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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Marmee tells Jo to make no plans for Meg and let time and their own hearts decide, yet in the same talk she sets a rule that Meg may not bind herself before twenty and sighs over what she hopes for, so where does caring for someone end and meddling in her life begin?
The tension Jo wants to keep Meg in the family by force of planning: send John about his business, marry Meg to Laurie, straighten the snarl with a pull here and a snip there. Marmee refuses to meddle and then does something that looks like it: a firm age limit, a stated preference for a plain house and a good man's heart, a keen look at Meg, and a private verdict that Meg does not love John yet but will. Earlier the same day she lets Amy wear a ring as a reminder while saying she trusts the quiet closet corner more. The chapter keeps asking what kind of help actually helps and never says outright.
Watch what kind of help Marmee gives Amy and Jo, and what she holds back.
Marmee comes home, Beth wakes to the rose and her mother's face, and the house rests. Laurie comforts Amy at Aunt March's, and Amy tells her mother about the little chapel and the ring. That evening Jo tells Marmee about the glove, Marmee explains how Mr. Brooke asked leave to love Meg, and the chapter ends with Marmee's keen look at Meg and a private verdict.
Start with Amy's ring and ask the student what kind of reminder helps them remember a promise.
Retell The student tells the day back in order: the homecoming, Laurie and Amy, the ring, Jo's confidence, and Marmee's talk with Meg.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern, giving a friendly warning about planning someone else's life.
Debate Take sides on the big question: where does caring for someone end and meddling in her life begin? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Alcott lets Marmee advise Jo not to meddle and then end on her own guess.
Easier Talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 only, with Amy's ring and Jo's list of fears 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 what Marmee does that Jo would call meddling, and to add that to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Amy wants to wear Aunt March's ring to remind her not to be selfish, and Marmee stops laughing to listen. What makes Amy's plan worth listening to?Character
What it asks It asks why a mother who was laughing at first takes her daughter's plan seriously, and what Amy says that earns that.
Amy is honest about herself: she names her fault and her weakness, which makes the plan believable.
I’m apt to forget my resolutions; but if I had something always about me to remind me, I guess I should do better.
being selfish is the largest one in it
She has a reason beyond herself: she has watched how people feel about Beth and wants to be loved the same way.
Beth isn’t selfish, and that’s the reason everyone loves her and feels so bad at the thoughts of losing her.
so I’m going to try and be like Beth all I can
A strong answer Marmee laughs when she thinks Amy means Aunt March, but Amy says she wants the ring to remind her not to be selfish, and the narrator says she looked so earnest and sincere that her mother stopped laughing. Amy admits she forgets her resolutions, and she has noticed why everyone loves Beth. A strong answer picks out what makes the plan believable, using Amy's own words.
2. Marmee tells Amy she has more faith in the corner of the big closet than in the ring, then says, “Wear your ring, dear.” Why might she say yes?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks why a mother allows something she trusts less, and what she hopes it does for her daughter.
Amy's wish to be good is what counts, and the ring is only a helper for it.
Wear your ring, dear, and do your best; I think you will prosper, for the sincere wish to be good is half the battle.
I have more faith in the corner of the big closet.
She respects Amy's own plan and would rather let her try it than refuse.
Amy looked so earnest and sincere about it, that her mother stopped laughing, and listened respectfully to the little plan.
May I try this way?
A strong answer Marmee first says Amy is too young for such ornaments, and she tells her she has more faith in the closet corner. She still says to wear the ring and do her best, because the sincere wish to be good is half the battle. A strong answer says what Marmee gains by letting Amy try her own way, and what she gives up.
3. Jo says, “Let’s send him about his business.” What does she seem most afraid of losing?Inference
What it asks It asks what lies under Jo's comic speech about Mr. Brooke, using her own list of what will go wrong.
She fears the family circle breaking, the cosy times together that all four sisters have.
there’s an end of peace and fun, and cosy times together
Brooke will scratch up a fortune somehow, carry her off, and make a hole in the family
She fears losing Meg for herself, and being left behind.
Meg will be absorbed, and no good to me any more
I just wish I could marry Meg myself, and keep her safe in the family.
A strong answer Jo's speech is comic, but its list is serious: an end of peace and fun and cosy times, a hole in the family, and Meg absorbed and no good to her any more. She even wishes she could marry Meg herself and keep her safe. A strong answer says whether the fear is for the family, for herself, or for both, and uses her own list.
4. Marmee says John is honorable and she could not refuse to listen to him, yet she will not let Meg engage herself so young. What do you make of how she weighs those?Theme
What it asks It asks the student to look at how Marmee holds respect for John and caution for Meg at the same time.
