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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Laurie manages Meg with forged letters and Jo manages Mr. Laurence with a half-told truth and a joke apology, so what makes Jo's managing peace and Laurie's mischief, when both work by handling people instead of telling them everything?
The tension The chapter's title pairs the two, and the text keeps them close. Laurie's retaliation for being left out of a confidence humiliates Meg and is called abominable, then a bit of a frolic. Laurie's silence before his grandfather is a kept promise that reads as obstinacy and earns a shaking. Jo then does what Laurie could not: she makes light of the prank without betraying Meg or forgetting the truth, tells the old man he is too kind and a trifle hasty, and gets him to write a mock apology because Laurie likes fun. The old man calls her a sly puss and does not mind being managed. Yet the last paragraph says the mischief was done, for Meg remembered.
Set Laurie's trick on Meg beside Jo's dealings with Mr. Laurence, and notice who is handled and how much each is told.
Jo keeps her mother's secret about Mr. Brooke from Laurie, who guesses it and writes two false notes to Meg. Meg answers one, is ashamed, and Mrs. March sends for Laurie, who apologizes. Laurie then keeps his promise of silence to his grandfather and is shaken for it. Jo visits them both, is tempted by a run to Washington, talks Mr. Laurence into a written apology, and the chapter ends with Meg remembering.
Start with Laurie's reason for the notes and ask the student what they do when they are left out of a secret.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the guess, the notes, Mrs. March, the shaking, Jo at both doors, and the apology.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in Jo's pattern, saying what they cannot tell and what they can say instead.
Debate Take sides: was Jo's way of handling Mr. Laurence fair to him? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Alcott ends on Meg remembering, after everyone else has made peace.
Easier Read the scene in Mr. Laurence's study aloud together and talk through discussion questions 2 and 4 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to find one more place where someone in the chapter manages another person, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Meg answers a love-note, then learns it was a trick. Why does that hurt her so much?Inference
What it asks It asks what stings Meg most: being tricked, being seen to take it seriously, or having kept a secret she liked.
She is ashamed of having answered at all, and cannot face the man she thinks she has written to.
“Yes, I did!” and Meg hid her face again, overcome with shame.
I never can look him in the face again.
Her pride is hurt, because she enjoyed the secret and now feels made a fool of.
I’m so silly that I liked to think no one knew
I won’t be deceived and plagued and made a fool of
A strong answer Meg had answered the first note, telling the writer she was too young and he must speak to her father, and she had kept it from her mother because she liked to think no one knew. When the trick comes out she says she can never look him in the face again and will not be deceived and plagued and made a fool of. A strong answer says which hurts more, the shame of having answered or the pride of having been made a fool, and gives her words.
2. Laurie lets his grandfather shake him rather than explain why Mrs. March sent for him. What does that say about him?Character
What it asks It asks what Laurie's silence shows about him: loyalty, pride, or both, and what it costs him.
He keeps his word even at a price, and will not tell his part if it brings Meg in.
I’d promised not to tell, and of course I wasn’t going to break my word.
I’d have told my part of the scrape, if I could without bringing Meg in.
He is proud and wants his grandfather to trust him without proof.
He ought to trust me, and not act as if I was a baby.
He’s a stubborn fellow, and hard to manage
A strong answer Laurie says he promised not to tell and would not break his word, and that he would have told his own part if he could do it without bringing Meg in. That is loyalty with a price, since the old gentleman collars him. But he also says his grandfather ought to trust him and not treat him like a baby, and Mr. Laurence calls him stubborn. A strong answer lets both be true and says which one Laurie would rather be called.
3. Jo nearly agrees to run off to Washington with Laurie, then looks at the old house and says no. What holds her back?Theme
What it asks It asks what keeps a restless girl at home when a wild plan has just tempted her.
Home and family hold her, and she remembers that she must be proper.
Her eyes kindled as they turned wistfully toward the window, but they fell on the old house opposite, and she shook her head with sorrowful decision.
as I’m a miserable girl, I must be proper, and stop at home
She does not quite trust herself, and so she shuts the plan out before it wins.
Don’t tempt me, Teddy, it’s a crazy plan.
Bad boy, be quiet! Sit down and think of your own sins, don’t go making me add to mine.
A strong answer The narrator says the plan just suited Jo: she was tired of care and confinement, and thoughts of her father blended with camps and hospitals. Then her eyes fall on the old house opposite and she shakes her head. She says that as a miserable girl she must be proper and stop at home, and she asks Laurie not to tempt her. A strong answer says what holds her, home, propriety, or her own distrust of the pull, and uses her words.
