55-0-4

Modern American Literature: Rise of Realism Wesley Pulley Period 6  Chopin’s Story of an Hour In Chopin’s Story of an Hour the protagonist is Mrs. Louis Mallard and the antagonist is the society she lives in because in her society the man is the head of the house and has control over women and children. The theme of the story is that patriarchy restricts women from living free and being able to live free and Mrs. Mallard thought she was free when she found out her husband was supposedly dead. I believe that the protagonist is a round character in this story because we see a few different sides of her. We saw sadness in her when she found out her husband was dead and then when she went up to her room she started feeling joyful and happy because now she was free from her husband’s restrictions that society has place upon her. There is also angriness in her because when she finds out her husband isn’t dead she realizes she is back to her restrictions but then just dies. To me Mrs. Mallard is a dynamic character throughout the story because when she finds out her husband is dead she goes through a revelation and realizes that she is finally free and can change and be the person she wants to be instead being the person society wants her to be. All these things connect to my theme in a way because patriarchy had all the part to do with the expressions and emotions Mrs. Mallard went through. She was under her husband’s control and thought she was finally free when he was pronounced dead. Patriarchy has ruined he life and made her unhappy.

Wesley, In your response to “Story of an Hour,” you explain the theme of the story as one of oppression of a woman in a patriarchal society where she, the protagonist, experiences a whirlwind of emotions when she thinks her husband has been killed. I understand you made the connection of society as the antagonist and Mrs. Mallard as a round, dynamic character. Your connection of society as the antagonist to Mrs. Mallard is insightful. Not everyone will agree with you (which is good as it opens up further discussion), but it is a valid reading of the story and worth analyzing that way. Also, you gave excellent conclusions and explanations of Mrs. Mallard as round and dynamic, particularly when you said, “when she finds out her husband is dead she goes through a revelation and realizes that she is finally free and can change…” I am curious to know where you find anger in the text. Can you give a specific example of this? Do you think she experiences other emotions, such as guilt, at any point during the hour? As I said before, your conclusion that society is the antagonist is worth exploring further. How can you defend this reading to others who believe the antagonist is Brently Mallard? Can you find specific examples in the text to defend this idea? Also, you didn’t mention a possible foil. Is it possible Josephine is a foil to Mrs. Mallard? Does she behave in a manner contrary to Mrs. Mallard that might clue the reader in to a more complex opposition than seen at first glace? Kristin

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”**

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? Wesley Pulley “Mystery of Heroism” This story is called Mystery of heroism by Stephen Crane about a dude in the military named Fred Colin’s fighting for the Union that gets thirsty in the middle of the story during the Civil War and wants to get water from a well that was in the middle of the battle field. The mood the story created is like a suspenseful and horrid kind of mood. There are lifeless bodies lying around in the middle of the field and rotting horses scattered throughout the field. When I read the story I can see the red streaks flying through the air and the gun smoke filling the air. I see to different groups fighting each other, grey for the Union and red for the Confederates. I can also see the man in the field with his dislocated shoulder just lying there with nowhere to go. The smells I am getting are the scents of dead bodies and gun power in the air. I can feel the water splashing on the man’s face as Fred Colin’s spills most of the water on him. I can hear the cannons banging and people yelling. Fred’s id is telling him to go get the water because he is thirsty but not telling him that there is great danger in getting that water. His ego wants him to get the water as fast as possible and get back as quick as possible despite the danger. His super-ego wants him to get from the gun fire and run back to his A Company. I think that Fred was dumb for doing what he did and should have never went out there for some water. He should have just asked the people around him in his company if any of them had any water in there canteens. His ego just got the best of him and couldn’t turn down the challenge of getting the water.
 * Crane’s “Mystery of Heroism”**

Wesley, Your response to “Mystery of Heroism” shows me you understand Colin’s actions and dilemma when he crosses the battlefield for a drink of water. You describe the distressed and desperate mood of the story in a setting where the soldiers feel helpless and the air is smoke-filled with “red streaks flying through the air.” You have an excellent grasp of the mood and the setting. Also, your psychoanalysis of Colins’ actions and thoughts show you understand Freudian theory and can reasonably connect it to characters in a story. It is clear you read carefully. Can you take one of the personality structures (id, ego, superego) and further critique Colins actions? You say his ego got the best of him. How? Did it have something to do with the mood? Where in the text do you find evidence of this? Is there another part in the story where you see a struggle between the id and superego? Kristin

