Little Women
Chapter 30 — Teaching Companion
Louisa May Alcott · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Amy's kindness to May is followed a week later by Aunt Carrol's invitation, and Jo's blunt tongue by the loss of the same trip, so does this chapter show virtue rewarded and rudeness punished, or something less tidy?
The tension The title promises consequences and the narrator names one outright: "A week later Amy did get her reward," and Aunt Carrol, who "heard the story, looked pleased" at the fair, is the one who sends for her. What makes the reckoning less tidy is Jo's part in it. Amy's trouble at the fair is caused by Jo's mimicry of May, and it is Jo's charm that rescues the flower-table; Amy returns her work before anyone asks, hears a girl call it self-interest, and for a minute feels that "virtue was not always its own reward", to which the narrator answers "But it is"; May, too, overcomes temptations and sells Amy's things. Then Aunt Carrol's letter quotes Jo's own words, "favors burden her," Marmee says the loss is "partly your own fault," Jo cries it is not fair, and resolves to try not only to seem glad but to be so. Beth, who says she could not spare Jo, is the one comfort.
Today's focus
Follow what Amy does when she is slighted and what Jo does when she loses the trip, and notice how the chapter lets each choice turn out.
Two core ideas
- Amy answers a slight with kindness, and the chapter lets it cost her a hard day before anything comes back to her.
- Jo's careless words return in Aunt Carrol's letter, and Jo has to face what she said without the chapter settling how fair it is.
The shape at a glance
Amy loses her art-table at Mrs. Chester's fair and takes the flower-table. Next day she returns her things to May, and that evening Jo and Laurie fill her table with friends. A week later Aunt Carrol invites Amy abroad and not Jo, and Amy sails.
A way in
Start with Amy's line, "Because they are mean is no reason why I should be." Ask what she is deciding, and what it might cost her.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the lost table, the flower-table, the returned things, the evening, the letter, and the gangway.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: one person says what she will not do though she has a right to, and another answers with a short saying.
Debate Take sides: was Amy's kindness worth what it cost her that day? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking what each sister learns about her own words and choices.
Easier Read Amy's talk with her mother aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 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's tone says something different from their words, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- Amy says she has "a right to be hurt" but does not "intend to show it." Is hiding her hurt a kind of strength, or a kind of pretending?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether keeping hurt quiet is a good choice or a cover, and what the chapter shows Amy feeling underneath.
One reading
It is strength: she refuses to answer meanness with meanness.
Because they are mean is no reason why I should be.
a kiss for a blow is always best, though it’s not very easy to give it sometimes
Another reading
It is partly pretending: the hurt is real and she carries it alone.
In spite of various very natural temptations to resent and retaliate, Amy adhered to her resolution all the next day
she looked so pale and quiet that they knew the day had been a hard one, though she made no complaint
Listen for
- Separates hiding a feeling from not having it.
- Uses what Amy says and what others notice about her.
If stuck
- What does Amy say to her mother and sisters about the way she was treated?
- What does she say to Mrs. Chester when she first hears the news?
- How do her family see her at the end of the long day?
A strong answer Amy does not pretend she is not hurt; she tells her family she thinks she has a right to be hurt, and her family see the hard day on her face. What she refuses is to act on the hurt with "angry speeches or huffy actions." A strong answer can call that strength, because she keeps the hurt and still chooses, or pretending, because she hides it from the people who wronged her. It uses Amy's own words and what others see.
- Mrs. Chester finds her speech hard "to utter it naturally," and May says she wishes she "hadn’t asked you to speak." What do those moments tell us about them?Character
What it asks It asks what a mother and daughter feel about taking Amy's table, given that they are uneasy even as they do it.
