Little Women (Opening)
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)
The opening lines of Chapter One, "Playing Pilgrims," introducing the four March sisters.
Download the handwriting worksheet (PDF)Printable, ruled for handwriting: copy it by hand, then type it here.
About this text
Louisa May Alcott published Little Women in two parts, the first in 1868 and a sequel the following year later collected into the same volume; she wrote it quickly, at her publisher's request for "a book for girls," and was reportedly not especially fond of the assignment at first. The opening chapter, "Playing Pilgrims," introduces all four March sisters through dialogue before any narration describes them directly.
Alcott gives each sister a distinct sentence and a distinct complaint — Jo's blunt grumbling, Meg's sigh about her dress, Amy's "injured sniff," Beth's quiet contentment — so that four different personalities appear in four lines without a word of physical description. Copying the passage carefully, including the stage directions folded into each line ("grumbled Jo, lying on the rug"), is a way to see how much character Alcott packs into dialogue tags most readers skim past.
What to watch for
- 8 quotation marks: quotation marks come in pairs and wrap exactly what someone says; check that every one that opens also closes.
- 1 exclamation or question mark: ask the child how the sentence should sound when read aloud, and why the writer chose that mark.
- 5 apostrophes: sort each one into possession (the shepherd's staff) or a missing letter (don't = do not).
- Capital letters in the middle of a sentence: Christmas, Jo, Meg, Amy, Father, Mother. Ask why each one is capitalized before typing it.
- Longest word: "contentedly" (11 letters). Try spelling it aloud once before reaching it.
- 4 lines averaging about 17 words each. A comfortable line length for a single sitting.
Full text (reference)
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
"We've got Father and Mother, and each other," said Beth contentedly from her corner.