...6th, 2014 Abstract The following paper discusses and analyzes the work “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. The story uses the irony of life to show that marriage can be full of undisclosed hatred, suppression, and unpleasantness between partners – a point that remains concealed from the outside world. “The Story of an Hour” is a story about a married couple. The story begins with the wife hearing the news of the death of her husband. The news, instead of sending her into a shock, sends her into a state of excitement. Her excitement remains concealed from the people around her, who assume that she is under great shock. However, her excitement does not last too long, and she again faces news. This time, the news arrives with the arrival of her husband in front of her. Unable to control her feelings of sadness, she falls and dies on the spot. The paper takes into account multiple readings of various authors, compares their stance, and studies their views of the story. The paper establishes the point that time is running very quickly, and the story also revolves around the importance of time. It concludes with the outcome that if married couples trust each other, interconnect well, and resolve their problems, instead of thinking evil of each other, their relation is likely to remain flourishing. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin The background of “The Story of an Hour” sets its foundations on the moralities of marriage. Marriage is a respected commitment...
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...The Necklace vs. The Story of an Hour Pamela Richard ENG 125 Lesa Hadley May 11, 2012 The Necklace vs. The Story of an Hour A short story, “The Necklace” (“La parure”) written by Guy de Maupassant in 1884 and a poem, ‘The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1894 are literary works that are very comparable yet are different. The two women, Madame Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard, portrayed in these literary works are protagonists who have trouble because of conflicting expectations imposed on them by society. Both Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard want something more than what their lifestyle offers them. During the time when the authors wrote these pieces, the social behaviors showed gender suppression/oppression. This essay will compare and contrast elements of content, form, and style between two different literary works. Both authors chose the theme of gender roles in marriage. During the time when the authors wrote theses pieces, the social behaviors showed gender suppression/oppression. The nineteenth century was impacted by the industrial revolution which caused a gap in gender roles, especially in the upper and middle classes (Radek, 2001). Men and women were thought to have completely different natures. Men were considered to be powerful, brave, rational and independent. Women were considered weak, timid, emotional, and dependent. Those differences separated their functions in society. "Men were thought to have natures suited to the public...
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...Comparing and Contrasting “The Story of an Hour” and “How I Met My Husband”. Lora Cruse Ashford University ENG125 11/20/2014 In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting two great short stories. One being “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1854 and the other being “How I Met my Husband” written by Alice Munro in 1974. The two short stories share the theme of gender roles/marriage. That being said,, I will be going over plot, point of view and tone. Sometimes women feel like they are trapped in their marriage, and sometimes women cannot wait to become married. Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour represents a negative view of marriage. Every individual takes a different approach when enduring the loss of a loved one. Whether it is bursting into tears or being miserable. When a wife loses a husband, she typically tends to be in a state of depression. The feeling of losing your significant other is a piercing agony going through one's heart, but in this case the feeling of loss can turn into someone's freedom. For Louise Mallard she had an erratic reaction when she was informed that her husband had been allegedly killed in a train accident. She locks herself in her room and sits in front of the window in desolation. She begins to ponder how her life will be without her husband. The sorrow that Mrs. Mallard felt in the beginning slowly turns into joy. “Free body and soul free!” (Chopin...
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...In Kate Choplin’s “The story of an hour” ( 1894) we read and see the view of a house wife’s life, and a insight on how she feels about the death of her husband as well as the reaction she has when she finds out that he is indeed -- not deceased. In this Reader response approach I will give you my view on how this story captured my attention and interest with its witty title, and how it shows the irony of one woman’s life changed in one hour. Kate choplin’s short story gives us an insight of how a woman is given devastating new that her husband has been killed. But after you read this story you begin to wonder, is this woman sad or overjoyed with the news?? This literary work caught my attention because it can have two different perceptions. The perception that was most obvious to me was that she was at first in dismay, then realizing she will have a new chance at life- is over joyous. The lines here give a insight to her thoughts, and give us the inner feelings of bewilderment she felt with both these were fully recognized. “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes.” (Choplin,1894) . when I read jamil’s emotion essay I was able to better understand I see a different view on what Mrs. Mallard was possible thinking. Jamil quotes “When she hears the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard’s...
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...Terms – AP English Language and Composition These terms should be of use to you in answering the multiple-choice questions, analyzing prose passages, and composing your essays. allegory – The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some allegories, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction like hope or freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. alliteration – The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in “she sells sea shells”). Although the term is not frequently in the multiple choice section, you can look for alliteration in any essay passage. The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage. allusion – A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion. ambiguity – The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. analogy – A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating...
