Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
These three sentences track Marilla's mind turning on itself. Copying them lets the student study Montgomery's shifts in register — the understated litotes 'no little dismay,' the free-indirect exclamation that lets us hear Marilla's own dismayed voice, and the long, clause-laden final sentence whose balance ('more humiliation over this than sorrow') quietly exposes that Marilla cares more about appearances than about Anne's fault.
She felt no little dismay over the scene that had just been enacted. How unfortunate that Anne should have displayed such temper before Mrs. Rachel Lynde, of all people! Then Marilla suddenly became a...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize this chapter, then explain what you think Montgomery most wanted the reader to notice — about Anne, about Marilla, or about Mrs. Rachel — and what techniques she used to make us notice it.
Discussion Questions
- The narrator describes Mrs. Rachel as one of those 'delightful and popular people who pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favour.' Explain how Montgomery's tone toward Mrs. Rachel here shapes whether we read her bluntness as honesty or as cruelty, and why. Point to the narrator's exact words about her.
- After the scene, Marilla realizes she feels 'more humiliation over this than sorrow' over Anne's temper, and later fights a desire to laugh. What do these reactions suggest about her divided response to Anne, Mrs. Rachel, and her own sense of propriety, and why does that division run so deep? Use the words of her private thoughts at the chapter's end.
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A feeling that someone or something is worthless or beneath respect.
Item 2
A person's natural temperament — the basic bent of their character.
Item 3
Sudden alarm and dismay that leaves one at a loss.
+ 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