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John Lewis Mrs. Lange Modern American Lit February 26, 2010 Fight for Freedom A woman, who dreamt of freedom from societal norms, hoped of living her own life away from everything that had once controlled. The sociatal norms of the times expected women to be the ones that ran the household and were under the control of men. It was not usual for women to be independent from men. In “Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Louise Mallard, fights to break free from a binding patriarchy and hopes women can realize they are better off when they are not bound by men. Louise Mallard envisioned a world where women are seen as equals and allowed to make their own decisions without the scrutiny of men, the dominant gender at the time. Women are considered weak and unable to deal with certain tragedies in their lives. When struck with the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard, the progoganist, is immediately brought to tears like any good wife would be. Later in the story when she leats the news sink in she begins to realize that it is not such a bad thing. Mrs. Mallard realizes her opportunity is available for the taking to make a change and improve on women’s rights. This shows that Mrs. Mallard is a round character because she shows many sides and she is also a dynamic character because she changes during the story to realize that her situation is not as bad as she once thought. Throught the short story it is clear to the reader that Louise Mallard is atypical of women of her time period and she is hoping to improve the way women are looked upon and change their role in society. She was motivated by the fact that she realized that without a husband she is free from society and able to act on her own. She had a realization that without a husband she is free from her troubles and could move on with her own life. Words the author uses to describe scenes can be a crucial component towards true understanding for the reader. The most effective form of this descriptive language is imagery. Chopin states, “But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought” (637). This quote shows great thought leading to the upcoming realization of Louise Mallard. The reader can clearly depict the scene in their head and without hesitation know what Mrs. Mallard is experiencing because everyone knows that one moment in their lives where we stare off into the blue sky and wonder what if. She is thinking about all the years she was compelled to live in a society where she is looked upon as unequal and without freedom. During most of the piece the tone is very somber and depressed after the loss of the protagonist’s husband. The author wants the reader to empathize as though they have lost somebody also. In addition to the tone of the piece there is the mood. Mood is how the reader experiences emotion while they read the story. In this story the reader gets a sense of hopefullness and excitement for Louise Mallard’s new life of freedom and independence from that of the male society. These terms use many adjectives to describe situations and give the reader a certain idea of the piece. When the reader analyzes they can examine how the setting of the story effects the decisions that are made and the way people act. One way we can do this is by looking at the dialect, or the way people talk in certain regions. In this story we hear Josephine say, “Louise, open that door! I beg; open the door –you will make yourself ill” (637). The reader can understand the idea that the speaker is from an educated society such as the North-Eastern United States. The speaker talks with poise and uses words such as beg and ill. Words we would not normally hear in our normal society. They also talk to Mrs. Mallard in a way a women are supposed to be talked to. Josephine is quite respectful to Louise and talks to her like a lady would stereotypically be spoken to. Every person on this planet has that one issue that they are willing to die for. Louise Mallard’s passion was that she wanted women to realize that they do not need to depend on men and the society they are living in restricts their freedom. In the end this evolved into Mrs. Mallard’s down fall as she ended up dying of a broken heart. She died hoping that she could be free but in the end her society was too much for her to handle.

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. John Lewis Period 6 “Story of an Hour” Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” is a story of how a wife’s loving husband is supposedly dead. His wife, Louise Mallard, is relived that she is finally free from the restrictions her husband and society has put on her. The theme of this story is how a patriarchy restricts people’s freedoms. In this essay I will examine how a patriarchy can restrict or how it does restrict freedom in women and in men.
 * Chopin’s “Story of and Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”**

In this short story the protagonist is Louise Mallard and the antagonist is the societal norms. In this time period men had the authority in the household and in the community. (How do you know this? connect to the text.) Although Mr. Mallard might have been a kind of loving person, as Louise had said, he was forced to conform to societal norms of the time period. (What are some examples?? ) The society at the time was a patriarchy which means that the men had the power over the women and the government was also run by them. (Do we see this in the text? How?) This forced husbands and fathers to restrict and limit the freedom and power of the women in their household. (how?) In this short story, Mrs. Mallard was relieved after the final shock of the news, but then as she began to soak it in she realized it wasn’t as bad as she thought. She finally had her freedom back and was allowed to live her life without having to live up to the expectations of the society of the time. (What news does she receive? what is her exact reaction? How can you convey this to the reader?)

In every short story or every novel there is always the person who is considered the foil to the protagonist. Foils are two characters that are different but bring out sides of each other that haven’t been seen before. The foil in this story would be Mrs. Mallard’s sister. She is opposites of Louise and thinks that the news of her husband’s death will come as a shock and Louise will be extremely saddened. As it turns out in the end it is quite the opposite, Louise is not saddened but is actually relieved. Our protagonist, Louise Mallard, is a round character because we see many sides of her. In the beginning she has a heart condition and is sad that her husband is not by her side and in the end she is happy and relieved, but in the complete end of the story she is dead. She is also a dynamic character because towards the end she becomes free and has a sense of individualism. (HOW exactly are they opposites? How does the story show this? What different sides do we see of her? what are they and how do they affect what we think of her? How does Louise SHOW her individualism? Is there anything she does that sticks out to YOU as a reader?)

