55-2-7

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”**

Chopan: The story of an hour  Chopan: The story of an hour  In the story of an hour the main character, Louise Mallard, learns of her husband’s death from her brother [**Is it her brother in the story? What is his relation to Louise Mallard?]**  and her sister. She acts like she was horrified to hear of her husband’s death, and she went to sulk by herself. When she was alone, she started thinking and realized that she could finally be free. [ **What was it that was trapping Louise? Is there a section in the text that shows this or describes their relationship? Why does she feel trapped?] ** When she came back out of the room, she was beaming, and ready to reach her full potential without her husband’s domineering attitude. When she hears a knock at the door, she doesn’t know what to expect. [ **Remember, the first knock was her sister trying to get into the room because she was worried about her. How does Louise handle her sister’s concern compared with her reaction when she sees her husband, who is supposed to be dead?] ** When she opens the door and sees her husband standing there, she is so surprised she has a heart attack and dies.  In reality, her husband wasn’t all that bad of a person, and they both loved each other a lot **[Was their love for each other equal or did they love each other differently? Did his domineering over her change the way that she felt about him?] **. But because of the societal norms of that period, he was forced to make every decision for her. I think in another day and age, they would both be happily married, and make their way through life together, making decisions together. But, in order to fill his place in society, he was forced to suppress his wife [ **Do you know in what way? What might some of the societal norms have been that she would need to obey his rules?]. ** He never hit her or abuses her. Just suppressed her.  <span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This story shows the problems with suppression. The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” also shows this, the main character is suppressed in a similar way, her husband makes all the decisions for her and he makes her go insane because of this [ **<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text2;">Is this the only thing that makes her go insane? What is your definition of insanity in this story? Do you see any other factors that might have caused her to go insane besides just her husband? Remember all of the time when she is in her room by herself and her husband is gone.] **<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> Both stories show a round and dynamic main character [ **<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text2;">Can you give some examples of what make her a round and dynamic character? **<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">], and both of them show foil between the husband and wife [ **<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text2;">This as well?]. **<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> This is still somewhat prominent in today’s society, but to a much lesser extent. Men and women make different wages for the same job. In these stories, women can’t even work. They are expected to know their place and be a homemaker. Each character show’s many sides of their personality and they both grow by making realizations despite the suppression they experience [ **<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text2;">This is an interesting point that I don’t think gets raised a lot. Great observation!]. **<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> Louise Mallard shows this when she makes a sudden realization by herself. Jane in Yellow Wallpaper doesn’t really show growth, but she changes a lot from her former self, and develops a completely different personality[ **<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text2;">What are the changes? For example, how does Louise Mallard come to her realization? What are the factors that cause Jane’s personality to alter so completely?]. ** <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text2;"> <span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In each of these stories we learn that when you suppress someone, they turn into an empty husk of a person, and they don’t grow and change with their experiences and mistakes. For a person to be a person, they need to be free of suppression and must learn for themselves [ **<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text2;">good] **<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">. I feel we [ **<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text2;">America?] **<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> have finally learned this as a society, but we still have more to learn.

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”**