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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
So I got grandpa to say it was high time we did something, and off I pelted to the office yesterday, for the doctor looked sober, and Hannah most took my head off when I proposed a telegram. I never can bear to be ‘lorded over;’ so that settled my mind, and I did it.
Read your copy aloud as Laurie, talking fast and turning red. Count the reasons he gives for sending the telegram. Which one does he say settled his mind, and is it about Beth?
Narration Retell the dark days in order: Beth's fever, the letters without news, the doctor's words on the first of December, Jo's telegram, Laurie's secret, the night watch, and the knock at the door.
1. Meg writes letters to her mother without mentioning Beth's illness, and feels “a little guilty.” Is she deceiving her mother, or obeying Hannah?Moral reasoning
2. Jo says, “Beth is my conscience, and I can’t give her up.” What do you think she means by conscience?Character
3. Laurie sends a telegram to Mrs. March a day before the doctor says to, and keeps it from the girls. What do you make of how he goes about it?Moral reasoning
4. When Jo is in tears, Laurie has no fitting words and only holds her hand and strokes her head. Why might the narrator call that “the best thing he could have done”?Theme
5. Mother's arrival and the fever's turning both happen on the same night. Why might Alcott put them so close together, and keep them separate?Plot structure
Make a Connection Tell about a time you had to decide who to trust when people you trusted disagreed.
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and off I pelted to the office yesterday,
for the doctor looked sober,
She could not think it right to deceive her mother,
with incoherent words on her lips,
I don’t feel so forlorn, and will try to bear it if it comes.”
far more soothing than the most eloquent words,
she vanished precipitately into the kitchen,
Meg had a quiet rapture, and then brooded over the letter,
she lay in that heavy stupor,
when their long, sad vigil was done.
1. Meg and Jo each make a promise during the night watch. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how the night changes them.
2. Beth, in her fever, still thinks of others. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what that shows about her.
3. When Jo hears Laurie's news, she throws her arms round his neck and then pushes him away. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what Jo is feeling.