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...those arguments make their cases successfully, and unsuccessfully. One of the three essays you will write on the AP exam will require you to provide evidence for a given argument from your own prior knowledge and understanding of national, world, and historical events. This assignment is designed to help you prepare for that. The assignment has two parts, both of which will be due each Monday at the beginning of class. In addition to the written assignment below, students will share their current events in their small groups, and at least one student from each group will present his/her rhetorical précis to the class each week. I will collect these each week, so be sure to have the thoroughly completed assignment with you each week. **You must attach the article to your assignment sheet** POINTS: 30 Directions -- The two parts described below must be typed, double space, using an ordinary font such as Times New Roman in 10 or 12 point font. -- Per MLA style, in the upper left hand corner of your page, please type: Your full name Suzy Smith My name Ferguson Course name and hour AP English Language, 3rd Hour Date September 9, 2013 -- Please title each week’s submission as “Current Event (Date)” Part 1: After following the local, state, national, and world news each week, decide what you think is the most important stories/events for that week, and for each story/event, complete the following prompts (examples are provided): Topic: Hurricane...
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...Shawna Parker Jonathan Cook English 112 28 September 2008 The Deadly Traditions Throughout the course of life, families have traditions and cultural norms. As you get older or the family grows traditions sometimes need to change. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson illuminates the struggle of human survival. We as human are instinctively designed to preserve our lives, as we know it. Jackson uses symbolism, setting, irony and structure in the essay, to show to that life is a gamble. Most of use is creatures of habit. We don’t adjust to changes that interfere with our way of life. In the story of “The Lottery”, Jackson uses irony to show a slip of paper can cause a life changing event. Mrs. Hutchinson was late to the lottery because of her dishes. Somehow her dishes seemed more important than getting to the lottery on time. But once she remembered what the day was she went a running. As she arrived the villagers were making fun of her because she was late. Her explanation,” Wouldn’t have me leave m’ dishes in the sink now, would you Joe?” (12-13) or perhaps maybe she felt the fear of possibly losing one of her family members. One could even see the metaphoric belief if she is late maybe the lottery itself would just go away and not take place. How does a family accept having to participate in a tradition that is fatal ritual? Every thing seemed so fun and jokingly until the Hutchinson family made their deadly draw. It was ironically when Mr. Hutchinson drew the death paper...
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...In Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard is one of the main characters and one of the only that we get to know the most throughout the story. She is the main character, and the story focuses on her thoughts and feelings. At the end of the short story, Louise Mallard’s destiny does not end well when Chopin decides there is not another choice for her than death. “When the doctor came they said she had died of heart disease- of joy that kills” (Chopin 130). After acknowledging the news of her husband death’s, the thoughts and feelings she has while in front of her sister, Josephine, and her husband’s friend, Richard, are very different than the one she has while in her room by herself. Because of the way she acts and thinks, Louis Mallard’s death looks as pure disappointment of the loss of her thoughts about freedom. Her death is ironic because the tone of the last line, readers can tell that she did not die of a heart disease. Readers of the short story can assume she dies because in the beginning of the story, Louise is introduced as someone...
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...Short story essay Forever free Rough draft How many times could anybody possibly hear in a lifetime the phrase that love gives wings and teaches to fly? Yet, often this phrase is misleading; love may be great, but it also may imprison a person and break the spirit. “ A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Psalms proverbs). Love, especially in marriage, does not often last forever even though this institution may insist that it does. In her short story “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin expresses the feelings of a woman in a marriage in the 19th century and the vacillations of thought and feeling that a marriage brought a particular woman, Mrs. Mallard, at that time. Through plot, character and irony the author demonstrates that Mrs. Mallard is not the ideally happily married women, of her time or any other time. Mrs. Mallard wishes freedom of thought and expression and this is not available to a woman in her married position. The story begins with the announcement of the death of Mr. Mallard. After she hears of his death, his wife goes upstairs alone to her room to grieve. Yet she does not grieve; instead, she feels relief. A woman in her position has been married her whole life and has gone from father’s possession to husband’s possession. “She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’” (197). She understands that this is not what she is supposed to feel, yet she cannot help but feel it at the bottom of...
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...not changed from Shakespeare's time period in which he wrote this play to the modern dilemmas of today. The character Hamlet relates through individualism of self to others in the play and Shakespeare uses this confusion of self and nature thus assuring many types of readers who can relate to his Hamlet characterization. Hamlet portrays himself with all his human flaws, but it is this humanity that makes him distinctive from everyone else in the story. In addition, all of Hamlet's waking hours are preoccupied with his own thoughts thus adding more intensity to his feelings and perceptions about where he sees imperfections, worry and tension as well as confusion, but without a doubt it is these human qualities which makes his situation so impossible for him to resolve easily. Another tragic role of the play is its irony. The irony allows the storyline to show humor as well as the cause and effects of each action taken. There is usually little reason for a tragedy to be funny so Shakespeare has used this type of humor to add more irony to the already tragic events of the play. Pause for thought is in the types of conflict that play a major part in the play and the relationships between Hamlet and the two people who have been closest to him; being Ophelia and the ghost. Hamlet cannot share his strong feelings and emotions with his mother or his girlfriend and while his mother is literally sleeping with the enemy, Ophelia has chosen the side of Claudius because of her father Polonius...
