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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
His clothes were rusty, his hands were large, and he hadn’t a really handsome feature in his face, except his beautiful teeth; yet I liked him, for he had a fine head; his linen was very nice, and he looked like a gentleman, though two buttons were off his coat, and there was a patch on one shoe.
Read your copy aloud. Count the things Jo holds against the Professor's looks, and then find the word yet. What comes after it?
Narration Tell back Jo's first weeks at Mrs. Kirke's, from the coal on the stairs to the New Year's masquerade.
1. Jo sees a stranger carry a servant girl's coal and writes, “Wasn’t it good of him?” Why might that small act stay with her?Inference
2. Jo says the professor's clothes are rusty and his face has no handsome feature but his teeth, “yet I liked him.” What is she setting against those flaws?Character
3. The young men at the hall-mirror say Jo has "no style." She writes, “I hate ordinary people!” What does that answer show about her?Character
4. After Jo sniffs with “utter mortification,” the Professor throws the grammar down and leaves, then returns with fairy tales. Why might he change the lesson instead of pressing on?Inference
5. Alcott tells this chapter in Jo's own letters and journal. What can we see that a narrator's voice might not show us?Author's choice
Make a Connection Tell about a time someone changed how they were teaching you, and it helped.
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His clothes were rusty, his hands were large,
his linen was very nice, and he looked like a gentleman, though two buttons were off his coat,
after our sharp or slipshod American gabble.
One of the girls kept laughing affectedly, and saying ‘Now Professor,’ in a coquettish tone,
“The maiden lady is a Miss Norton—rich, cultivated, and kind.
It’s dreadful, but I can’t scold him: he’s so absentminded and good-natured,
for the mixture of German and American spirit in them produces a constant state of effervescence.
I tried both ways; and when it came to a sniff of utter mortification and woe,
and a relish which was good to see as well as hear.
(for they think I am very stiff and cool, most of them; and so I am to whippersnappers)
1. Miss Norton asks Jo to be her escort to lectures and concerts. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why Jo, who is “as proud as Lucifer,” accepts.
2. Jo mends the Professor's socks in secret, and he answers with German lessons. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why he insists on paying her back.
3. At the New Year's masquerade no one knows Jo. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what the masked Jo shows that the unmasked Jo does not.