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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Beth hides her secret for months to spare the family and then decides it is kinder to prepare them, while Jo, who sees it, keeps silent because the silence feels sacred, so when does keeping such a thing to yourself protect the people you love, and when does it leave them, and you, alone?
The tension The chapter names a reserve that is hardest between those who love most, and shows it from both sides. Beth's silence was meant as unselfishness and cost her a solitary struggle; she now says the people who love best are often blindest and asks Jo to tell them. Jo's silence was reverence and also fear, and once the veil lifts she is the weaker one, refusing to see or say that it is best. Beth's tide cannot be stopped and Jo swears it shall be; Beth cannot say she is glad to go, only that she tries to be willing. A small sand-bird offers the only comfort, and at home the secret tells itself without words.
Notice what goes unsaid in this chapter, who it protects, and what it costs.
Jo comes home and sees a change in Beth. After Laurie leaves, she takes Beth to the seashore. There Beth tells Jo she knows, and the two sisters speak of the tide and of the birds. When they get home, Father and Mother already see it.
Start with the copywork's word "reserve." Ask what it means to say nothing to someone you love, and what it might feel like from both sides.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: Jo sees the change, the seashore, what Beth says on the rocks, the birds, and the return home.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: what two people felt and did not say, and the picture that came to Jo.
Debate Take sides: was Beth's silence a kindness or a burden? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why the author lets the last scene have no words.
Easier Read the scene on the rocks 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 shows a feeling without saying it, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Jo sees a "strange, transparent look" in Beth's face, yet soon "forgot her fear." How can a person see something so plainly and then lose hold of it?Inference
What it asks It asks why Jo's first sharp look at Beth fades, and what makes it easy for someone to look away from a thing she does not want to know.
The people around her seem calm, and their calm talks her out of what she saw.
for Beth seemed happy, no one appeared to doubt that she was better
soon the first impression lost much of its power
She is busy and the fear is too heavy to keep looking at, so she puts it down for a while.
presently, in other cares, Jo for a time forgot her fear
the vague anxiety returned and haunted her
A strong answer Jo saw the change at once, but no one else spoke of it, and Beth seemed happy, so the first impression lost much of its power. She was also caught up in other cares, and a fear that heavy is easy to set down. It returns later and haunts her, which shows she never really stopped knowing. A strong answer says what helps a person look away and uses the return of the fear as evidence.
2. Beth says, "I've tried to tell you, but I couldn't." What might have made telling so hard for her?Character
What it asks It asks the student to imagine what stood between Beth and the words, using what she says about herself.
She was not sure herself, and she hoped she was mistaken.
I wasn’t sure, no one said anything, and I hoped I was mistaken.
I tried to think it was a sick fancy, and would not let it trouble anyone.
She is someone who cannot say such things aloud, except to Jo, and only when she was used to it.
I can’t speak out, except to my Jo.
now I’m used to it, it isn’t hard to think of or to bear
A strong answer Beth says she was not sure and hoped she was mistaken, so putting it into words would have made it real. She also says she cannot speak out except to Jo, and that it is only now, used to it, that it is not hard to bear. A strong answer picks one or both of these and uses Beth's own words to show what held her back.
3. Beth says it "would have been selfish to frighten you all." Do you hear that as kindness, as fear, or both?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to hear what is behind Beth's reason, and to weigh what her choice did for the family and what it did for her.
It is kindness: she sees how much the others are carrying and does not want to add to it.
It would have been selfish to frighten you all when Marmee was so anxious about Meg, and Amy away, and you so happy with Laurie
Perhaps it was wrong, but I tried to do right
It is also fear and loneliness: she was miserable and let no one in.
it was hard to feel that I could never be like you, and then I was miserable, Jo
How could you shut me out, and bear it all alone?
A strong answer Beth gives a reason that is kind: Marmee was anxious about Meg and Jo was happy. She also says she was miserable then, and Jo feels that a solitary struggle went on. A strong answer can call it kindness that cost her a great deal, or fear dressed as kindness, or both, and it uses what Beth and Jo each say.
4. Jo cries, "I'll work and pray and fight against it." Beth can only say, "I try to be willing." What is each sister holding on to?Theme
What it asks It asks what lies behind two very different answers to the same sorrow, and whether one answer is better.
