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Aim: How can we closely read Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour”? Do Now: What does the following mean? “A person who won’t read has no advantage.

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Presentation on theme: "Aim: How can we closely read Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour”? Do Now: What does the following mean? “A person who won’t read has no advantage."— Presentation transcript:

1 Aim: How can we closely read Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour”? Do Now: What does the following mean? “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.” - Mark Twain

2 Cultural Context When Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening appeared in 1899, it was condemned for its vulgarity and banned from libraries. Chopin herself was chased out of many social clubs she had frequented with some regularity, and still other places refused her outright. Why? In her novel, as in, “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin created an unconventional lead female character with a voice of her own. This voice dared to defy the patriarchal dominance that had been so prominent in American society since its birth.

3 Let’s start small… What is Mrs. Mallard like? When she weeps with, “wild abandonment,” what does this show about her? When do we first learn of Mrs. Mallard’s first name? What significance does this have?

4 Beginning to read closely… The story first mentions, “… Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble…”, and ends with “… she had died of heart disease.” A few ideas are set up: 1. On the surface, Mrs. Mallard’s death can be logically explained, which reinforces how Mrs. Mallard lived her life one way in public but felt differently about it in private. 2. Even though Mrs. Mallard’s death is foreshadowed in the first line, we are indeed surprised by her death as an example of irony. 3. The term, “heart trouble,” may have a double meaning - her heart is literally stressed from being in an oppressive marriage(remember, she is young), and, figuratively, her emotional heart is not fulfilled and is troubled.

5 Upon hearing of her husband ’ s death, Mrs. Mallard retreats to her room and observes what is outside her window. Underline the specific images from the open window. What do the images from the open window offer Mrs. Mallard? There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

6 True feelings are revealed behind closed doors… Indicate lines from the text that indicate Mrs. Mallard’s definition of marriage. “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature.” What does this line mean? What is her definition of marriage? In the same paragraph, to what other word does Mrs. Mallard compare marriage? Crime Provide the lines from the text that indicates what Mrs. Mallard prays for. “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long.” What does this line mean? Why might she want life to be long now?

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8 Bonus Round What is the first indication in the story that Mrs. Mallard is not like other women? “She had not heard the story as many women have heard the same…”


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