One reading
They know it is unfair and are a little ashamed.
feeling a little conscience-stricken, as she looked at the pretty racks, the painted shells, and quaint illuminations
feeling a trifle ashamed of her own part in this one, as well she might
Another reading
They are driven by hurt pride and go ahead anyway.
a rumor which some obliging gossip had whispered to her, that the March girls had made fun of her at the Lambs’
Especially to gentlemen
Listen for
- Names what each of them feels, not only what she does.
- Notices that both feel uneasy and still go through with it.
If stuck
- What does the narrator say about Mrs. Chester's speech as she says it?
- What has May heard about the Marches and the Lambs?
- What does May say when Amy walks off with her things?
A strong answer The narrator says Mrs. Chester found her speech hard to utter naturally, with Amy's unsuspicious eyes looking at her, and May feels a little conscience-stricken and wishes she had not asked. Both know something is off. But the rumor about the Lambs' has made them resent the Marches, and May's remark about gentlemen shows the sting. A strong answer holds the unease and the resentment together and says which one led.
- Amy sees a verse in her little book and thinks, "I ought, but I don’t." What turns that thought into action?Inference
What it asks It asks what moves Amy from a good thought to a good deed: the verse, the sight of May, or the chance that comes.
One reading
The verse does it: her conscience takes the text to heart.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Amy’s conscience preached her a little sermon from that text, then and there
Another reading
Seeing May's face and hearing her sorrow does it, and the chance comes at once.
her eye went from the bright page to May’s discontented face behind the big vases
presently a chance offered for proving it
Listen for
- Says what Amy sees, as well as what she thinks.
- Notices that the chance follows right after the thought.
If stuck
- What words are written on the page she has stopped at?
- Whose face does Amy look at next?
- What does Amy hear May say to the girls?
A strong answer The verse gives Amy her thought; she says, "I ought, but I don't," and looks from the page to May's discontented face. The narrator says she took the sermon to heart and straightway put it in practice, and then May's sorrowful words give her a chance. A strong answer can credit the verse, the sight of May, or the chance, and it says why one thing alone might not have been enough.
- Jo's imitation at the Lambs' started the trouble at the fair, and Jo's cheer helps end it. How should we weigh Jo's part?Plot structure
What it asks It asks the student to follow Jo's part through the whole chain of events, from the harm she did to the help she gives.
One reading
Jo's harm counts most: her mimicry is where the trouble starts, and she knows it.
All the blame of this should have fallen upon Jo, for her naughty imitation had been too lifelike to escape detection
She reproached herself for her share of the ill-feeling
Another reading
Jo's help counts most: she does real work to make it right.
Jo exerted herself to some purpose, for people not only came, but stayed, laughing at her nonsense, admiring Amy’s taste
resolved to exonerate Amy as soon as possible
Listen for
- Follows cause to consequence: what Jo did, then what happened.
- Notices that nobody tells Jo about her part at first.
If stuck
- Who does the narrator say the blame should have fallen on?
- Does anyone tell Amy or Jo about the rumor before the fair?
- What does Jo do at the flower-table that evening?
A strong answer The rumor traces back to Jo's too lifelike imitation, and no one told her or Amy, so Amy takes the blame. Jo later reproaches herself and works hard to make up for it at the flower-table. A strong answer can say her help does not undo her harm, or that her help is a fair answer to it, and it explains how the two fit into one chain of events.
- The chapter ends with Amy clinging to Laurie at the gangway, not with Jo crying in the garret. Why might the author end on Amy?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the last image gives us, and why the author closes on the sister who is leaving instead of the one who stays.
One reading
It shows the trip has a cost for Amy too, and she is frightened at the last moment.
it suddenly came over her that a whole ocean was soon to roll between her and those who loved her best
Oh, take care of them for me; and if anything should happen
Another reading
It ends in hope and light, with the family wishing her well as she sails.
fervently hoping that none but gentle fortunes would befall the happy-hearted girl
the summer sunshine dazzling on the sea
Listen for
- Compares the ending with Jo's garret scene just before it.
- Talks about the last image, not only the last event.
If stuck
- What does Jo do when the last flutter of blue ribbon vanishes?