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”**

Wesley Pulley “The Invalid’s Story” This story is a about a guy who has a friend who is dead and his dying wish was to be shipped back to his parents but before he gets on the train he gets the wrong box an ends up really getting a box of rifles. In this story, Thompson says “It’s awful solemn and cur’us”. This is an example of dialect that shows that Thompson wasn’t very educated and could have lived somewhere in the south. His id wanted to just throw the body out the train so it wouldn’t stink. His superego wanted him to keep the body and not throw it out because it was the wrong thing to do so he decided to let it stay. His ego made him keep the body and to just make it smell better by burning a bunch of different things as air fresheners

Wesley, I like how your example of dialect shows the indirect characterization of Thompson. However, check the assessment question. Ms. Lange asks, “How does the author indirectly characterize the //protagonist// through the use of dialect?” Is Thompson the protagonist in this story? Where do you see the narrator’s dialect as an indirect characterization? Can you be more specific with your psychoanalysis? Where in the text do you find proof of your claims? What passage can you point to that shows “His id wanted to just throw the body out the train?” You did a good job answering your teacher’s questions, but I wonder if she is asking you to continue to summarize the plot at the beginning of each response. This seems like an unnecessary step that, if omitted, would leave you more time to talk about the assessment question.

“April Showers” In this story there is a girl named Theodora and she really wants to be a writer and get published but it’s hard for her to do that because her mother is ill and her father is a busy doctor so she has to take care of her siblings and cook for them. Her father says “Don’t walk so fast son, you look tired”, which shows that they are proper and come from a smart family. Theodora’s id wants her to be a writer and publish a book. Her superego wants her to take care of her family and put aside the writing. Her ego made her write in her spare time and put off some of the house work and then make it up by paying her family with the money she will make if her book gets published.

Your response to “April Showers” answers all of Ms. Lange’s questions, but I am curious to know how much thought you put into this one as your earlier responses seem more in-depth and you seemed more meticulous in your reading. Perhaps there was not as much time for you to complete this assignment as you had to read more. Can you explain further //how// the quote you mention makes the family seem proper and smart. What about the dialect points to this conclusion? Does he say “son” or “child?” Again, you quoted a character who is not the protagonist. Maybe Ms. Lange changed the question during a class discussion.

In your psychoanalysis of Theodora, you give excellent examples of how her id, ego, and superego are at work in the story. Can you read into it even further and find places in the story that more specifically analyze her actions with regard to any of the parts of personality? For example, you say, “Her ego made her write in her spare time and put off some of the housework?” I would like to see you narrow this down to a specific place in the text where her thoughts or behavior prove your point.

See you Wednesday! Kristin

Wesley Pulley Mrs. Lang Literature 2/26/10   Mystery of Heroism Boom, boom, pow! Red streaks and gun power clouds. You hear the Union and Cofereadte soldiers shout. This is all the tuff Fred Collins was experiencing when he was in the civil war. This story is basically about how Fred Collins gets thirsty in the middle of the Civial war and wants a drink of water from this well that is sitting in the middle of the battle field. He is the protagonist of this story because from the beginning to the end it is all about him and what he faces. Fred Collins pride is what motivates him to run to the well in the middle of the battle because he didn’t weant to look like a punk in front of hiss fellow soldiers. Also he is a round character because befor he goes to the well, he is fiiled with pride and courage and wasn’t afraid to go, but when he gets to the well he relizes what he has got himself into and becomes a afraid. One thing this story does very well is put a lot of images in your head. As you read you will see gun smake filling the air darkening the sky, red streaks of light zooming across the battle field, and the sight of dead and wounded soldiers lying on the groud. You can also hear the sound of the soldiers yelling in anger as they fight and smell the gun powder mixxed with the scent of rotting horses on the ground. There are many other feeling you get such as suspense when Fred is running across the field with bullets darting toward his head just barely missing him. The dialect used in the story is like a southern accent and you can tell that the soldiers arent very educated. For example, Fred Collins says “I wisht I had a drink, aint there any water round here?” while another soldier says “there goes th’bugler”. There are plenty examples of dialect in Mystery of Heroism that you can point out easily. Throughtout Mystery of Heroism, Fred Collins had to go through some psychanalytic critism. His id wanted him to go get the water from the well and forget about everything else because that’s wat his body disired which is lik his bad side. Fred’s super-ego wanted him to get out of danger and forget about trying to get the water and stay with his fellow soldiers. Finally his ego wanted him to try to get the water as fast as he can without getting shot and then get back out of danger as fast as he could. This story connects with a lot of other stories and real life situations. The points made here were that Fred Collin’s was the protagonist and that The Mystery of Heroism had very good dialect, and imagery. Also how psychanalytic critism can influence a persons decisions that could be the line between life and death nd doing something dumb.