Louisa May Alcott Research Paper

The Long Road for Alcott

Imagine how bizarre it would be to come into the world on your father’s birthday, then leaving the world just two days after he died. That is exactly what happened to Louisa May Alcott and her father, Amos Bronson Alcott. It was a tragic death of a great cultural influence. The name Louisa May Alcott may not seem familiar to many people out there today; however, her most famous novel, Little Women, is what eventually made a name and career for herself. Many well known authors have influencers they look up to; Louisa Alcott’s influencers were her father and family friends: Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker. Louisa Alcott had an eventful life, some famous works that are still cherished today, and helpful influencers that helped lead her to her most honorable decisions.

Her father taught her and their family friends: Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker, studied with her. “In 1847, at age fifteen, Louisa had begun working to help support the family, doing any job available, often as a domestic servant or as a teacher” (Sattelmeyer n.pag.) When Alcott first started writing she did not use her real name. In fact, she used the pseudonyms, Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard. She used those names because she was not sure if she wanted to pursue writing, seriously. It wasn’t until her work Hospital Sketches (1863), that she was certain that she wanted to become a serious writer, which led to the creation of some of the most iconic literary works