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Copywork
About This Passage
We chose this sentence because it does in one breath what whole chapters sometimes do — it names Marilla's parting word a 'Parthian shaft' (an arrow shot backward in retreat), shows it lodged in Anne's 'stormy bosom,' and then turns the reader downstairs to find Marilla 'troubled in mind' and 'vexed in soul.' Two human beings, both bruised, both retreating: the chapter's whole moral weather in a single line.
Leaving this Parthian shaft to rankle in Anne’s stormy bosom Marilla descended to the kitchen, grievously troubled in mind and vexed in soul.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell back, in three short parts, what happens in this chapter: (1) the fortnight before Mrs. Rachel comes, (2) what Mrs. Rachel says to Anne and what Anne does, and (3) what Marilla and Anne say to each other afterward upstairs.
Discussion Questions
- Mrs. Rachel calls herself one of those who 'pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favour.' Looking at how she greets Anne, what does Lucy Maud Montgomery seem to think about that kind of pride?
- Marilla is the one who told Mrs. Rachel that Anne had her faults — yet a moment later Marilla says, 'You shouldn't have twitted her about her looks.' What changed in Marilla between those two sentences?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A length of time equal to two weeks.
Item 2
Made suddenly shy or embarrassed in front of others.
Item 3
A bright, deep red color.
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Critical Thinking
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