Coaxing; made to win someone over.

Down

Down 2. Not holding to the same rule in like cases.
Down 3. Hard efforts.
Down 5. In a way that admits fault or makes excuse.
Down 6. Blaming oneself.
Down 8. Sorrowful; hurt at heart.

The words in the chapter

absorbed Jo was absorbed in her story,
grieved and went out into the chilly air, with a heavy head, and a grieved look in her patient eyes.
insensibly the girls insensibly relaxed their praiseworthy efforts a little,
exertions after such tremendous exertions, they felt that Endeavor deserved a holiday,
relapses Beth kept on, with only slight relapses into idleness or grieving.

inconsistency looking a little ashamed of her inconsistency.
apologetically said Jo, adding apologetically,
remorseful with a remorseful face.
self-reproachful “I shall stay, of course; I’m oldest,” began Meg, looking anxious and self-reproachful.
wheedlesome said, in his most wheedlesome tone,

Critical thinking

1. Beth goes to a closet and hides her face in an old gown when her heart gets heavy. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Beth keeps going.

2. Amy says she would rather have the fever than go to Aunt March's. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Laurie changes her mind.

3. Hannah takes charge as soon as she hears about Beth. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how she steadies the household.