Jo holds on to Beth and to hope; she cannot let a loss be final.
Beth, I can’t let you go.
I’ll keep you in spite of everything; there must be ways, it can’t be too late.
Beth holds on to Jo and to the life she has, even as she tries to accept what is coming.
She could not say, “I’m glad to go,” for life was very sweet to her
she could only sob out, “I try to be willing,” while she held fast to Jo
A strong answer Jo holds on to Beth: she will work and pray and fight, and she cannot accept that it is too late. Beth holds on to Jo and to a life she finds sweet, even while she says she tries to be willing. The narrator calls Jo's spirit far less piously submissive and says Beth did not rebuke her, only loved her better for her passionate affection. A strong answer names what each sister holds and does not rank them.
5. Beth names each sister a bird: Jo the gull, Meg the turtledove, Amy the lark, herself the sand-bird. Why might the author give Beth birds to talk with here?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why Alcott has Beth speak of her sisters in pictures at a moment when plain speech is hardest.
The birds let Beth say gentle, true things about each sister that she could not say straight out.
You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone.
no matter how high she flies, she never will forget home
The sand-bird brings a small comfort at a moment when words cannot.
Beth smiled, and felt comforted, for the tiny thing seemed to offer its small friendship
remind her that a pleasant world was still to be enjoyed
A strong answer The birds let Beth give each sister a gentle portrait, and she says what she loves in them without having to say goodbye outright. The real sand-bird also gives her a little comfort and a reminder that the world is still pleasant. A strong answer names one thing the birds do and uses one line from Beth or the narrator to show it.
1. Jo thought Beth loved Laurie, and Beth is amazed at the idea. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jo could have read her so wrongly.
What it asks It asks why a sister who watches closely can still misread, and what each sister was not saying.
Beth was hiding her trouble, so Jo had only a sad face to interpret.
I tried to think it was a sick fancy, and would not let it trouble anyone.
glad to know that Laurie had no part in Beth’s trouble
Jo was wrapped up in her own worries about Laurie and saw the matter through them.
And I thought that you loved him, Beth, and I went away because I couldn’t
Why, Jo, how could I, when he was so fond of you?
A strong answer Jo could read Beth wrongly because Beth hid what was really wrong; she tried to think it a sick fancy and not trouble anyone. Jo also read through what she feared about Laurie, and Beth is amazed, because he was so fond of Jo. A strong answer uses one piece of evidence for each and says how silence and a worry of her own together led Jo to the wrong guess.
2. Beth asks Jo to tell the family if they do not see it. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why she asks.
What it asks It asks what Beth wants for the people at home, and what she wants from Jo.
She wants no more secrets, and thinks it kinder to prepare them.
I don’t want any secrets, and it’s kinder to prepare them.
I’ve heard that the people who love best are often blindest to such things.
She wants Jo to stay near father and mother, because Meg has others and they will need someone.
Meg has John and the babies to comfort her, but you must stand by father and mother, won’t you, Jo?
A strong answer Beth does not want any more secrets, and she thinks the family would be better prepared than surprised. She also asks Jo to stand by their father and mother, since Meg has John and the babies. A strong answer uses one piece of evidence for what she wants the family to know, and one for what she asks of Jo.
3. At home "there was no need of any words." Using two pieces of evidence, explain how the chapter shows that Father and Mother already know.
What it asks It asks the student to read two gestures and one sentence of the narrator, and to say what they show about what Father and Mother have seen.
Their bodies show it: the father turns away, and the mother reaches for help.
Her father stood leaning his head on the mantelpiece, and did not turn as she came in
her mother stretched out her arms as if for help, and Jo went to comfort her without a word
They had already been afraid, and see it plainly the moment Beth is home.
father and mother saw plainly, now, what they had prayed to be saved from seeing
believing that it would tell itself when Beth came back no better
A strong answer Father stands with his head on the mantelpiece and does not turn, and Mother stretches out her arms as if for help; neither needs to be told. The narrator says they saw plainly what they had prayed to be saved from seeing, and Jo had believed it would tell itself when Beth came home no better. A strong answer uses one gesture and one line from the narrator and says what they show.