She respects John and is protecting Meg's youth. Waiting lets the love be tested.
He is a truly excellent young man, and we could not refuse to listen to him; but I will not consent to Meg’s engaging herself so young.
If she and John love one another, they can wait, and test the love by doing so.
She also wants to keep her girls as long as she can, and says so herself.
I did wrong to sigh, Jo. It is natural and right you should all go to homes of your own, in time; but I do want to keep my girls as long as I can;
My pretty, tenderhearted girl! I hope things will go happily with her.
A strong answer Marmee says John was perfectly open and honorable, and that they could not refuse to listen to him. She will not consent to an engagement so young, and says that if Meg and John love one another they can wait and test it. She also admits she sighed because she wants to keep her girls as long as she can. A strong answer weighs her stated reason and her admitted feeling, and says how she holds both.
5. The chapter ends with Marmee's words after Meg has gone: “She does not love John yet, but will soon learn to.” Why might Alcott end on those words?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the last line gives the reader, and how much of it is fact and how much is a mother's judgment.
It gives Marmee's own view after a keen look, so the chapter ends with what she has concluded and not with Meg's answer.
Yes; he has been like a son to us, and we are very fond of him,” replied Mrs. March, returning the look with a keen one.
Mrs. March said, with a mixture of satisfaction and regret
It leaves the matter open. All we have from Meg is a smile, a question, and an answer about John being lonely.
Do you call him ‘John’?” asked Meg, smiling, with her innocent eyes looking down into her mother’s.
I’m glad of that, he is so lonely.
A strong answer Meg says very little: she smiles, asks if her mother calls him John, says she is glad because he is lonely, and wishes her good night. Marmee, after a keen look, says aloud that Meg does not love John yet but will soon learn to, with satisfaction and regret. The last line is Marmee's judgment, not something the chapter proves. A strong answer says what the reader is given and what is left to be seen.
1. When Laurie tells Aunt March about Beth, Amy behaves “like a capital little woman.” Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Amy shows she has changed.
What it asks It asks what Amy does in the hours after the news, and what the narrator says it shows, using two pieces of evidence.
She controls herself: she dries her tears and waits for her mother.
She dried her tears quickly, restrained her impatience to see her mother
never even thought of the turquoise ring
She thinks of others first, including a tired Laurie.
discovering that Laurie was dropping with sleep in spite of manful efforts to conceal the fact, she persuaded him to rest on the sofa
She would very gladly have gone out to enjoy the bright wintry weather
A strong answer Amy dries her tears quickly, holds back her impatience to see her mother, and never even thinks of the turquoise ring. She also gives up a walk she would gladly have taken, because she sees Laurie is dropping with sleep and persuades him to rest. A strong answer uses one piece about self-control and one about thinking of someone else, and says what they show about how Amy has changed.
2. Jo asks whether Marmee would rather Meg marry a rich man. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what Marmee wants for her daughters.
What it asks It asks what Marmee values about money and about a home, using two pieces of evidence from her answer.
She wants them to have enough, without being tempted by too much.
Money is a good and useful thing, Jo; and I hope my girls will never feel the need of it too bitterly, nor be tempted by too much.
I should like to know that John was firmly established in some good business
She values love and a plain home over a splendid fortune.
I know, by experience, how much genuine happiness can be had in a plain little house, where the daily bread is earned
she will be rich in the possession of a good man’s heart, and that is better than a fortune
A strong answer Marmee says money is good and useful, and she hopes her girls will not feel the need of it too bitterly. She would like John to be firmly established in a good business. But she says she knows from experience how much happiness a plain little house can hold, and she would be content for Meg to begin humbly, rich in a good man's heart. A strong answer uses one piece on each side and says what Marmee ranks first.
3. Jo says Meg does not show love the way girls in novels do. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what Jo has noticed about Meg.
What it asks It asks what Jo has seen of Meg's behavior, and to keep what Jo reports apart from what Jo guesses, using two pieces of evidence.
Jo has noticed that Meg looks calm and ordinary when John is mentioned.
she eats and drinks and sleeps, like a sensible creature
she looks straight in my face when I talk about that man, and only blushes a little bit when Teddy jokes about lovers
Jo has also noticed small things that she reads as warning signs.
She read the short reports he sent more than she did your letters, and pinched me when I spoke of it
likes brown eyes, and doesn’t think John an ugly name
A strong answer Jo says Meg eats, drinks, and sleeps like a sensible creature, looks straight in her face when John is mentioned, and blushes only a little. Jo also reports that Meg read the short reports more than her mother's letters, pinched her, and likes brown eyes. A strong answer uses one calm sign and one telling sign, and is careful that these are Jo's observations and not a finding about Meg's heart.