Should Future Eighth Graders Read Little Women

In “The Daily Grind: Lessons in the Hidden Curriculum”, Peggy Orenstein gives an observation of an eighth graders day in math class at middle school. Orenstein in this selection is trying to give the reader a view of how there is a gender gap between girls and boys and how control of power is different between male and female. In the beginning Orenstein states that Mrs. Ritcher the math teacher, “is a ruddy athletic woman with a powerful voice.”(97) While class is in session, Orenstein observes the teacher showing more attention towards the boys then the girls. The author observes that: “Allison, a tall, angular girl who once told me, “My goal is to be the best wife and mother I can be,” raises her hand to ask a question. Mrs. Ritcher, finishing

Is there a different attitude toward children in both books versus the children of today? Discuss the role that youth play in each.

Throughout the beginning of her speech, Kelley makes use of disturbing anecdotes that appeal to women's emotions. She first illustrates that while they “sleep, several thousand little girls” are “working in textile mills” throughout the night. This use of little girls working highlights that children all around the United States are not sleeping but are operating machines: making clothes for the adults to purchase. She incorporates this factor in order to encourage the concerned mothers to help alter labor laws so that their children are not working twelve-hour shifts. Kelley continues to describe how little girls of “six or seven years,” who are “just tall enough to reach” the machines, will be working eleven hours a day. Kelley’s use of the children's height emphasizes how as soon as children reach a certain height, they are being deprived of their childhood and sent to work in the factories. She continues to repeat the phrase that “while [they] sleep” little girls and boys “will be working” in the mills. Kelley’s continual use of this phrase evokes sympathy in the women so they can help change the lives of children by amending the harsh child labor laws.

Why do certain people rule over what each child can and cannot read? Is that not the parents’ job to determine whether or not is it appropriate for their child? When a book is considered banned, parents, teachers, and librarians are discouraged from providing the book to their children. Many of these adults then disapprove of the book without even reading it. Junie B. Jones is thrown from the realm of possibility for many children just because the loveable character has some flaws.

In 1845, the Godey’s Lady’s Book published an article titled “maternal instruction”. The article purpose was to make the American public aware of the need for equal education to women. The role of mother did not only meant to bear children, but also to educate them to a symbol of society.During the start of the 19th century, American males want the newly freed states to increase the citizen patriotism and intelligence to their country. Since women were child’s fist teacher, woman’s education needed to be more proficient. Mary Wollstonecraft’s novel was a role model for American education and family life. In her novel, Wollstonecraft explains how aside from a woman’s duty as a female, she also has the job to educate her child. However, the female sex has limits for the amount of knowledge passed, and the lack of knowledge restricts a mother ability to educate her child. However, mothers are nit the only females that need to be well educated. Daughters have to get a proper education not only to become a good mother but also good

Why should high schoolers be forced to read a book that isn’t interesting to them? Often times they either do not apply to real life situations or even teach anything that a teenager would understand. So, the high schooler skims through the book and does not pay attention to any detail. High school classrooms need better books that can teach history in a fun way, and add some interesting things to which students can reflect and think on. A book read in high school, should allow the students to think critically about the text they are reading, should include some references to history, and incorporate themes that are understandable and relatable to a high school student’s life. This makes a book want to be read as well as enjoyable. The

“The wretchedness of an empty brain is perhaps as hard to bear as an empty purse, and a heart without hope is as cheerless as a fireless grate” (Cobbe 80). Women are expected to be a teacher for their children and educate them

The reason this book should be read in schools is it teaches kids that it is not a good idea to run away from home. Some horrible things could happen to you, like you could get kidnapped or killed it is not the best decision. Lots of things could happen to you and no one will know where you are. Like when Aly decided to give her parents some space so she decides to go visit a friend on another island she was only planning on being gone for a few days but on her way over there she was captured by pirates and put into slavery.

“Everything we read constructs us, makes us who we are, by presenting our image of ourselves as girls and women, as boys and men” – M. Fox

Reading novels is an experience unlike any other. With the crack of a new book, the reader is transported into the pages, into a new land, ready to take on the role of protagonist. Each little girl has the chance to be a pirate-fighting hero, each little boy able to become the doting husband. If that sentence sounds strange, it is because society has socialized individuals to gender any and all activities, reading included. Elizabeth Segel drives this point home in her article “As the Twig is Bent… Gender and Childhood Reading,” which gives an in-depth analysis of gender in children’s book, and the implications it has for readers.

The Victorian Era hailed many prolific authors, which were mostly male. A woman who wanted to be a writer at this time was not respected and would have been accused of being whimsical and flighty. However, women such as Louisa May Alcott redefined the norms and followed her heart with her pen by writing Little Women. The novel follows the lives of the four March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March – detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood trying to find their place in society. Even though so much has changed in the last fifty years, gender roles still take a huge toll in society. Unfortunately, breaking down gender roles is not easy; as women are still

“It's easy to look back and see it, and it's easy to give the advice. But the sad fact is, most people don't look beneath the surface until it's too late.” -Wendelin Van Draanen, Flipped. The book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, shows many different perspectives within its characters; specifically: Jo’s and Beth’s. Jo’s as well as Beth’s lives change as they go through challenges.

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is by far the best novel about growing up I have ever read in my entire years of existence. It shows you a heartbreaking tale of four sisters who love and care greatly about each other. It shows how you don’t have to be rich to be happy, or how important family is right now. I mean, I never hang

In a red beanie chair beside Mrs. Barnes desk in the back of the room I sat with my knees pulled up to my chest and Charlotte’s Web balanced on top. As I read I became a girl determined to save a baby pig, a spider with an incredible web, and a lonely pig. I traveled through the story as if it was my life I was reading about. Books take me on a journey to unimaginable worlds where I can be a damsel in distress, or a circus freak, I can ride a flying pig or stand beside Martin Luther King Jr. as he makes his speeches. Early, on I had teachers who encouraged me to find books that I enjoyed and that could transport me but there are very few teachers who encourage their kids to read and enjoy it. Most teacher assign books that will match the

Louisa May Alcott, best known as the author of Little Women, was an advocate of women’s rights and temperance. Published in 1868, Little Women follows the lives, loves and tribulations of three sisters growing up during American civil war. The independence of women is a major theme in Little Women. Since its publication the novel has constantly been read and remembered for its feminist spirit. Little Women examines the place of women in society by presenting the portraits of several very different but equally praiseworthy women. We experience their multifarious interpretations of femininity and we see a range of diverse possibilities for integrating women into the society.