Life With Louisa

小婦人的真實人生Life became fiction for American author Louisa May Alcott 路易莎?梅?愛爾考特的暢銷小說《小婦人》靈感來源就是家庭Family was the inspiration for Louisa May Alcott’s best-selling novels. by Chelsea Ewald.

Many notable authors dig deep into their imaginations or search far and wide to find inspiration for their stories. Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), however, didn't have to look much further than her family.

Growing up
The second of four daughters born to Amos Bronson and Abigail May Alcott. Louisa had a childhood that was far from typical. She and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth and May, were educated by their deeply philosophical father and raised to practice "plain living and high thinking." Simplicity came in the form of communal living, where Alcott learned to abstain from eating meat and animal products, drink only water, and bathe in unheated water.

As for high thinking, Alcott was regularly enlightened by family friends and American literary greats Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Frequent visits to Emerson's vast library walks into nature with Thoreau and intellectual insight from Hawthorne inspired and influenced Alcott a great deal. Surrounded by such passionate and knowledgeable authors Alcott developed an early love for writing. With her rich imagination, this self-proclaimed tomboy penned stories she and her sisters would later act out for friends.

When poverty began to plague her family, 15-year-old Alcott pledged to help, proclaiming, " I'll be rich and famous and happy before I die, see if I won't !" Determined to keep her promise to help her family, Alcott began contributing to the family's income almost immediately. To do so, she worked as a teacher, seamstress and servant, all the while continuing to write. When the American Civil War broke out, Alcott enlisted as a nurse. One year later, Hospital Sketches (1863) was published detailing her experiences and propelling Alcott into the limelight.

More Information
The Alcott moved 22 times in nearly 30 years but finally settled in Concord. Massachusetts, in a home that they called Orchard House. They lived there from 1858 to 1877 during which time Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women. Today, people can visit this home that inspired the setting of the famed book and learn more about the Alcott family.

Little Women
When her publisher requested that Alcott write a book for girls, the 35-year-old author penned Little Women (1868). What would quickly become her most famous novel, Little Women is a fictional piece based on the lives of Alcott and her family. Alcott's life is represented by the novel's strong-willed and independent protagonist Jo March. Throughout the novel, Jo and her sisters enjoy exciting adventures together, no doubt similar to what Alcott would have experienced with her sisters.

Today, Alcott's life continues to live on through her fiction. Little Women's is now considered a classic and has even gone on to inspire several film adaptations along the way.

Grammar
The second of four daughters born to Amos Bronson and Abigail May Alcott. Louisa had childhood that was far from typical.
The second of four daughters.....
Tim is the youngest of three sons in his family.
Sharon is the third of five children in her family.

Vocabulary Tips
notable-somebody is well-expected by her repetition. remarkable.顯著的，著名的。
*Getting both countries to cease fire was one of the U.N.'s notable achievements.停戰。。顯著的功績。
*The museum is notable for its complete collection of famous impressionists.
abstain-戒除，避開 don't do it or avoid. abstain from- 戒除什麽。
*He admitted himself into a rehab center in order to abstain from alcohol.
*The doctor told him to abstain from excessive exercise.避免運動過量。
self-proclaimed-自命，自許，自稱 self-自己 proclaim-宣稱。
*The self-proclaimed speed-reading genius made a fortune by selling DVDs.速讀天才，賺了好多錢。。
*Josh is a self-proclaimed expert in management.自許是管理專家。
philosophical-study of human life.人生哲學。
fiction novel.
plain living and high thinking-物資 生活簡單，注重精神層面.
communal- share in common, share what you have with others.與人共用.
enlightened- educated and gain understanding.
intellectual- make brain start.
tomboy- a girl who acts as a boy.
plague-瘟疫，此指折磨，困擾。
* The disease began to plague the girl when she was just a baby.
*My brother has been plaguing me all weekend. 煩擾。
* Cindy's knee injury plagued her for years.受苦
enlist-使列于表中，入伍，徴募，徵召。
*Both brothers enlisted in the marines and had great success.
adapt-更換，改變，改編。
*The panda's adaption to the new zoo has been quite difficult.
adaptation-改編，改寫。。
*The movie is actually an adaptation of a famous sci-fi book.

Chat Room
dig-挖掘。調查。
dig deep-挖深，仔細尋找，探索。(1. slowly and carefully to seeking. 2 dig deep to give (money)away to give help.
to dig around-到處調查。
dig a hole for yourself-使自己陷入困境。
dig himself out of the hole-脫離困境。
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Protagonist-劇中或小説中的主角
antagonist-戲劇中或是小説中主角的對手。
plot-小説，電影裏的情節。
lose the plot-跟不上情節，掉掉了。