- What does Amy say to Laurie at the gangway?
- What is the last thing the family sees?
A strong answer Jo's grief is shown first, in one sentence, and then the chapter turns to Amy, who bore up stoutly until the gangway and then clings to Laurie with a sob. Ending on her gives the trip a cost that the gift of it did not show. The last sentence then widens to hope and to the sunshine on the sea. A strong answer picks one of the two images and says what it leaves the reader feeling.
Critical thinking
- May is jealous of Amy at first, yet later sells Amy's work and kisses her good night. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what changes May.
What it asks It asks what turns May from resentful to generous: Amy's action, May's own conscience, or both.
One reading
Amy's kindness does it: she brings back the things and asks forgiveness without being asked.
You may have them, and welcome, without asking, if you want them.
please take them, and forgive me if I was hasty in carrying them away last night
Another reading
May's own conscience does it: she was uneasy from the start and wants to show she can be generous.
feeling a little conscience-stricken
with a conciliatory air, for she wanted to show that she also could be generous
Listen for
- Two different pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- Says what May does, not only what she feels.
If stuck
- What does Amy say as she gives May her things?
- What does May say to Jo about Amy's work?
- What does May give Amy at the end?
A strong answer May is uneasy before Amy ever touches her things: as she begins to speak she looks at the pretty racks, shells and illuminations Amy made, feels a little conscience-stricken, and offers to let Amy keep them on her own table. Then Amy sweeps them into her apron. Amy's offer to return them with a smile and a request for forgiveness gives May a way back, and later she takes care that the right people see Amy's things and gives her an affectionate kiss. A strong answer names what May does and decides whether Amy or May herself deserves more of the credit.
- Jo cries that it is not fair, and later sews Amy's collars with red eyes. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jo handles the news.
What it asks It asks the student to follow Jo from her first cry to her later effort, and to say what she manages and what she does not.
One reading
She faces her part and tries hard to be generous.
Oh, my tongue, my abominable tongue! why can’t I learn to keep it quiet?
I’ll take a leaf out of her book, and try not only to seem glad, but to be so, and not grudge her one minute of happiness
Another reading
She keeps her sorrow and a little sharpness, even while she tries.
poor Jo bedewed the little fat pincushion she held with several very bitter tears
your wishes are always granted—mine never
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, one early and one late.
- Notices that Jo's trying and her grief sit together.
If stuck
- What does Jo say right after Mrs. March reads Aunt Carrol's letter?
- What does she promise her mother she will try to do?
- What does she say to Amy about wishes?
A strong answer Jo's first cry is that it is not fair, but after hearing the letter she groans over her abominable tongue and promises to try not only to seem glad but to be so. She does bear up: by the time Amy comes in she takes part in the jubilation without repining. But the bitter tears and her remark that Amy's wishes are always granted show the hurt is still there. A strong answer uses one moment of effort and one of hurt.
- Amy says she wants to be "a true gentlewoman in mind and manners." Using two pieces of evidence, explain what she means.
What it asks It asks what Amy means by "a true gentlewoman" after what she has just done, and how her answer differs from the earlier wish to be a lady.
One reading
She means treating others as she would want to be treated.
I only did as I’d be done by.
I mean a true gentlewoman in mind and manners
Another reading
She means being above small faults, and growing up like her mother.
I want to be above the little meannesses and follies and faults that spoil so many women
hope in time to be what mother is
Listen for
- Two different pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- Says how the answer connects to what Amy did that day.
If stuck
- What does Amy say she only did?
- What does she say she wants to be above?
- Whom does she hope to be like?
A strong answer Amy says she only did as she would be done by, so a gentlewoman is someone who treats others as she would want to be treated. She also wants to be above the little meannesses and follies and faults, and hopes in time to be what her mother is. The two fit what she did with May. A strong answer uses one line for each meaning and says what Amy's day shows about how far along she is.