Louisa Мay Аlcott “Little women”

1.

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
“LITTLE WOMEN”

2.

Louisa May Alcott
1832 – 1888

3.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on
November 29, 1832. She and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth, and May,
were educated by their father, philosopher/ teacher Bronson Alcott, and
raised on the practical Christianity of their mother, Abigail May.

4.

Louisa spent her childhood in Boston and in Concord, Massachusetts,
where she visited Ralph Waldo Emerson’s library, went on excursions
into nature with Henry David Thoreau, and organized theatricals in the
barn at "Hillside".

5.

Young Louisa was a
tomboy.
"No
boy
could be my friend till
I had beaten him in a
race,"
she
claimed,
"and no girl if she
refused to climb trees,
leap fences ..."

6.

For Louisa, writing was an early passion.
She had a rich
imagination and often her stories became melodramas that she and
her sisters would act out for friends. Louisa preferred to play the
"lurid" parts in these plays --"the villains, ghosts, bandits, and
disdainful queens."

7.

At age 15, troubled by the poverty that plagued her family, she
vowed: "I will do something by and by. Don’t care what, teach, sew,
act, write, anything to help the family; and I’ll be rich and famous and
happy before I die, see if I won’t!“ Whether as a teacher, seamstress,
governess, or household servant, for many years Louisa did any work
she could find.

8.

Louisa’s career as an author
began with poetry and short
stories that appeared in popular
magazines.
In 1854, when she
was 22, her first book Flower
Fables
was
published.
A
milestone along her literary path
was Hospital Sketches (1863),
based on the letters she had
written home from her post as a
nurse in Washington, DC during
the Civil War.

9.

When Louisa was 35 years old,
her publisher in Boston, Thomas
Niles, asked her to write "a book for
girls." Little Women was written at
Orchard House from May to July
1868. The novel is based on Louisa
and her sisters’ coming of age and is
set in Civil War New England.

10.

Louisa published over 30
books
and
collections
of
stories. She died on March 6,
1888, only two days after her
father, and is buried in Sleepy
Hollow Cemetery in Concord.

11.

Alcott’s timeline
1847
1832
1834
1888
1863
1854
1868

12.

“Little Women” by L. M. Alcott
Beth
Jo
Amy
Meg

13.

MEG
JO
had an expressive
face
felt awkward being
a teenager
BETH
was delicatelooking and polite
was very attractive
AMY
was comfortable
spending time alone
thought very
highly of herself
was always quite
and content

14.

cheered up
plump
interrupted
limbs
loose/flowing
strong
decisive
cut in
fly-away
moving her body
old and useless
rapidly shooting up
carrying herself
growing fast
brightened
arms and legs
not thin
talking
lecturing
worn out

15.

who is very polite
leaving it
she rarely lost
a typical pale beauty
bothered her/made her
feel awkward
quite a few paintings
a good picture or two
was seldom disturbed
a regular snow-maiden
which were very much in
her way
venturing out
mindful of her manners

16.

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES
dark hair
dark-haired
green eyes
green-eyed
long legs
long-legged
broad
shoulders
broadshouldered

17.

stiff neck
stiff-necked
cold heart
cold-hearted
wide eyes
wide-eyed
baby face
baby-faced
kind heart
kind-hearted
sharp tongue
sharp-tongued

18.

Complete the table with words from the text
Name
Meg
Jo
Beth
Amy
hair
facial characteristics
body/build

19.

Complete the table with words from the text
Name
hair
body/build
soft, brown
large eyes, sweet
mouth
long, thick
comical nose, sharp grey tall, thin, long limbs,
eyes, decisive mouth, round
fierce, funny
shoulders, big hands and
feet
smooth-haired
rosy, bright-eyed,
sweet mouth, peaceful
expression
curling,
yellow
blue eyes
Meg
Jo
Beth
Amy
facial characteristics
plump
slender