PART TWO: CHAPTER FORTY -SEVEN - Harvest Time Practice Quiz — Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: PART TWO: CHAPTER FORTY -SEVEN - Harvest Time
What does Aunt March leave to Jo in her will?
Plumfield, her large estate, which Jo converts into a school for boys.
What does Jo plan to do with Plumfield?
Open a boarding school for boys, with Professor Bhaer teaching and Jo caring for the students.
What humorous name does Laurie suggest for Jo's school?
The "Bhaer-garten" — a pun on "Bhaer" and "kindergarten."
What "crop" does Jo say she intends to raise at Plumfield?
Boys — she describes the school's students as the profitable crop she will grow.
Who quietly funds tuition for poor boys at Jo's school?
Mr. Laurence, who finds cases of destitution and persuades the Bhaers to accept the children.
What annual event brings the entire March family together at Plumfield?
The yearly apple-picking festival, held each October.
How many years after Jo's wedding does the apple-picking scene take place?
Five years after Jo's wedding.
What are Jo's two sons named?
Rob (named for Grandpa March) and Teddy (a happy-go-lucky baby).
What special event occurs during the apple-picking festival?
Mrs. March's sixtieth birthday celebration, complete with homemade gifts and a surprise choral serenade.
How do the boys serenade Mrs. March?
They hide in the trees and sing a song that Jo wrote, Laurie set to music, and the Professor rehearsed with them.
What is the first toast at the outdoor supper?
"Aunt March, God bless her!" — proposed by the Professor in gratitude for her legacy.
What does Meg say about her "castle in the air"?
That it was the most nearly realized, because she always secretly knew she'd be satisfied with a little home, John, and children.
How does Jo now view her former ambition for literary fame?
She says it seems "selfish, lonely, and cold," though she still hopes to write a good book someday.
What is Amy's artistic project in Chapter 47?
She is sculpting a figure of her baby daughter Beth, so she can keep the image "whatever happens."
Why is Amy's daughter Beth a source of worry?
Beth is described as a "frail little creature," and the fear of losing her is the shadow over Amy's happiness.
What does the harvest metaphor represent in the chapter?
The spiritual and emotional fruits of Mrs. March's years of patient moral guidance — her loving, virtuous family is her "harvest."
What biblical allusion does Amy make about the harvest?
She hopes for "more wheat and fewer tares," alluding to the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares about separating good from evil.
What literary device does Alcott use by echoing the opening scene in the final chapter?
Circular structure — the novel opens with the sisters gathered around Marmee and closes with them together again, now with children and grandchildren.
Who is the "merry little quadroon" at Plumfield?
A mixed-race boy whom other schools refused to accept, but who is welcomed at the Bhaer school and has the sweetest singing voice.
What are Mrs. March's final words in the novel?
"Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!"
How does Jo describe Laurie's character growth?
She calls him a "steady, sensible businessman" who uses his wealth for good and gets better every year — a model for her students.
What does Jo think about before falling asleep the night the school is planned?
She kneels beside the empty bed near her own and thinks tender thoughts of her late sister Beth.