4. Jo tells Mr. Laurence, “We don’t keep silence to shield him, but someone else.” How much of the truth is she giving him?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks how much of the truth a person owes when a promise protects someone else.
She gives him enough: that Laurie did wrong, owned it, and has been punished, and that the silence is for another person.
He did do wrong, but we forgave him, and all promised not to say a word to anyone
Laurie has confessed, asked pardon, and been punished quite enough.
She keeps back the heart of it and steers him toward something pleasant.
Indeed, sir, I cannot tell; mother forbade it.
so let’s forget it, and talk about the Rambler , or something pleasant.
A strong answer Jo tells Mr. Laurence that Laurie did wrong, has confessed, asked pardon, and been punished enough, and that the silence protects someone else, so he learns the shape of the matter. She keeps back what happened and to whom, because her mother forbade it, and steers him toward the Rambler. A strong answer decides whether that is honest, tactful, or both, and says where telling ends and keeping a promise begins.
5. The chapter ends with Jo finding “Mrs. John Brooke” scribbled in Meg's desk. Why might Alcott end there, not on Laurie's dinner?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the last paragraph adds after the quarrels are mended, and why the chapter ends with Meg.
It shows the prank left something behind even though everyone else forgot it.
but the mischief was done, for, though others forgot it, Meg remembered.
It shows Meg's own daydreaming, which is hers and not only Laurie's doing, and Jo's dismay at it.
She never alluded to a certain person, but she thought of him a good deal, dreamed dreams more than ever
feeling that Laurie’s prank had hastened the evil day for her
A strong answer Everyone thinks the little cloud has blown over: Laurie goes to his dinner and his grandfather is quite saintly in temper. The ending turns to Meg, who never speaks of John but thinks of him a good deal, and to Jo, who finds a scrap of paper with his name on it and throws it into the fire. A strong answer says what the ending adds to the peace-making and does not treat the scrap as a promise about Meg's future.
1. Mrs. March takes charge of the trouble over the note. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how she handles Meg and Laurie.
What it asks It asks what Mrs. March does first for Meg and first for Laurie, and why she sees them apart.
She protects Meg's feelings first, with gentleness and a promise of silence.
Mrs. March gently told Meg Mr. Brooke’s real feelings.
Mrs. March soothed her by promises of entire silence, and great discretion for the future.
She deals with Laurie alone and lets the talk do its work out of sight.
Mrs. March received the culprit alone.
but what happened during that interview the girls never knew.
A strong answer Mrs. March starts with Meg: she gently tells her Mr. Brooke's real feelings and promises entire silence and great discretion, which spares Meg's hurt pride. When Laurie comes she receives the culprit alone, and the girls never learn what was said; he comes out with a penitent face. A strong answer uses one piece for each of them and says why the two are kept apart.
2. Jo suggests that Mr. Laurence write Laurie an apology. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why she thinks that will work.
What it asks It asks what Jo has learned about Laurie and his grandfather that makes a written note seem the right tool.
She knows Laurie wants his grandfather to give in, and likes fun more than a lecture.
I won’t go down till he does.
he likes fun, and this way is better than talking.
She thinks a formal note will show Laurie how foolish he is being, and Mr. Laurence will go along with it.
A formal apology will make him see how foolish he is, and bring him down quite amiable.
You’re a sly puss, but I don’t mind being managed by you and Beth.
A strong answer Laurie has just told Jo he won't go down until his grandfather begs pardon. Jo tells Mr. Laurence that a formal apology will make Laurie see how foolish he is and that he likes fun, so a note will do more than talking. The old man calls her a sly puss, says he does not mind being managed, and writes it. A strong answer uses Laurie's demand and Jo's reasons and says what the note does for each of them.
3. Jo looks closely at the two notes and decides Laurie wrote them both. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how she can tell.
What it asks It asks what clues Jo uses, from the notes and from knowing Laurie, to work out who wrote them.
The notes do not sound like Mr. Brooke, and the second says he never sent any love-letter.
I should think you’d have known Mr. Brooke wouldn’t write such stuff as that
telling me that he never sent any love-letter at all
Laurie had a motive, and Jo knows his habits.
Feeling indignant that he was not taken into his tutor’s confidence, he set his wits to work to devise some proper retaliation for the slight.
Here’s a note to you, Meg, all sealed up. How odd! Teddy never seals mine
A strong answer Jo compares the two notes and says she doesn't believe Brooke ever saw either: he wouldn't write such stuff, and the second note says he never sent a love-letter. She also knows that Laurie was indignant at being left out of the secret and wanted to pay it back, and that the second note came sealed, which Teddy never does for her. A strong answer uses one clue from the notes and one from Laurie, and says which convinces her more.