Pollyanna (1913) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Miss Pollyanna: Is a smart little girl that lost both her parents and is now sent to live with her aunt Polly her mothers sister. Pollyanna changes many people's lives around the new city she is going to live in.
• Pollyanna Whittier: Clever, witty, and especially cheerful, Pollyanna brings pure happiness to everyone she meets. Her "glad game" helps clear up any sort of problem in her aunt's town of Beldingsville.
• Aunt Polly: Pollyanna arrives to live with her aunt Polly, her mother's sister, after her parent's death.
• Nancy: Polly Harrington's hired girl, from "The Corners" six miles away.
• Old Tom: The Harrington homestead's gardener even before Miss Polly was born.
• Mr John Pendleton: A angry man who does not have many friends around his city. He is the richest man around. He walks around, and even travels the world (but can't seem to find peace). He takes his small dog walking. John has a long lost love who died not long ago.
• Dr. Thomas Chilton: A doctor in town- he understands how good Pollyanna can be for the outlook of his patients, and begins inviting her on housecalls!
• Milly Snow: Mrs. Snow's daughter.
• John Pendleton: A now rich man, he saves a lot, and earned a nickname from Pollyanna: "The Man".
• Pollyanna: The heroine of our book, an eternal optimist who effects the lives of the people around her in a positive way.
• Miss Polly Harrington: Classic shrewlike, duty bound protestant Old Maid! "She knew MissPolly as a stern woman who frowned if a knife clattered to the floor, or if a door banged - but who never thought to smile even when knives and doors were still."
• Jimmy Bean: An orphan who is one of the first characters to befriend Pollyanna when she arrives in Harrington town.
• Mrs Snow: A poor, crippled, forty year old woman, stuck in bed, and is very picky about what people bring her.
• Dr Warren: Miss Polly's doctor.
• Mr Tom: Old gardener who has been with the Harrington family for two generations. His own son, Tim, is a Harrington servant also.
• Nancy: Teen Kitchen servant to Polly Harrington. She welcomes Pollyanna at the station as she arrives in the town, and Pollyanna mistakes her for her AUnt Polly!
• Paul Ford: Lutheran minister in the town.
• Timothy Durgin: Old Tom's son and best friend of Nancy. "It was sometimes said in town that if Old Tom was Miss Polly's right-hand man, Timothy was her left." (page 13)
• Polly Harrington: A rigid and stern aunt, she believes she needs to do her "duty". She also believes that Pollyanna was an "unnecessary child" brought into a world "already quite full enough". Watch out what Pollyanna's medicine will do to her aunt's cold heart.
• Dr Mead: Specialist who comes to town when Dr Warren needs some help.
• H. Porter: Add a description of this character.
• Miss Jennie: This was the eldest sister of the Harringtons, After marrying a poor preacher, they went west. This caused a break with the Harringtons. Jennie dies shortly after her last child, Pollyanna was born. Her husband raised Pollyanna to age 11, and none of Jennie's biological family ever saw the girl before the start of this book.
• Mrs Tarbell
• Pendleton Hill
• Miss Hunt
• Mrs. Jones
• Mrs. Rawson
• Mr. White
• Buffy
• Mrs. Tom Payson
• Mrs. Benton
• Mrs. White

Quotes edit see section history

• “You breathe all of the time you're asleep but you aren't living. I mean living--doing things you want to do.”

  Pollyanna

• “There is something about everything that you can be glad about if you keep hunting long enough to find it.”

  Pollyanna

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Fräulein
• India
• Heaven
• Miss Hunt
• New York

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Always look on the bright side of things.: Describe this theme.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Pollyanna Grows Up.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Eleanor H. Porter (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Marc D. Falkoff (Author)
2. Marian Leighton
3. Kathleen Olmstead (Adapter)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 080

Notes for Parents edit see section history

A dealt good book

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Children's Books › Authors & Illustrators, A-Z › ( B ) › Bauer, Marion Dane
• Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Family Life › Orphans & Foster Homes
• Books › Children's Books › Literature › Classics by Age
• Books › Children's Books › Ages 9-12

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Project Gutenberg: Full text ebook
• Librivox Free Audio Book: Read by Mary Anderson (Total running time: 6:54:24)

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Pollyanna (1960) (IMDb)
• Polly (1989) (IMDb)
• Pollyanna (1920) (IMDb)

More Books Like This edit see section history