A Little Princess

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. Emily (Chapter 1)

2. Mariette is French. (Chapter 2)

3. Ermengarde (Chapter 3)

4. Lavinia’s mother says that pretending things is silly. (Chapter 4)

5. Scullery maid (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Sara thinks that Miss Minchin looks cold and fishy. In addition, Sara can tell that Ms. Minchin doesn’t like her, and Ms. Minchin flatters Sara in a way that Sara thinks is not truthful. (Chapter 1)

2. Ms. Minchin assumes that Sara’s father hired a French maid because he wanted Sara to learn French. When Sara tries to explain, Miss Minchin refuses to listen to her. (Chapter 2)

3. Ermengarde has never met anyone like Sara. She loves Sara’s ability to make up stories, and she’s grateful to Sara for offering to help her learn French. (Chapter 3)

4. Lavinia used to be the most important girl at the school, and she is jealous that Sara has taken her place as the most popular and the best dressed. (Chapter 4)

5. Sara decides to imagine herself as a princess so that she can “scatter largess,” doing small things for people like Lottie, Ermengarde, and Becky to make their lives happier. (Chapter 5)

Chapters 6-9

Reading Check

1. A pincushion (Chapter 6)

2. Miss Minchin takes the doll back. (Chapter 7)

3. The Bastille (Chapter 8)

4. The rat Melchisedec (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Sara pretends to be a princess so that she can act more like a princess. (Chapter 6)

2. Becky means that being a princess isn’t about being rich or having pretty clothes. Sara will always be a princess on the inside. (Chapter 7)

3. Sara assumes (wrongly) that Ermengarde is like the other girls who no longer want to have anything to do with her now because of her awkward encounter with Ermengarde . (Chapter 8)

4. Sara is lonely, and she has read about prisoners in the Bastille keeping rats as pets. Taming Melchisedec makes her imaginary situation feel more real to her. (Chapter 9)

Chapters 10-14

Reading Check

1. Donald gives Sara a sixpence. (Chapter 10)

2. Alfred the Great had his ears boxed for burning cakes. (Chapter 11)

3. Mr. Carrisford believes Sara must have been sent to school in Paris because her mother was French. (Chapter 12)

4. She gives most of her buns to a beggar child. (Chapter 13)

5. Ram Dass overhears Sara talking to her friends. (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

1. Sara sees a number of household items from India, which remind her of the country where she grew up and lived with her father. She still thinks of India as more of a home than Miss Minchin’s school ever was. (Chapter 10)

2. The monkey runs to Sara, and Ram Dass crosses the roof to retrieve it. Ram Dass addresses Sara with respect. (Chapter 11)

3. Mr. Carrisford feels guilty for Sara’s father’s death, and he feels responsible for Sara. He imagines her living like the little servant girl next door. (Chapter 12)

4. The bakery woman wishes she had given Sara more. She can’t give the bread to Sara, so she gives it to the beggar girl instead. (Chapter 13)

5. Ram Dass hopes that helping Sara will help Mr. Carrisford keep up his spirits. (Chapter 14)

Chapters 15-19

Reading Check

1. The cook gave the meat pie to her friend the policeman. (Chapter 15)

2. Sara doesn’t want to feel as if she is begging for food. (Chapter 15)

3. The packages contain warm clothing and a note saying that the clothes will be replaced when necessary. (Chapter 16)

4. The “Large Family” children refer to Sara Crewe as “the little un-fairy princess.” (Chapter 17)

5. Anne is the hungry little girl to whom Sara gave five of her six buns.

Short Answer

1. Sara promises to read the books and turn the contents into stories she can tell to Ermengarde. (Chapter 15)

2. Sara tells Becky that the magic is more beautiful if they don’t know how it is done. (Chapter 16)

3. Miss Minchin is afraid that Sara has an eccentric relative who will be angry to learn how Sara has been mistreated. (Chapter 17)

4. Miss Minchin tells Mr. Carrisford that Sara’s father left her in Miss Minchin’s charge. She also tells him that Sara is untruthful and ungrateful. (Chapter 18)

5. The baker woman is so touched by Sara’s generosity that she wants to help other children. (Chapter 19)