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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Meg is admired on both party nights, once in her own mended tarlatan with Laurie's roses shared out, and once laced into Belle's blue silk, so what makes the first admiration leave her a bright-eyed face in the mirror and the second make her "nothing but a doll"?
The tension The chapter gives the same wish two outcomes. On the first night Meg's shabby dress stops looking shabby once she gives the flowers away, and her three compliments are for singing, her eyes, and her spring. On the second night the fine clothes attract a certain class of people, Laurie will not look at her, and she says she is not Meg tonight. Around this runs the Moffats' kindness that is also pity and plans, Meg's pride that both hides her hurt and makes her accept the dress, and Marmee's judgement that liking praise is natural and harmless until it becomes a passion. Meg admits she likes it and the chapter does not scold her for saying so.
Watch what the two party nights do to Meg, and what she tells her mother afterward.
Meg packs for a fortnight at the Moffats' and begins to copy their manners. At the small party she wears her mended tarlatan, shares out Laurie's roses, and overhears gossip about her mother's plans. On Thursday Belle dresses her in blue silk, and Laurie and Major Lincoln do not like what they see. Back home, Meg confesses to Marmee, who tells her own plans for her daughters.
Start with the trunk and ask the student what Meg is most pleased to take, and what she is least pleased with.
Retell The student tells the fortnight back in order: the packing, the small party, the gossip, the blue silk, Laurie, and the talk with Marmee.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern about a small kind act that changed how they felt.
Debate Take sides: did the blue silk change Meg, or only how others saw her? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Alcott gives Meg two parties and lets her tell her mother about both.
Easier Talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 only, with the roses and the blue silk as the two pictures to hold.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence.
Harder Ask the student to decide what Meg learned from the fortnight and to add that to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Meg makes most of Laurie's roses into bouquets for the Moffat girls, and her dress stops looking so shabby to her. Why might that happen?Inference
What it asks It asks why a small act of giving changes how Meg sees herself, and what really lifts her out of her low mood.
Giving turns her attention outward, and being kind makes her feel better about herself.
Somehow the kind act finished her despondency
offering them so prettily that Clara, the elder sister, told her she was “the sweetest little thing she ever saw;”
The love from home does it: her mother's note and Laurie's flowers come first.
for the few loving words had done her good, and the flowers cheered her up by their beauty
much gratified that he had not forgotten her
A strong answer Before the box comes, Meg sees only pity in the girls' kindness and her heart feels heavy. Then a note from her mother and Laurie's flowers arrive, and she lays by a few for herself and makes the rest into bouquets for her friends. The narrator says the kind act finished her despondency. A strong answer can credit the love from home, the giving, or both, and says what in the scene shows it.
2. Meg first says her old dress “does well enough for a little girl like me,” then accepts Belle's blue silk. Why do you think she changes her mind?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks what lies behind Meg's yes, and whether she is tempted, cornered, or both.
She is curious and tempted: she wants to see if she could be a beauty.
a desire to see if she would be “a little beauty” after touching up, caused her to accept, and forget all her former uncomfortable feelings towards the Moffats
I admire to do it, and you’d be a regular little beauty, with a touch here and there.
She is hemmed in: she has no other dress, and Belle puts the gift as a favor to herself.
I haven’t got any other.
Now do let me please myself by dressing you up in style.
A strong answer Meg says her old dress will do, but she has just admitted she has no other, and Belle asks so kindly, saying it would please her to do it. The narrator adds that Meg wanted to see whether she would be a little beauty. A strong answer can say it was temptation, or pressure from a kind offer, or both, and uses Belle's words or the narrator's to show it.
3. Laurie tells Meg, “I don’t like fuss and feathers,” then asks her to dance and calls her splendid. What is he telling her?Character
What it asks It asks what Laurie means by liking Meg and disliking her dress, and what that shows about how he sees her.
He likes Meg herself and does not like the costume that hides her.
I don’t like your gown, but I do think you are—just splendid
you look so grown-up, and unlike yourself, I’m quite afraid of you
He is uneasy about how she is changing and does not quite know how to say so politely.
without turning his eyes upon her
“Wish tomorrow was here, then,” muttered Laurie, walking off, ill-pleased at the change he saw in her.
A strong answer Laurie says he will tell Jo he did not know Meg, she looks so grown-up and unlike herself that he is quite afraid of her. Asked whether he likes her so, he says no, and he blames fuss and feathers. Then he apologizes and calls her splendid, so he seems to be saying that he likes her and not the costume. A strong answer also notices his discomfort and says what it shows about what he fears losing.
4. Meg admits she likes being praised. Marmee says that is harmless “if the liking does not become a passion.” How could you tell the difference?Theme
What it asks It asks the student to think about where liking praise turns into something worse, using what Marmee says and what Meg has done.
