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Modern American Literature: Rise of Realism

Choose one of the stories to apply feminist criticism to the reading. Identify the protagonist and antagonist and describe their relationship as it relates to the theme. How does the relationship to the foil, if there is one, reflect the theme? Identify whether the protagonist is round or flat, dynamic or static. Support your response with examples from the text.
 * Chopin’s “Story of and Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”**

The story of “the yellow wallpaper” is based on feminist criticism, the theme of the story is that people really don’t make their own decisions, people rely on society. In the story the protagonist would be a woman name Jane who is telling the story. Everything is coming from Jane’s point of view. The antagonist of the story would be her husband John & society, it would be her husband John because he keeps her in the house, she can’t go out and do the things that she would like, she tends to him in a way and does what he wants. It would also be society too because society is showing that Jane should be a housewife she shouldn’t be out doing the things she would like (working ect.), she should be tending to the house & her husband. The foil of the story would be John’s sister Jenny, she is more of the housewife type she does what society expects and unlike Jane she wants to do stuff that society does not except. Jane is a round character because the story is basically about her, she feels she’s trappped which is driving her into depression, she’s stuck in this room which seems creepy to her at first but becomes comfortable, she see’s that there is a lady trapped in the wallpaper (a wallpaper that is made out of ugly designs if you ask Jane), and she starts to rip the wallpaper apart & come to find out that the lady that she thought that was trapped behind the wallpaper was her. Jane is also a dynamic character, first she starts out as depressed because she thinks she is sick and her husband doesn’t believe her, she also feels trapped because she in this room all the time and she feels as if she is going crazy & then in the end she becomes control and free of herself. She tore down the wallpaper to find her inner self.

Great theme! Good job showing me how you know antagonist and protagonist. Excellent foil example. Conventions: make sure all important words in your title are capitalized :)

Select an example of imagery that creates the mood of the story? How does the mood of the setting reflect the character’s motivations driven by their id, ego, and superego?
 * Crane’s “Mystery of Heroism”**

How does the author indirectly characterize the protagonist through the use of dialect? What does this tell us about the character? How are they influenced by their id, ego, or superego?
 * Wharton’s “April Showers” and Twain’s “The Invalid’s Story”**