Year 8 Reading – Week 1 – Answers

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

(N.B. Answers are suggestions and not comprehensive or definitive.)

1. Give a summary of the extract in 50 words or less.

Main ideas:

• A group of sisters discuss Christmas without receiving presents.

• Meg explains that, because of the war, all should make sacrifices.
• The girls say what they would like and Jo suggests they buy those gifts for
themselves.
• Jo, Meg and Beth grumble about their jobs.

2. Based on what you’ve read so far, what is the story probably about?

Answers could include:

• Family life in 19th century America

• The relationship/bonds between sisters
• A family growing up without a father present
• A group of young women finding their way in the world.

3. What characters are introduce in the opening of the novel? How are they related
to each other?

Jo, Meg, Amy, Beth – sisters

A father and a mother are mentioned but do not appear in this extract.

4. Highlight the words that are spoken aloud. These are examples of direct speech.
What is the effect of starting the novel in the middle of a conversation between
the four girls?

Direct speech includes:

‘Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,’

‘It’s so dreadful to be poor!’

(Many further examples)

Explanations of effect could include:

• The reader learns something of the sisters’ character/personalities through their

speech.
• The author vividly establishes a family/domestic setting.
• The author instantly begins to encourage a reader to establish a relationship
with the young women (perhaps through empathy, sympathy, or humour).
• By opening with the sisters (rather than the mother or father), the reader’s focus
and sympathies are attached to the girls.
Year 8 Reading – Week 1 – Answers
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

5. What narrative perspective is the story from? Do we see everything from one
character’s point of view or is it a more general view of each girl? Why do you
think the author used this perspective?

• Third person narrator

Explanations may include:

• No – the narrator allows the reader to see the point of view of the different
characters.
• Using a third person narrator allows the author to consider the perspective and
feelings of all the sisters whereas a first person narrator would require events to
be seen from one individual’s point of view.
• There is some ‘distance’ between the third person narrator and the characters /
events depicted.

6. There are four girls in the extract. Give one noun or noun phrase from the text
that describes each character.

• Jo – a bookworm / a gentlemanly manner

• Meg – old dress / altered tone / the pretty things she wanted / complaining
tone
• Amy – injured sniff
• Beth – her corner / a little sigh / rough hands

7. The girls discuss the possibility of having no presents at Christmas. What is the
effect of Amy’s lines here?

Good answers will show an awareness of how there could be different responses to the
quotation:

• Could create sympathy for Amy and the girls as they will not have the things
which others will enjoy.
• Alternatively, a reader may infer that Amy is jealous of others.
• Perhaps Amy is somewhat spoilt or selfish as she wants to have presents at a
time of hardship.
• The phrase “pretty things”, in particular, suggests she is interested in
appearances and the superficial.
• The phrase “injured sniff” may encourage a reader to feel sympathy with
Amy, however the word choices also portray her has a childish character who
feels unduly ‘hard done by’.

8. Why do you think the author has added these lines to the text. What implications
are there about what might happen in the rest of the novel?

• The contrasting light imagery (“brightened” / “darkened”) is used to draw

attention to the difference between the comforting domestic scene and the
danger the father faces at war.
Year 8 Reading – Week 1 – Answers
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• The unspoken words “perhaps never” foreshadow the possibility that the girls’
father might not return.
• Although the young women are, to an extent safe, the author hints that death and
sadness exist and the world and could impact their lives.
• “Firelight” offers light and warmth – but fire can also symbolise destruction and
pain.

9. What details do we get from the extract about social status, wealth and
background of the girls in the extract? Remember this is set in 19th C America.

• The girls are relatively poor. [Meg says “It’s dreadful to be poor” and her
dress is “old”]
• Other families can afford gifts.
• However, they do have some security: a place to live and a mother and father
(although the father is away).
• The fact that it is the mother’s “choice” not to spend money for pleasure
suggests that the family do have some money.
• The girls’ interests in literature, art, and music suggest they have had an
education and are familiar with the arts and culture (which links them more
with the middle class rather than the working class).
• The girls have jobs: teaching, domestic service. The fact they have to work
suggests they are not of the upper class. The jobs are middle to low status.

10. A pupil has written: ‘Louisa May Alcott has created a very effective opening
here. She makes the different characters come alive. Beth, in particular, is
shown as extremely quiet and content with her life while the others are
more boisterous and demanding.’ To what extent do you agree with these
comments? You may comment on all the characters or concentrate on Beth.

Answers should engage with both Beth specifically and the girls as a group.

Answers can provide evidence both in support of and disagreement with the statement.

Responses could mention:

Beth

• Beth’s first piece of dialogue is more optimistic than the other girls. Suggests she
sees the positive side of situations and effectively establishes her as a supportive
and loving part of the family. Within the group of sisters, Alcott thus hints at Beth
being slightly separate from the ‘team’ of Meg, Amy and Jo.
• The use of alliteration in “contentedly from her corner” adds force to the adverb
and, again, portrays Beth as quiet (even withdrawn), but happy.
• The fact that Beth would like new music implies she is creative and sensitive to
beauty – a well-chosen detail in establishing character.
• The author explaining that “no one heard” her “little sigh” apart from the “kettle
holder” is a poignant way of depicting how Beth is different to the other girls: she
is quiet and resigned whilst the others are more extrovert.
• However, at the end of the extract Alcott writes “Beth looked at her rough hands
Year 8 Reading – Week 1 – Answers
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

with a sigh that any one could hear that time.” Alcott recalls the unheard sigh
earlier in the extract; that this one is louder suggests that Beth does have
frustrations about her life. The adjective “rough” suggests she has to do manual
work (and this stops her from doing something she enjoys: practising music).

The Other Sisters

• Alcott impressively establishes distinct personalities for each of the sisters.

• Powerful choice of adverbs, such as “decidedly”, suggests the other sisters
have more self-confidence.
• At the start of the extract, Jo, Meg and Amy join in the grumbling about the
lack of presents (Beth is the only one to offer a counter opinion at this stage).
• Jo proposes the idea of spending their own money – this could suggest she is
rebellious, impulsive or independent.
• Alcott uses descriptions of speech, such as “complaining tone”, to bring each
girl’s personality to life.