[2] John Knox's famous dictum "A school in every village, a college in every town" had been embraced by the Presbyterian church, and Montgomery was brought up in a culture that greatly valued education.

[4] Montgomery had followed the theories of educational reformers like John Dewey, and this tension between traditional education vs. the new theories was reflected in Anne of Avonlea as Anne spends much time arguing about the merits of whipping students vs persuasion as teaching methods.

The book soon introduces Anne's new and problematic neighbour, Mr. Harrison, and his foul-mouthed parrot, as well as the twins, Davy and Dora.

Other characters introduced are some of Anne's new pupils, such as Paul Irving, an American boy living with his grandmother in Avonlea while his widower father works in the States.

Later in the book, Anne and her friends meet Miss Lavendar Lewis, a sweet but lonely lady in her 40s who had been engaged to Paul's father 25 years before, but parted from him after a disagreement.

"[7] The Conservative majority dissolved amidst the 1867 Land Question politics of the Tenant League and regained the provincial government between 1870-91.

Montgomery to fictionalize "Conservative" reactions to Liberal "Grit" ascension in the 1917 Anne's House of Dreams.

Anne discovers the delights and troubles of being a teacher, takes part in the raising of Davy and Dora, and organizes the A.V.I.S.

further represented the lackluster results of an imagined bipartisan effort to interweave "Liberal" notions of rural "secularization" with "Conservative" temporal ideas on urban "modernities."

This book sees Anne maturing slightly, even though she still cannot avoid getting into a number of her familiar scrapes, including selling Mr. Harrison's cow after mistaking it for her own, accidentally rubbing red dye on her nose before meeting a famous author, and getting stuck in a duck house roof while peeping into a pantry window.

To the outsider, she may still seem austere, but Marilla has become more emotionally demonstrative and, what was once described as the "glimmerings" has developed into a fuller sense of humour.

He has blonde hair in ringlets all over his head, one dimple, roguish hazel eyes, a snub nose and is often smiling.

She has fair, long, sleek curls, mild hazel eyes, a straight nose and "prunes and prisms" mouth.

Fred and Diana become engaged, although he falls short of Anne's romantic vision of a dashing dream husband.

He inherited a foul-mouthed parrot named Ginger who comes between Mr. Harrison and those he holds dearest even, at times, Anne, who it persists in referring to as a "red-headed snippet."

Miss Lavendar Lewis - An imaginative, attractive, old maid with snow white hair who Anne and Diana come across on their way to a friend's place.