13-55-5-2

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. In Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” freedom is hard to come by. Mrs. Mallard is the stories main character. She is the person that the story is talking about letting the reader get to know different sides of her. At one point you are seeing her boxed in, not knowing what to do having no freedom, you also see her sad, happy, and then finally you see her free, but that one little thing can take it all away. Mrs. Mallard had heart problems. In the beginning she finds out that her husband had died in a train wreck. She was sad but happy at the same time. Sad that her husband died but happy that she is finally free from what society was telling her husband treat her like. She finally had freedom. At the end she is coming down the stairs and in walks her husband. She was so happy to see that her husband was alive that her heart couldn’t take it and she had a heart attack. Society was what was keeping her from being free. It was what society thought women should be, and in that time period it was to stay home and care for everything. And when her husband “died” she was finally free to do what she wanted to do.
 * Chopin’s “Story of and Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”**

//Great opening! Nice application of feminist criticism :) ideas: when do you see Louise boxed-in in that story? conventions: apostrophes w/possession, AVOID 2ND PERSON (NO "YOU!") commas with coordinating conjunctions//

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”**

In “Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane, a story about a private in the Civil War wanting something so bad that he was willing to risk his own life to satisfy himself. In the story this man motivation was to get water because he was thirsty. In this story crane is describing what the battle field sounds, smells, feels, and looks like leaving out nothing. As the story ends he realizes what reality really is and is faced with many challenges. The mood of this story is describing the battle field. “On the ground was the crimson terror of an exploding shell, with fibers that seemed like lances.” Is just one of the many very descriptive images of the field. He talks about the smell “in the air was an odur as from a conflageration” saying that the field smelled like an explosion. The reader is also given insite to the sounds, “stupendous scuffle, as if two animals the size of islands were fighting…swift moving men, horses, batteried, flags, and the crashing of infantry volleys..and frenzied cheers.” As he is coming back with the water “ he was aware of some deep wheel –ruts and hoof-prints in the sod beneath his feet.” Was what he felt. The mood created was the anxiety, ths suspence. Fres Collins wanted

//Not sure about what you mean "reality really is." EXCELLENT job finding quote that support your ideas. well done. Also, great work defining the mood using imagery as examples. I'm sorry you didn't have the time to finish -- looks like you had a great start!//

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 “April Shower s“ by Edith Wharton, Doctor Dace says to Theodora, “ I suppose you didn’t get home from the ball till morning.” This makes the reader think that they Dace family is in a higher social class than others and that they are able to attend balls. Theodora is a writer and wants her books to be published by Home Circle. In the story she finds out that her story “April Showers” was going to be published. She later finds out that it wasn’t her book at all that it was a different writers and that they had gotten two manuscripts on the same day and that they sent two letters out but the letter wasn’t supposed to go to her. She is in so much anger that she left town and went to Boston, which shows her id. Superego is when she is sewing on the buttons on her brothers “reefer” and helping out her sister. But she wants her work to be published so bad that she is going to repay her family for all the things that she didn’t help with around the house by pay ing them. “Twould ‘a ben a dum sight better, all around, if they’d started him along last summer.” Is telling us that with Thompsons speech that the Invalid also the protagonist, is Sothern and maybe not as educated as Thompson. In this story they are taking his friend to his parents on a train. But all along it was a box of guns and there is this ordure that is given off by a box of cheese that is sitting on top of this crate. Thompson wants to do anything to get the smell of this dead body out of the car but it is really the cheese,is the id. He needs to take his friend to his family in his home town, but the smell is so bad that he wants to give up. He then finds a way to get rid of the smell by opening a window and staying with the body like he was supposed to do.