Little Women

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. In much of Part I of Little Women, Mr. March is away serving in the Union Army during the Civil War.

• How does the Union cause line up with values held by the March family? (topic sentence)
• Give textual support that shows why Marmee and Mr. March would be supporters of the war.
• How does this relate to the lessons that Marmee is trying to teach her daughters?

2. Of all the sisters, Jo is the one who least wants to grow up.

• Why does Jo want to stay in the safety of the March household? (topic sentence)
• In what ways is her behavior informed by this desire?
• What causes her to move toward adulthood?

3. Though each sister is a major character in the story, Jo’s narrative is the one that drives the book forward

• How is this book fundamentally Jo’s story? (topic sentence)
• How does her relationship with each sister help her grow into the woman she becomes?
• What is the novel saying through Jo’s story about what it means to grow up?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Many readers over the years have taken issue with Jo’s capitulation to marriage, seeing it as a betrayal of her character. Make a case either for or against Jo’s “happy ending,” being sure to outline the reasons why she may have made that decision and how she grows and changes after losing Beth. Why might the school she opens be an acceptable middle ground for her character?

2. “Morals don’t sell nowadays,” according to Mr. Dashwood, yet Little Women makes a conscious and deliberate effort to combine the domestic drama with morality tales, even going so far as to have authorial interjections that lay out the message of the work (Chapter 34). Why is the didacticism of the narration an important part of the book, and how does it relate to each sister’s journey toward adult womanhood? Be sure to cite specific evidence from the text.

3. Each of the sisters has a dream of their future in Chapter 13, “Castles in the Air.” How does each sister’s dream inform her character? How do these dreams play out for each sister? What does their return to the idea of dreams in the closing pages of the book mean for the overall theme of the novel?