PART TWO: CHAPTER TWENTY - SIX - Artistic Attempts Practice Quiz — Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: PART TWO: CHAPTER TWENTY - SIX - Artistic Attempts
What is the opening line of Chapter 26 about?
The difference between talent and genius: "It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women."
What is the first art form Amy shows genuine skill in?
Pen-and-ink drawing, which proves both "pleasant and profitable" before over-strained eyes force her to stop.
What is poker sketching, and why does it alarm the family?
Poker sketching is burning designs into wood with heated pokers. The family fears a fire because of the smoke, burning-wood odor, and red-hot pokers left around the house.
Which famous artists does Alcott reference when describing Amy's paintings?
Murillo (swarthy boys and dark-eyed Madonnas), Rembrandt (oily brown shadows), Rubens (buxom ladies and dropsical infants), and Turner (tempests of blue thunder and orange lightning).
How does Amy's sculpture phase end?
She attempts to cast her own foot in plaster, which hardens unexpectedly. Jo must excavate her but, overcome with laughter, cuts Amy's foot with a knife, leaving a permanent scar.
What does Amy want to plan for her drawing-class friends?
An elaborate lunch (cold tongue, chicken, French chocolate, ice cream) followed by a drive to scenic spots, rowing on the river, and sketching the broken bridge.
What advice does Marmee give Amy about the party?
Marmee suggests a simpler plan would be more pleasant as a change for the wealthy girls and more fitting for the March family's circumstances. Amy refuses, so Marmee lets experience teach the lesson.
What is Jo's initial reaction to Amy's party plans?
Jo frowns on the whole project, calling the guests "a parcel of girls who don't care a sixpence for you" and accusing Amy of truckling to wealthy people. She eventually agrees to help reluctantly.
What goes wrong with Monday's party attempt?
The weather is undecided—drizzling, then shining, then blowing—and none of the invited girls come. The family eats the perishable food themselves at two o'clock.
What happens to the chicken on Tuesday?
Hannah leaves it on the kitchen table and Beth's kittens eat it, forcing Amy to go buy a lobster as a replacement for the salad.
Who is Tudor, and why is the lobster incident embarrassing?
Tudor is one of Laurie's elegant college friends. When the old lady on the omnibus stumbles out and knocks over Amy's basket, the large scarlet lobster is revealed to Tudor, shattering Amy's carefully cultivated image of refinement.
How does Amy recover from the lobster embarrassment with Tudor?
She uses tact: she laughs and asks, "Don't you wish you were to have some of the salad he's going to make, and to see the charming young ladies who are to eat it?" This appeals to his curiosity and reframes the situation.
What is a "cherry-bounce" in this chapter?
It is Hannah's mispronunciation of "charabanc"—a type of horse-drawn carriage. Amy borrows Mr. Laurence's charabanc to drive her guests around.
How many guests actually attend Amy's party on Tuesday?
Only one—Miss Eliott—comes. The rest of the twelve or fourteen invited girls do not show up.
How does the family respond to the single guest's arrival?
Jo rushes to clear half the food from the table, and the family plays their parts gracefully. Miss Eliott finds them a "most hilarious set."
What is Amy's reaction after the failed party?
She says she is "satisfied" because she did what she undertook and it was not her fault it failed. She asks the family not to mention it for at least a month. She sends the leftover food to the Hummels.
What is Mr. March's humorous contribution at the end of the chapter?
He begins a scholarly observation: "Salad was one of the favorite dishes of the ancients, and Evelyn..."—before general laughter cuts him off.
What birthday gift does Laurie give Amy as a reminder of the party?
A tiny coral lobster in the shape of a charm for her watch guard.
What does the narrator say Amy's motto is?
"Nil desperandum"—Latin for "never despair."—reflecting her determined and optimistic temperament.
What weakness does the narrator identify in Amy's social aspirations?
A desire to move in "our best society" without being quite sure what the best really was, often mistaking the false for the true and admiring what was not admirable.
What lesson does Marmee believe Amy needs to learn?
That "money cannot buy refinement of nature, that rank does not always confer nobility, and that true breeding makes itself felt in spite of external drawbacks."
What does the Michelangelo quote in the chapter suggest about Amy?
The narrator cites "genius is eternal patience" and says that if this is true, Amy had "some claim to the divine attribute" because she persevered in spite of all obstacles and failures.