My theme, patriarchy restricts people’s freedom, is supported by the fact that after her husband’s death Mrs. Mallard has a sense of freedom. She has a revelation that tells her that the society she lives in is restricting to her freedom and that without a husband that can tell her what to do she can make her own decisions and get on with her life the way she wants it to be, not the way her husband wants it to be. (how does the reader see this? how does she use her "freedom"? What is freedom?)

John- you do a good job of answering all of the questions in the prompt. The ideas you have written are excellent and show your knowledge of the text. I can tell that you understand the meanings of the terms and the overall plot of the story. You're saying that Louise is the protagonist and that she is not allowed to be free because of the social norms (the antagonist), but this changes when her husband dies. I inserted questions into your actual response so it would be easier for you to see which sentences I was responding to. I think that if you were to connect more of your ideas to the text, it would make this essay more convincing and it would better show your understanding of the story. When you say that a character does something, give an example of them doing it from the text. How do we as the readers SEE the characters changing, being suppressed, and reacting to events? I think that the way you explained what a foil is is good, and it's very easy to understand. What would make your paragraph there even stronger would be examples, because you have the understanding of what is going on in the story, and you already know what you want to say. Connecting your ideas to the text makes them stronger because you have proof to whoever is reading YOUR essay that you are getting your ideas from the text. It also makes it more persuasive. I would encourage you to ask yourself when you're writing things, "why am I saying this?" "Where in the text can I find support?" "How does the author show this in the story?" and "where do I see characters doing this?". Your ideas are great, just connect your ideas to the text. See you soon :) -Chelsea

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”**

John Lewis Period 6 “Mystery of Heroism” In Crane’s “Mystery of Heroism”, a young solider during the civil war needs water and will not stop at anything to get it. During the middle of a battle a soldier, Collin’s (are you sure you're trying to use the possessive form here?), is extremely thirsty and is determined to obtain water for himself and his comrades. He must venture across a dangerous battlefield to get to a well where he can get the water. In Cranes, Mystery of Heroism, the mood of the setting reflects the character’s motivations and the characters are driven by their inter id, ego, and their superego.

In the story Mystery of Heroism the author, Stephen Crane, creates wonderful imagery for the reader in the way he describes the setting. When you are able to create an image in your head it gives you a feeling in your body or a mood. The way the author describes the battlefield with such power adjectives is flawless and gives the reader a perfect picture in their head. Crane writes, “Shattered wall fell in fragments that sounded like flapping of shutters during winter” (2). Such words bring the story to life and give the reader a feeling as though they are in the story. This is a wonderful example of how imagery using the sense of sound affects the way the reader interprets the story. Imagery such as this allows the reader to envelop theirselves in the writing which creates a mood for the reader. (good tie to the text!!!!!! ) In this story the mood would be depressing and suspenseful. It is depressing because the writer gives such vivid details of the battlefield and the numerous dead bodies that lay in vein across the meadow. (What are some examples of EXACT words or phrases used? ) It is also very suspenseful when Collin’s is running across the meadow because you don’t know whether or not he will be shot by the enemy. (Where are a few places where you feel the suspense?) This short story is wonderful because it creates such a vivid image for the reader.

When we read any story we need to analyze why certain characters do what they do. We call this Psychoanalytic Criticism. We can analyze people motivations and their purpose in the story. In this story Collin’s main motivation is the fact that he is extremely thirsty he will stop at nothing to get it. (to get what? what are some ways this is shown in the text?) This includes the enemy shooting at him. His id wants water put the reasonable side (by doing what? what would some actions of his id be? are there any examples given in the text? ), the super-ego, tells him that it is too dangerous and he might get killed (how is this seen in the text? are there any other actions portrayed in the story?). The ego, or the side that balances out the two factors, wants the water and wants to stay alive. A way for him to balance this out is for him to stop and help the solider in need. (Good application. HOW does this show that it is part of the id? how does helping the soldier balance? )

This story creates excellent imagery for the reader and also creates many opportunities for Psychoanalytic Criticism. The author creates beautiful imagery that appeals to the senses of sight, sound, smell, and touch. In conclusion, to fully understand a short story or novel we must use imagery, have a mood towards the piece, and analyze using psychoanalytic criticism. (good summary!)

John - I can see that you tried a lot harder to connect your ideas to the text, and you did a great job. The direct quote you used fit perfectly as support, AND you even explained HOW it proves your point! Make sure you give some set up as to what is happening in the story before you quote the text. You also did a good job of trying to answer all of the questions in the prompt with such little time. If you had more time, what areas could you add more detail to? I think that if you had more time, there are a few grammatical things that would need to be addressed, but in such a short time, it is hard to focus on that because you need to try to get all of your ideas down. Try to use more direct quotes and specific examples from the text. The one you used in your first paragraph is a pretty good example. One guideline I use when writing essays is to try to use around one direct quote from the text for every main point I make. In your case, this would mean a direct quote for every question in the prompt/every paragraph. This might be a good way for you to make sure that you are using evidence from the text to support your arguments. Like I said before, the direct quote in the first paragraph was done excellently and I can see that you're trying to use more examples from the book. Continue to do this in future writings and add more direct quotes :)

~Chelsea

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”**