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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
I may be mercenary, but I hate poverty, and don’t mean to bear it a minute longer than I can help. One of us must marry well; Meg didn’t, Jo won’t, Beth can’t yet, so I shall, and make everything cozy all round. I wouldn’t marry a man I hated or despised. You may be sure of that; and, though Fred is not my model hero, he does very well, and, in time, I should get fond enough of him if he was very fond of me, and let me do just as I liked.
Read your copy aloud as Amy writing to her mother. She says I may be mercenary and then gives reasons. Count them. Then find the one line she draws that she will not cross, and the condition she puts on growing fond of Fred. Which of those is about Fred, and which is about Amy?
Narration Tell back Amy's journey through her three letters: what she sees, who she meets, and what she asks her mother at the end.
1. On the train Amy takes a brewery for Kenilworth and lambs for geese, and then writes it all home. Why might she tell those stories against herself?Character
2. The letters open "Dearest People," then "Dear Girls," then "My dear Mamma." Why might Alcott change who Amy is writing to?Author's choice
3. After the serenade Fred shows Amy a crumpled flower and looks "very sentimental." She laughs and says Flo threw it, and he tosses it out the window. What was each of them after?Character
4. In Paris Amy does not allow Fred to buy her things, but at Heidelberg she counts up his family's plate, jewels and old servants. What might separate the two?Inference
5. At the castle Amy says of Fred's goodbye, "I didn’t promise, but I looked at him, and he seemed satisfied." Was that fair to Fred?Moral reasoning
Make a Connection Tell about a letter or message you wrote to someone that said one thing to a friend and something different to your mother or father.
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I may be mercenary, but I hate poverty, and don’t mean to bear it a minute longer than I can help.
I wouldn’t marry a man I hated or despised.
It was early in the morning, but I didn’t regret getting up to see it, for the bay was full of little boats, the shore so picturesque, and a rosy sky overhead.
“In the p.m. to Westminster Abbey; but don’t expect me to describe it, that’s impossible—so I’ll only say it was sublime!
I really feel like a dissipated London fine lady, writing here so late, with my room full of pretty things, and my head a jumble of parks, theatres, new gowns, and gallant creatures who say ‘Ah!’ and twirl their blond mustaches with the true English lordliness.
I like it, for it’s genuine.
At Coblentz we had a lovely time, for some students from Bonn, with whom Fred got acquainted on the boat, gave us a serenade.
I wish Jo would tell me all about it; I ought to have read more, for I find I don’t know anything, and it mortifies me.
He isn’t one of the cool, stiff Englishmen, but is rather peppery, for he has Scotch blood in him, as one might guess from his bonnie blue eyes.
Don’t be anxious about me; remember I am your ‘prudent Amy,’ and be sure I will do nothing rashly.
1. Amy praises Fred and also says, "I wish Fred was dark." Using two pieces of evidence, explain what she likes in him and what she holds back from.
2. At Frankfort Amy did not ask about the story of "Ariadne." Using two pieces of evidence, explain how she handles not knowing something.
3. Amy is sure Fred likes her, though he "said nothing." Using two pieces of evidence, explain what she has noticed.