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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”**

Story of an Hour Essay In Chopin’s “Story of an Hour,” Louise Mallard, the main character, suffers from heart problems that could soon kill her. She gets news from her sister, Josephine, that her husband, Mr. Mallard, has been killed in a horrible train crash. She hears this and decides to lock herself in a room where she thinks about the possitive things about the terrible tradgedy. Turns out, her husband is alive and uninjured. He had been far from the scene of the crash. Before anyone could shield him, Mrs. Mallard caught a glimpse of her husband, and died from a heart attack. The theme of the story is that freedom often comes from tradgedy. Though Louise lost her husband, she gained the independence that she wanted within society as a strong woman who could provide for herself. She of course was saddened by her loss but managed to only see the positive things such as that. Louis in the short story, was considered the protagonist because rather than sulking over her husband’s death, she wanted to move on with her life and continue to accomplish her goals. She realized that she didn’t need to be dependant on other’s to make herself happy. The antagonist in this story is society’s standards on women. These standards often have women stuck in park, thinking that what makes them happy is to serve others, their husbands, men. The reality is though, is that what makes people happy, is to have a purpose, not for others but for themselves. You really get to know Louise’s different perspectives in this story. Because of this, she is considered a round character. At first, she is depressed and doesn’t know what to do with herself. Later on, she realizes that its all just another oportunity that life has presented to her. She’d also be seen as a dynamic character because her thought process changes throughout the story. In conclusion, society reforms who we really are as people. Steriotypes force us to believe that we need to be something other than what we want to be, what makes us happy. Satisfaction has become acceptance rather than accomplishment. Because of our race, culture, sex, we are all judged as a whole rather than individuals.

//Great job! You're details fromt the text are solid, and you've done a lovely job of applying feminist criticism. Next time in your writing, take the time to read for spelling errors :) Nicely done!//

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? April Showers In the short story, //April Showers,// by Edith Wharton, the main character, Theodora is a young girl growing up in the early 1900’s. She is well educated and loves to write. Her dream is to write her own novel and have it published but he mother is ill and she, as the oldest sibling, is in charge of her family, making it difficult to carry out her goal. Her id tells her to do what she wishes, to write and get published. Her ego tells her to take care of her family, her dreams are not as important as her duties. Her superego wants her to be able to do both by getting her book published and paying for her family’s needs with the money she earns. In the end, her novel doesn’t end up getting published but in a way, she becomes closer to her family because they finally understand her. You learn a lot from this character though just by her dialect. For example she exclaims, “Father, O Father!” later on in the book and this statement shows the respect that she has for her parents and elders along with the time period of the story.
 * Wharton’s “April Showers” and Twain’s “The Invalid’s Story”**

The Invalid’s Story Mark Twain’s writing, //The Invalid’s Story,// it takes place in the late 1800’s so the dialect is much different from what we tend to use now days. The narrator himself uses colorful language but the express man, Thomson, the more unique dialect in the story. For example he says, “Yes’ndeedy, it’s awful solemn and cur’us, but we’ve all got to go, one time or another, they ain’t no getting around it.” His word choice makes his character very distinct. It shows who he really is, the time period, his social class, education, etc. In the story, he and the narrator mistake cheese for a dead body. The stench was unbearable and his id told him to somehow get rid of the body and his ego made him just deal with it. His superego knew that he had to do the right thing by getting the body to the desired destination.

//Beautiful exmaples from the text and lovely descriptions, too. You've got that concept of id -- but you've mixed up ego and superego. I would have like to have seen a better example of dialect; I see that you know that we can learn alot about a character from their dialect, but the piece you've selected doesn't tell me much about her background, just how she perceives her parents.

Great selection of dialect from "Invalid's Story." You tell us that the word choice shows who he really is, but you don't explain it. What does it tell us about his time period? his social class? his education? Nice job with id, ego, superego in this piece.//