Louisa May Alcott

From poverty to stardom Louisa May Alcott has thrived through many trials and tribulations, but with her unremitting passion and determination, Alcott became a well-known author and role model. Alcott experienced many setbacks in her life. With these setbacks, she was able to create stories that portrayed her life experiences. Alcott’s writings captured the hearts of young children to grown adults. Although she lived for only fifty-five years, she showed her audacity to be support herself and her family.
Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She was born to Abigail Alcott and Bronson Alcott. Louisa is the second of four sisters. She was raised in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts (Eds. of Merriam- Webster 12). Bronson Alcott worked at a school for the first five years of Louisa’s life (Herzberg 13). Once a mob encircled the school, Bronson quit the job (Kunitz and Haycraft 18). Her father was penniless and could not contribute and support Abigail, Louisa, and the three other children Bronson fathered. Since he could not support them, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Parker, and Henry David Thoreau helped to raise Louisa (Eds. of Merriam- Webster). Thoreau helped Alcott with her education. He helped her out because her father did not support her (Kunitz and Haycraft 18). Emerson, Parker, Thoreau, and her father influenced her education and lifestyle during her childhood. Bronson Alcott, who found Fruitlands, which later failed, drove his family into poverty (Eds. of Merriam- Webster 12). Alcott (Louisa) did not understand this (Douglas 31). She soon realized that she had to work in order to support herself and her family. She worked as a teacher for a short time and then began to write. She sta...

... middle of paper ...

...ketches. All of these books represent events in her life that were crucial for her writing career. Her life became a success from the popularity of Little Women, which helped her provide for her impoverished family.

Works Cited

“Alcott, Louisa May” The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia 15th ed. 2007. Print.
Douglas, Ann. “Louisa May Alcott.” American Writers. Ed. Leonard Unger. Sup. 1, Part 1. New York: Scribner’s, 1979. Print.
Editors of Merriam- Webster. Webster’s Dictionary of American Authors. New York: Smithmark Publishers, 1996. Print.
Herzberg, Max J. The Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: Crowell, 1962. Print.
Kuiper, Kathleen, ed. Merriam- Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield:Merriam-Webster 1995. Print.
Kunitz, Stanley J, and Howard Haycraft, eds. American Authors 1600- 1900. New York: Wilson, 1966. Print.