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Modern American Literature: Rise of Realism The men were running with fright in their eyes as the officers yelled out orders with shells going off around them, Fred Collins now has to make a major decision, life or death. In the story “mystery of heroism” by Stephen crane Fred Collins makes the decision of life or death for some water. In the story the protagonist is Fred Collins because he is focused on for the majority of the story. The antagonist is the confederate soldiers because an antagonist is an opposing force so the enemy is clearly the opposing force in this story. Fred Collins has to decide if he wants to go get some water from a well in the middle of the battle field and the antagonist wants to get him before he is able to get the water back to his comrades. During all of this the antagonist is pushing Collins towards survival rather than stupidity. The round character in this story is Collins because he shows several sides of his personality throughout the story. The flat character is the antagonist because the enemy is always trying to do the same thing. Collins shows his sides such as being upset, brave, surprised, and scared during the story so this would make him a round character. Fred Collins makes his decision to go get some water because he told the other men he would and wanted to be brave in front of them. The enemy of course was going to stop him because they are flat in way of personality due to the fact that they just want to kill him. During the story Collins went out to the well to get some water but as he got close he became terrified as he realized what he was doing and what could happen. Collins said “I wisht I had a drink. I bet there’s water in that there ol’ well yonder!” this shows the dialect usage in the story. The colonel and the captain swung about at the same time and stared across the meadow, this shows some of the imagery in the story. These two things are important for the story because they make you imagine exactly what is going on and shows how Collins attempts to get the water. When Collins is terrified and realizes what he has done flings himself against the well as he plans how to get out of this predicament. Cranes “mystery of heroism” show how one soldier has to make a decision over life or death or what he wants and what is right to do. The protagonist Collins and the antagonist confederate soldiers become tangled and in a small dual when Collins wants to get some water. Throughout the story Collins changes personalities several times and that makes him a round character although the confederate soldiers don’t change so they are flat characters. The confederate soldiers are doing the same this makes Collins chose what is realistic and just what he wants. Looking back Collins does what he wants so he gave into his “id” but when he gets out there and realizes what he has done this is his “superego” and while balancing them out his “ego” told him to run back. The men were running with fright in their eyes as the officers yelled out orders with shells going off around them, Fred Collins now has to make a major decision, life or death. In the story “mystery of heroism” by Stephen crane Fred Collins makes the decision of life or death for some water. **[This would have been a great spot to put the thesis statement we worked on in class!]**   In the story the protagonist is Fred Collins because he is focused on for the majority of the story. The antagonist is the confederate soldiers because an antagonist is an opposing force so the enemy is clearly the opposing force in this story. Fred Collins has to decide if he wants to go get some water from a well in the middle of the battle field and the antagonist wants to get him before he is able to get the water back to his comrades. During all of this the antagonist is pushing Collins towards survival rather than stupidity. **[I like this idea. How does this relate back to the id, superego, and ego?]**

The round character in this story is Collins because he shows several sides of his personality throughout the story. The flat character is the antagonist because the enemy is always trying to do the same thing. Collins shows his sides such as being upset, brave, surprised, and scared during the story so this would make him a round character. Fred Collins makes his decision to go get some water because he told the other men he would and wanted to be brave in front of them. The enemy of course was going to stop him because they are flat in way of personality due to the fact that they just want to kill him. During the story Collins went out to the well to get some water but as he got close he became terrified as he realized what he was doing and what could happen. 

Collins said “I wisht I had a drink. I bet there’s water in that there ol’ well yonder!” this shows the dialect usage in the story. The colonel and the captain swung about at the same time and stared across the meadow, this shows some of the imagery in the story**. [I think this paragraph would have more focus by choosing to talk about either dialect or imagery, instead of both.]** These two things are important for the story because they make you imagine exactly what is going on and shows how Collins attempts to get the water. When Collins is terrified and realizes what he has done flings himself against the well as he plans how to get out of this predicament. 

Cranes “mystery of heroism” show how one soldier has to make a decision over life or death or what he wants and what is right to do. The protagonist Collins and the antagonist confederate soldiers become tangled and in a small dual when Collins wants to get some water. Throughout the story Collins changes personalities several times and that makes him a round character although the confederate soldiers don’t change so they are flat characters. The confederate soldiers are doing the same this makes Collins chose what is realistic and just what he wants. **[What exactly is he choosing? How is this realistic and what he wants?]** Looking back Collins does what he wants so he gave into his “id” but when he gets out there and realizes what he has done this is his “superego” and while balancing them out his “ego” told him to run back.  **[What are the motivations for these three parts?]** Your response definitely shows that you have a good understanding of the terms and definitions that the class has discussed. I would have loved to see the thesis statement that we worked on in class! Would discussing the id, superego, and ego in the beginning help you answer the questions? Going back to the response questions, how do Collins’ id, superego, and ego show us more about his relationships to the antagonist and flat character that you discussed? What do you see as motivation for the id, superego, and ego in Collins’ case, and what parts of the text make you think that? In class, you came up with some great ideas about how the id, superego, and ego had an effect on Collins’ relationship with his fellow soldiers. How could this relationship fit in with your argument? Are there any other relationships with other characters to consider? Overall, how do the definitions of the terms you discussed fit into the argument about id, superego, and ego?

