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Copywork
About This Passage
This three-sentence flashback supplies the chapter's hidden engine. Montgomery withholds it until the moment Marilla softens, then delivers the cruelty as a remembered quotation — 'What a pity she is such a dark homely little thing' — and measures the damage with brutal economy: 'every day of forty before the sting had gone out of that memory.' Copying it lets the student study how a single buried wound, precisely dated, can account for an adult's whole reservoir of sympathy.
An old remembrance suddenly rose up before Marilla. She had been a very small child when she had heard one aunt say of her to another, “What a pity she is such a dark homely little thing.” Marilla was...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Give a concise summary of the chapter, then identify the single sentence or moment that most reveals Montgomery's larger argument — about appearance, honesty, or the growth of affection — and explain why it carries that weight.
Discussion Questions
- Montgomery introduces Mrs. Rachel with praise that may not be simple praise — 'delightful and popular people who pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favour' — and titles the chapter 'properly horrified.' How does the narrator's language shape your judgment of her, and why might Montgomery choose that indirect way of judging her instead of plain criticism? Use the narrator's exact words about her.
- Although the chapter is named for Mrs. Rachel and dominated by Anne's outburst, its final movement turns inward to Marilla's private reckoning. Whose transformation does the chapter ultimately care most about, and why does Montgomery's handling of the scene lead you there? Use the words of Marilla's closing thoughts.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Guesses or assumptions made without proof.
Item 2
God's care and guidance over human affairs.
Item 3
Things that make up for a loss or hardship.
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Critical Thinking
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