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Copywork
About This Passage
This two-paragraph excerpt captures the chapter's central rhythm: Marilla's brisk discipline followed by Anne's quiet absorption. Marilla scolds Anne for talking 'familiarly' about Christ and for 'mooning and imagining' — the passage names Anne's two faults from Marilla's perspective in a single breath. Then Marilla's silent disapproval of the apple-blossom decoration ('eyed that decoration askance') shows that Marilla's restraint is a constant act of choosing what not to say.
“Well, I don’t suppose you did—but it doesn’t sound right to talk so familiarly about such things. And another thing, Anne, when I send you after something you’re to bring it at once and not fall into...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Narrate Chapter 8 in three to four paragraphs. Cover Marilla's afternoon-long withholding of the news that Anne may stay, the picture of Christ Blessing Little Children that absorbs Anne, Anne's stories about Katie Maurice and Violetta, and Anne's solitary scene at the mirror imagining herself as Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald.
Discussion Questions
- Marilla insists, 'I don't believe in imagining things different from what they really are. When the Lord puts us in certain circumstances He doesn't mean for us to imagine them away.' Anne replies, 'How much you miss!' Examine each character's position. Is Marilla's stance a serious theological claim about accepting providence, or a refusal of imagination's legitimate work — and where does the chapter's sympathy actually lie?
- Anne identifies herself with the lonely girl in the blue dress in the picture of Christ Blessing Little Children — even though Marilla has just told her she may stay at Green Gables. What does Anne's continuing identification with the unwanted child reveal about how slowly belonging is actually felt, even after it has been formally granted?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
in a way that cannot be moved or changed; firmly and unyieldingly.
Item 2
the feeling of being deeply confused or puzzled.
Item 3
to speak or write at length about a subject.
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Critical Thinking
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