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...Denis Umansky Ambiguity in understanding women characters in short stories. The prowess of a good writer lies in an area of catching reader's attention. The way author can make us think about his work, carefully analyzing events and making images of his characters. However, a real master doesn't give us exact answers to our questions, but leaves a space for our own imagination to reply on them. In the text of this essay I would like to highlight the ambiguity, in which protagonists of short stories are presented. As an example I will use images of Olenka from “The Darling” by Chekhov, Mme. Loisel from “The Necklace” by Maupassant and Mrs. Mallard from “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. It would be reasonable to start with Anton Chekhov, because he is one of the founders of a short story genre. Speaking about “The Darling”, I would like to mention my own experience and attitude towards this narrative. I first read it several years ago as a part of literature program at school. My first attitude to Olenka wasn't the most pleasant one. I judged her intellectually and found all her actions irrational and even pathetic, because she couldn't live without being addicted to someone. This is a passage, where author describes her emotional state, when she is alone: “She hardly ever went out, except for the market … and led the life of a nun”(194). So without a man near her, Olenka has no goal in her life, no need in self-realization and this is not good. Nevertheless, three years...
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...as so for a while. It wasn’t until after my first essay that I realized how I could improve my writing in preparation for college now instead of later. I didn’t realize that I tend to write in a passive tense every other sentence until now. I also, often, used, too many comma splices, which butchered the flow of my writing. I sometimes missed the MLA format details which lowered my scores early on. After I submitted the last essay, I was glad that I didn’t sign up for English IV. I enjoyed some papers...
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...that we approach the subject as what it is: an art form. How does one study the arts? What exactly do we do when we study drawing, sculpture, music, or dance? Well, anyone who has studied the arts will tell you that studying the arts essentially involves two things: • Learning about, and developing an awareness of and appreciation for, existing works of art in that particular form; • Developing the skills and techniques associated with the art form, in order to create our own works. In the case of language arts, much like any other art form, we will be studying existing works of art (i.e., reading books, stories and poems), and developing the skills to produce our own (i.e., writing). That’s what English Language Arts is. We will also be preparing ourselves for New York State’s Regents Comprehensive Examination in English, which we’ll all be taking in June. This two-day, six-hour, four-part exam requires no specific knowledge or content, but it does require the skills to listen, read, understand, respond, interpret, analyze, and of course, write. Everything we do in class is designed to develop those skills, and prepare your for that exam. So, So what does that mean to you, the student? It means we’re going to do a lot of reading, a lot of writing, and most importantly, a lot of thinking. See, when you reach high school, particularly the upper grades, you should already know...
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...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH LINDA NEAL UNDERWOOD S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare developed many stories into excellent dramatizations for the Elizabethan stage. Shakespeare knew how to entertain and involve an audience with fast-paced plots, creative imagery, and multi-faceted characters. Macbeth is an action-packed, psychological thriller that has not lost its impact in nearly four hundred years. The politically ambitious character of Macbeth is as timely today as he was to Shakespeare's audience. Mary McCarthy says in her essay about Macbeth, "It is a troubling thought that Macbeth, of all Shakespeare's characters, should seem the most 'modern,' the only one you could transpose into contemporary battle dress or a sport shirt and slacks." (Signet Classic Macbeth) Audiences today quickly become interested in the plot of a blindly ambitious general with a strong-willed wife who must try to cope with the guilt engendered by their murder of an innocent king in order to further their power. The elements of superstition, ghosts, and witchcraft, though more readily a part of everyday life for the Renaissance audience, remain intriguing to modern teenagers. The action-packed...
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...Narrative A narrative is a sequence of events that a narrator tells in story form. A narrator is a storyteller of any kind, whether the authorial voice in a novel or a friend telling you about last night’s party. Point of View The point of view is the perspective that a narrative takes toward the events it describes. First-person narration: A narrative in which the narrator tells the story from his/her own point of view and refers to him/herself as “I.” The narrator may be an active participant in the story or just an observer. When the point of view represented is specifically the author’s, and not a fictional narrator’s, the story is autobiographical and may be nonfictional (see Common Literary Forms and Genres below). Third-person narration: The narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” • Omniscient narration: The narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, and motivations of all of the characters. For example, the narrator of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina seems to know everything about all the characters and events in the story. • Limited omniscient narration: The narrator knows the actions, feelings, and motivations of only one or a handful of characters. For example, the narrator of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has full knowledge of only Alice. • Free indirect discourse: The narrator conveys a character’s inner thoughts...
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