It becomes a passion when you would do foolish things to keep the praise coming.
That is perfectly natural, and quite harmless, if the liking does not become a passion, and lead one to do foolish or unmaidenly things.
I knew it was silly, but they flattered me, and said I was a beauty, and quantities of nonsense, so I let them make a fool of me.
It depends on whose praise it is, and whether it is worth having.
Learn to know and value the praise which is worth having, and to excite the admiration of excellent people by being modest as well as pretty, Meg.
She enjoyed herself very much that evening, for she danced to her heart’s content; everyone was very kind, and she had three compliments.
A strong answer Marmee calls the liking natural and harmless unless it becomes a passion that leads to foolish things. One way to tell: does it make you act as someone else, as Meg says she let them make a fool of her? Another way is to ask whose praise it is, since Marmee says to value the praise that is worth having. A strong answer gives a test of its own and supports it from Marmee's words or Meg's confession.
5. Why might Alcott end the chapter with Meg's confession and Marmee's “plans,” instead of ending at the ball?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the talk by the fire adds that the party scenes cannot, and what the reader is left with.
It lets Meg say aloud what she had hidden, so the chapter ends with truth told at home.
Marmee, I want to ’fess.
Home is a nice place, though it isn’t splendid
It answers the gossip with a mother's plain hopes, so the chapter ends on what matters to Marmee and not on what the Moffats said.
I’d rather see you poor men’s wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace.
Leave these things to time; make this home happy
A strong answer The ball ends with Meg tired and feeling she has been to a masquerade. The fireside scene gives her a place to tell what she did and heard, and gives Marmee a chance to set her own plans against the Moffats' gossip. The ending turns the chapter from a fashionable party toward home. A strong answer says what the change in place does, and is careful not to treat Marmee's speech as the whole answer to the two nights.
1. Meg packs her trunk, pleased with her silk stockings and unhappy with her umbrella. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how she feels about her own things.
What it asks It asks whether Meg feels rich or shabby as she packs, and to back the answer with two pieces of evidence.
She feels rich in what she has, and pleased with her stockings and gloves.
I feel so rich, and sort of elegant, with two new pairs, and the old ones cleaned up for common
My silk stockings and two pairs of new gloves are my comfort.
She already measures her things against other people's and finds them short.
I know I shall feel ashamed of it beside Annie’s silk one with a gold top
I wonder if I shall ever be happy enough to have real lace on my clothes, and bows on my caps?
A strong answer Meg says she feels rich and elegant with her new stockings and gloves. She also says she will feel ashamed of her green umbrella beside Annie's silk one, and wonders if she will ever have lace on her clothes. A strong answer names one of each and explains that she can feel both at once, and can point out that she does not change the umbrella so as not to hurt Marmee's feelings.
2. During the fortnight, Meg starts to copy the Moffats and sees home differently. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what changes in her.
What it asks It asks what the visit does to Meg before either party, using two pieces of evidence from the narrator's account of the fortnight.
She begins to act like the Moffats, taking on their manners and airs.
she began to imitate the manners and conversation of those about her; to put on little airs and graces, use French phrases, crimp her hair
Everyone petted her; and “Daisy,” as they called her, was in a fair way to have her head turned.
She begins to want what she sees, and home looks poorer beside it.
The more she saw of Annie Moffat’s pretty things, the more she envied her, and sighed to be rich.
Home now looked bare and dismal as she thought of it, work grew harder than ever
A strong answer The narrator says Meg begins to imitate the Moffats' manners, using French phrases and crimping her hair. She also envies Annie's pretty things and sighs to be rich, and home starts to look bare and dismal. A strong answer uses one piece about what she does and one about what she wants, and explains how copying and wanting feed one another.
3. Marmee agreed to the visit rather reluctantly, afraid Meg would come home more discontented. Using two pieces of evidence, explain whether that fear came true.
What it asks It asks the student to test Marmee's worry against Meg's return home, using two pieces of evidence.
Partly it did: the visit planted ideas and left Meg admitting how much she likes praise.
I am more sorry than I can express for the mischief this visit may have done you, Meg.
But it is nice to be praised and admired, and I can’t help saying I like it
Mostly it did not: Meg comes home glad of home and promises not to be dissatisfied.
Home is a nice place, though it isn’t splendid
I’ll not be sentimental or dissatisfied, mother
A strong answer Marmee feared that Meg would come back more discontented. She tells Meg she is sorry for the mischief the visit may have done, and Meg admits she likes being praised. But Meg also says home is a nice place, though it is not splendid, and promises not to be dissatisfied. A strong answer uses one piece for each side and says which side weighs more.