and learning to ask the most unanswerable questions.”Impossible to answer.
Little Women
Chapter 45
Louisa May Alcott · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Copywork
“My dear, do you think it wise to talk about such things to that baby? He’s getting great bumps over his eyes, and learning to ask the most unanswerable questions.” “If he is old enough to ask the questions he is old enough to receive true answers. I am not putting the thoughts into his head, but helping him unfold those already there.
Read your copy aloud. Find what the grandmother is afraid the questions are doing to Demi, and the two things Father says he is not doing and is doing. Then say what the word unfold pictures, and what Father is betting on when he answers a question with the truth.
Discussion
Narration Tell back what the twins are like, what Demi asks his grandfather, how he wins the raisins, and what he asks the Professor.
- The narrator boasts of how remarkable the twins are, then says they quarrel “thrice a day.” How seriously does she mean the boast? Tone
- Grandfather says, “If he is old enough to ask the questions he is old enough to receive true answers.” Grandmother worries. How do you weigh them? Moral reasoning
- Meg says “Yes, truly; anything you say,” and Demi answers “Then we’ll go and eat up all the raisins.” Who is to blame, Meg or Demi? Character
- Demi notices that Dodo likes the “bear-man” better, but does not say it. What might keep him quiet? Inference
- Demi asks, “Do great boys like great girls, too, ’Fessor?” and the Professor gives “the somewhat vague reply.” Why might Alcott let a small boy ask it? Author's choice
Make a Connection Tell about a time a little boy or girl asked a question that made the grown-ups go quiet.
Vocabulary
- unanswerable
- unfold
but helping him unfold those already there.
To open out; to develop what is folded inside.- precocious
in which the precocious pupil occasionally posed his teacher,
Developed earlier than usual.- metaphysics
and dismiss the class in metaphysics.
The study of what things are at bottom, such as mind and being.- audacity
or the tranquil audacity of the miniature men and women who so early show themselves accomplished Artful Dodgers?
Bold daring.- inveterate
and she offered kisses to a stranger so confidingly that the most inveterate bachelor relented,
Long settled in a habit.- penetration
Demi, with infantile penetration,
Sharp insight; seeing into things.- philoprogenitiveness
but this counterfeit philoprogenitiveness sits uneasily upon them,
Fondness for the young; here, a put-on fondness for little ones.- affability
and continued to patronize the “bear-man” with pensive affability,
Easy friendliness.- sonorous
till Mr. Bhaer laughed his sonorous laugh, and Jo cried out,
Deep and full in sound.
Critical thinking
- Demi answers that he keeps his mind “in my little belly.” Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Grandfather takes it.
- Daisy says, “Me loves evvybody.” Using two pieces of evidence, explain what the narrator wants us to see in her.
- Mr. March lies on the floor with his legs in the air when the Professor arrives. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how the scene shows both men.