Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
This sentence is the novel's philosophical center — a claim about epistemology (how we know love), theology (divine love requires human mediation), and aesthetics (humor as fitness). The parenthetical definition of humor intervenes in the plot to deliver a thesis statement. The contrast between 'white-robed childhood lisping at motherly knees' and 'this freckled witch' sets conventional sentimentality against Montgomery's unsentimental reality. The final clause is devastating in its causal logic: Anne lacks knowledge of God BECAUSE she lacks experience of love.
She had, as I have told you, the glimmerings of a sense of humor — which is simply another name for a sense of the fitness of things; and it suddenly occurred to her that that simple little prayer, sa...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize this chapter, then explain what you think the author most wanted the reader to notice or feel. What techniques did the author use?
Discussion Questions
- The narrator defines humor as 'a sense of the fitness of things.' This definition transforms humor from comedy into a form of moral intelligence — the capacity to perceive what is appropriate. How does this definition illuminate Marilla's character throughout the novel, and does it change how you read her earlier 'rusty smile'?
- Anne says she would 'feel a prayer' in a field looking at the sky rather than recite one kneeling by a bed. Is Montgomery presenting Anne's natural theology as superior to Marilla's institutional religion, or is she showing the limitations of both? What would someone who disagreed with you argue?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Failure to show appropriate respect for something considered sacred — the narrator distinguishes this from Anne's 'spiritual ignorance,' defending Anne's intentions
Item 2
Interrupted to insert a remark — Anne lifts her head mid-prayer to check whether 'Gracious heavenly Father' is acceptable, treating prayer as a conversation rather than a performance
Item 3
Warned with gentle firmness — Marilla's characteristic mode of instruction, corrective but not cruel
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 6 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free