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”

The theme of this story is freedom from patriarchy and societies views. This is the theme because of the time frame and what happens in the story. During this time in history the women would listen to the men and do whatever they said or whatever they wanted. In the story we see why patriarchy was big around this time in history. In this story we see the protagonist is Louise mallard, we know this because the story focuses on her and only her with a few characters thrown in to make it interesting. We also see that she has many side throughout the story this would make her a round character, we see her mad, sad, and happy. Louise Mallard is also a dynamic character because we see her change throughout the story. The antagonist in the story is society’s views and feelings on patriarchy. We know this because Louise mallard is sad at first when she finds out her husband has died but then she suddenly becomes happy when she realizes that she is free from patriarchy. This is shown in the text by the feeling of Louise as she realizes what she could do with her life. The protagonist and the antagonist relate to the theme because the antagonist is a force against the protagonist and patriarchy is a force against women of this time and Louise Mallard is a woman and she becomes free from it for just a few minutes.

There are some awesome ideas going on in this response. I love how you identify the antagonist as society and patriarchy. It shows that you understand what an antagonist is and how it works within the story. I get from your response that you have a really good understanding of the story’s plot and theme, as well as the concept of feminist criticism. I thought of a few questions: first, when you say “ In the story we see why patriarchy was big around this time in history,” how do we see this? What in the text shows us that patriarchy is part of society’s views? Also, you say that Louise Mallard is a dynamic character “because we see her change throughout the story.” Do we see her change at all besides the emotional changes of sad to happy that you mention? In the last sentence, I like how you outlined the relationship between Louise Mallard and patriarchy. How does the fact that “she becomes free from it for just a few minutes” tell us more about patriarchy and how it affects women and men?

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”**

Stephen Crane’s “mystery of heroism” there is a battle going on with thirsty and worried soldiers. One of the soldiers is really thirsty and wants to do something about it, he then gets dared to go to the well out in the middle of the meadow and get some water. The soldier (Collins) then proceeds to do so and while walking out he thinks about why he doesn’t feel worried about the fact that he is walking into the middle of a battle field to get some water for himself and the other men. Then when he gets to the well the fact that he is in the middle of the battle field and could get shot smacks him right in the face. He then runs back to the other men in pure and udder fright. In the story I feel that the main felling is suspense because it starts out telling us about the explosions that are going on and the gun shots flying across the battle field. Also suspense builds as Collins starts to talk about going out to get water. As Collins prepares to go and get water all of the men are either taunting him or telling him that he is a mad man and is going to die. Collins collects all of the canteens that men want filled and starts towards the well, at this time men from the opposing side are coming out of the forest to see what is going on and start shooting at him. Collins gets to the well and suddenly realizes what he has done and the suspense builds as he becomes frightened because he is not thinking he is just doing. At this point Collins grabs a pale and fills it with water and starts running, as he runs water falls out of the pale and on to the ground. Collins while running back sees a man trapped under a horse and stops and splashes water in his face and begins to run again. He feels the wheel tracks and hoof prints in the ground as he runs and splashes water out of the pale. When he gets back to the allied side of the battle field he gives the pale to an officer for a drink. The officer finds out that there is no water in the pale and gets a big drink of air because Collins either splashed all of the water onto the ground or onto the fallen officer. The descriptive words used in this story clearly paint a picture of what is happening in my mind and I feel that Stephen Crane did a great job of describing the battle. The feeling of suspense is used almost all of the time in this story from thinking of getting water to running back because Collins just realized what he has done and what could happen.

Stephen Crane’s “mystery of heroism” there is a battle going on with thirsty and worried soldiers. One of the soldiers is really thirsty and wants to do something about it, he then gets dared to go to the well out in the middle of the meadow and get some water. The soldier (Collins) then proceeds to do so and while walking out he thinks about why he doesn’t feel worried about the fact that he is walking into the middle of a battle field to get some water for himself and the other men. Then when he gets to the well the fact that he is in the middle of the battle field and could get shot smacks him right in the face. He then runs back to the other men in pure and udder fright. **[You may want to skip summarizing the story, since the question does not ask you to do so.]**

