Evaluate and Connect

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 583.

Recall and Interpret

Tasks

Kate Chopin

The Story of an Hour

Find some information about the author. Research the social, political, and legal issues that concerned Kate Chopin and other women of her time.

1. How does Mrs. Mallard first react to the news her sister tells her? What does her reaction seem to indicate about her feelings toward her husband?

2. Summarize what happens while Mrs. Mallard is in her room. How do her feelings change? Why, do you think, does she fear this change at first but later welcomes it?

3. What words does the narrator use to describe Mrs. Mallard's appearance and behavior as she leaves her room? Based on this description, what might you infer about her attitude and outlook?

4. What happens to Mrs. Mallard at the end of the story? Do you agree with the explanation the doctors give? Why or why not?

5. What is your opinion of Mrs. Mallard's character? Support your evaluation by using details from the story.

6. Dramatic irony¹ occurs when the reader knows something that characters in a literary work do not. How does the dramatic irony in the last paragraph add to your understanding and appreciation of the story?

7. This story takes place more than a century ago, at a time when most American women lived very restricted lives. Do you think this story would be believable if it were set in the present? Support your ideas with details from the story.

¹ Irony A contrast or discrepancy between appearance and reality. Situational irony exists when the actual outcome of a situation is the opposite of someone's expectations, as at the end of Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour,” when the narrator's husband, thought to be dead, arrives at the front door. In verbal irony, a person says one thing and means another, as when someone says of a mean person, “Nice guy!” Dramatic irony occurs when the audience has important information that the characters do not know.

Plot²

1. What is the central conflict³ of “The Story of an Hour”? Is this conflict external, internal, or both? Explain you answer with details from the story.

2. Identify the climax. Do you think this story might have two climaxes? Why or why not?

3. How does the resolution of the story help you better understand its theme, or message?

² The plot is the sequence of events in a story. The plot begins with exposition, which introduces the story's characters, setting, and situation. The plot catches the reader's attention with a

narrative hook. The rising action adds complications to the conflicts, or problems, leading to the climax, or the point of highest emotional pitch. The falling action is the logical result of the climax, and the resolution, or dénouement, presents the final outcome.

³ The events of a story develop its central conflict, or struggle between opposing forces. When a character struggles against an outside force, the conflict is external; when a character experiences a struggle inside his or her own mind, the conflict is internal. The conflict builds until the story reaches its climax—the point of greatest emotional intensity.