Read the passage from Chapter 1, Part 2, of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
“I don’t see how you can write and act such splendid things, Jo. You’re a regular Shakespeare!” exclaimed Beth, who firmly believed that her sisters were gifted with wonderful genius in all things.
“Not quite,” replied Jo modestly. “I do think The Witches Curse, an Operatic Tragedy is rather a nice thing, but I’d like to try Macbeth, if we only had a trapdoor for Banquo. I always wanted to do the killing part. ‘Is that a dagger that I see before me?’” muttered Jo, rolling her eyes and clutching at the air, as she had seen a famous tragedian do.
Which best describes the tone of this passage?
Group of answer choices
generally negative toward both girls, based on the use of the words “regular” and “muttered”
negative toward Jo, based on the use of the word “muttered” and the phrase “rolling her eyes”, but positive toward Beth, based on the words “splendid” and “gifted”
generally positive toward both girls, based on the use of the phrase “wonderful genius” and the word “modestly”
positive toward Jo, based on the use of the word “modestly”, but negative toward Beth, based on the word “firmly”