In the story I feel that the main felling is suspense because it starts out telling us about the explosions that are going on and the gun shots flying across the battle field. Also suspense builds as Collins starts to talk about going out to get water. **[How does the suspense build? What images lead you to have a feeling of suspense? Examples in the text could help.]** As Collins prepares to go and get water all of the men are either taunting him or telling him that he is a mad man and is going to die. Collins collects all of the canteens that men want filled and starts towards the well, at this time men from the opposing side are coming out of the forest to see what is going on and start shooting at him. Collins gets to the well and suddenly realizes what he has done and the suspense builds as he becomes frightened because he is not thinking he is just doing. **[What is the role of fear in the story? I like that you brought up this feeling!]** At this point Collins grabs a pale and fills it with water and starts running, as he runs water falls out of the pale and on to the ground. Collins while running back sees a man trapped under a horse and stops and splashes water in his face and begins to run again. He feels the wheel tracks and hoof prints in the ground as he runs and splashes water out of the pale. When he gets back to the allied side of the battle field he gives the pale to an officer for a drink. The officer finds out that there is no water in the pale and gets a big drink of air because Collins either splashed all of the water onto the ground or onto the fallen officer. **[What in the text leads you to believe this is what happened in the story?]**

The descriptive words used in this story clearly paint a picture of what is happening in my mind and I feel that Stephen Crane did a great job of describing the battle. The feeling of suspense is used almost all of the time in this story from thinking of getting water to running back because Collins just realized what he has done and what could happen. **[Does the suspense build the whole story, or is there something it is being build toward? What is that? And what does that tell us about the story?]**

In your response, I like that I can see that you understand what happens in the story and are looking for different feelings and moods within it. Since the question does not ask you to summarize the story, I really want to hear about your own opinions and thoughts while you read it. What do you think was Collins’ motivation for doing what he did? You might want to think about the title of the story. What does heroism mean to you? Do you think Collins is a hero? Along those lines, do you think being a hero is part of Collins’ motivation? What parts of Collins’ motivation are explained by the id? The superego? The ego? Does the suspense that you identify show these motivations, or would a different emotion work better? You definitely have a good understanding of the action in the story; I’d love to hear more of your other thoughts about it.

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”**

In the invalid story we see that the narrator is having a hard time with the death of his friend. The dialect in the story shows how well the narrator is educated and how the train conductor is not educated. In the story the train conductor says “it’s awful solemn and cur’us” this quote shows how little the conductor has been educated. The narrator’s id is getting away from the smell of what he thinks is his friends dead body, his superego tells him that he cannot get passed it without killing himself, and his ego tells him that he will be able to make it if he continues to pace from the window to the train car. This is what he does for the whole story he just keeps pacing back and forth from the window to the car and sometimes stepping just outside the door. At the end of the story the narrator finds out that the smell was simply cheese that had a bad smell. In the story April showers the author uses the dialect to shoe how well the characters have been educated. This is shown in the quote “I suppose you didn’t get home from the ball till morning.” In this quote there are now slurred words or anything like that so it shows that most if not all of the characters are educated. The protagonist’s id, super ego, and ego are shown clearly in this story. The id for this story is to become a writer and we can see that clearly in the story, her superego is to take care of her family and the house since her mother is sick, and finally the ego is to make it up to her family when she is a big writer and has lots of money. The ego comes from what she says when she realizes that she has been writing for longer than she thinks and has not sewn Johnny’s button.

In the invalid story we see that the narrator is having a hard time with the death of his friend. The dialect in the story shows how well the narrator is educated and how the train conductor is not educated. In the story the train conductor says “it’s awful solemn and cur’us” this quote shows how little the conductor has been educated. **[Yes! Awesome example from the text.]** The narrator’s id is getting away from the smell of what he thinks is his friends dead body, his superego tells him that he cannot get passed it without killing himself, and his ego tells him that he will be able to make it if he continues to pace from the window to the train car. **[Very good analysis.]** This is what he does for the whole story he just keeps pacing back and forth from the window to the car and sometimes stepping just outside the door. At the end of the story the narrator finds out that the smell was simply cheese that had a bad smell. In the story April showers the author uses the dialect to shoe how well the characters have been educated. This is shown in the quote “I suppose you didn’t get home from the ball till morning.” In this quote there are now slurred words or anything like that so it shows that most if not all of the characters are educated. **[Nice example and explanation of the quote.]** The protagonist’s id, super ego, and ego are shown clearly in this story. The id for this story is to become a writer and we can see that clearly in the story, her superego is to take care of her family and the house since her mother is sick, and finally the ego is to make it up to her family when she is a big writer and has lots of money. The ego comes from what she says when she realizes that she has been writing for longer than she thinks and has not sewn Johnny’s button. I’m impressed with your response! You show that you understand the concepts of the id, ego, and superego, and that you know how to find examples in the text to explain the use of dialect. One thing that I was thinking about that you may want to give some thought is the relationship between dialect and id, ego, and superego. If their dialect shows education level, does it also show some preference to follow the id, ego, or superego? In other words, does a character’s speech tell us more about how they choose to follow the three parts? Great work in this response, keep up with the awesome thoughts.