1. Through Rose-Colored Glasses: The Feminist Lens
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

2. Why Do We Need Literary Theory?
Contemporary theory holds that there is no such thing as an innocent value-free reading. Instead, each of us has a viewpoint invested with presuppositions about ‘reality’ and about ourselves, whether we are conscious of it or not. People who deny having a critical stance, who claim they are responding “naturally” or being “completely objective” do not know themselves.
- Stanton, Literary Theories in Praxis, p. 2
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

3. Different Functions of Literary Theory
Literary theory functioned in my life as a prism, which I could turn to refract different spectral patterns of language use in a text, as one does daylight. Turn the prism this way, and one pattern emerges; turn it that way and another pattern configures.
-Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

4. Why Do We Need To Consider Different View Points in Regard to Knowledge?
For knowledge isn’t just something we acquire; it’s something we are or hope to become. Knowledge is what constitutes our relationship to ourselves and to our world, for it is the lens through which we view ourselves and our world. Change the lens and you change both the view and the viewer. This principle is what makes knowledge at once so frightening and so liberating, so painful and so utterly, utterly joyful.
Lois Tyson, 1999
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

5. Why Do We Need To Consider Different View Points in Regard to Knowledge?
The main reason for studying theory at the same time as literature is that it forces you to deal consciously with the problem of ideologies...There are many truths and the one you will find depends partly on the ideology you start with. [Studying theory] means you can take your own part in the struggles for power between different ideologies. It helps you to discover elements of your own ideology, and understand why you hold certain values unconsciously. It means no authority can impose a truth on you in a dogmatic way--and if some authority does try, you can challenge that truth in a powerful way, by asking what ideology it is based on... Theory is subversive because it puts authority in question.
- Bonnycastle, In Search of Authority, p. 34
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

6. What Have Your Peers and Others Said About Lit Theory??
To read the world is to notice... to understand... and to interpret... the world around us needs all the lenses and to use them is to respond to the world itself.
- Jenny, Grade 12
...literary theory can handle Bob Dylan just as well as John Milton.
-Terry Eagleton
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

7. What is the Feminist Literary Lens?
Feminist Criticism. A Feminist Critic sees cultural and economic disabilities in a “patriarchal” society which have hindered or prevented women from realizing their creative possibilities and women’s cultural identification is as a merely negative object, or “Other” to man as the defining and dominating “Subject.” There are several assumptions and concepts held in common by most feminist critics.
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

8. All text taken from:
On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
Feminist literary criticism helps us look at literature in a different light. It applies the philosophies and perspectives of feminism to the literature we read. There are many different kinds of feminist literary theory. Some theorists examine the language and symbols that are used and how that language and use of symbols is “gendered.”

9. Others remind us that men and women write differently and analyze how the gender of the author affects how literature is written. Many feminist critics look at how the characters, especially the female characters, are portrayed and ask us to consider how the portrayal of female characters “reinforces or undermines “ sexual stereotypes (Lynn, 1998).
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

10. Feminist literary theory also suggests that the gender of the reader often affects our response to a text. For example, feminist critics may claim that certain male writers address their readers as if they were all men and exclude the female reader.
Like feminism itself, feminist literary theory asks us to consider the relationships between men and women and their relative roles in society. Much feminist literary theory reminds us that the relationship between men and women in society is often unequal and reflects a particular patriarchal ideology. Those unequal relationships may appear in a variety of ways in the production of literature and within literary texts. Feminist theorists invites us to pay particular attention to the patterns of thought, behavior, values, and power in those relationships.
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

11. Feminist literary critics remind us that literary values, conventions, and even the production of literature, have themselves been historically shaped by men. They invite us to consider writings by women , both new and forgotten, and also ask us to consider viewing familiar literature through a feminist perspective.
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

12. 2. How do we apply the feminist lens?
We apply it by closely examining the portrayal of the characters, both female and male, the language of the text, the attitude of the author, and the relationship between the characters. We also consider the comments the author seems to be making about society as a whole.
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

13. 3. Application: Looking through the Feminist Lens
Select two characters from novels we have read. They could be from our readings last semester, from works we have read together from this semester, or from texts you have read in previous English classes. For example, you might choose Abigail from The Crucible, Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, or Louise from “The Story of an Hour”.
For each character, write two descriptive statements—one from a traditional masculine perspective and the second from a feminist perspective.
Character 1:
Traditional statement:
Feminist statement: �
Character 2:
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On January 28, 2009 for BHS 11th Grade American Literature. Lesson on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

14. Power Point by Ms. Pennell!