Monday 27 September 2021

Assignment 3: The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin DEADLINE: Friday 8 October

Kate Chopin's The Story of An Hour (1894) is considered one of the finest pieces of Feminist Literature. 

You can find the story here:
https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/

Choose one of the following discussion questions for your P.E.E.L. paragraph: 

1. Discuss the effect of foreshadowing in The Story of an Hour.
2. Discuss the effect of irony in The Story of an Hour. 
3. Discuss why The Story of an Hour can be considered a work of Feminist Literature
4. Exlain how expectations and reality don't always add up by providing an example from your own life. 

You might have to do some additional research on the terms above.

Don't forget to include conditionals in your paragraph.

Good luck! 

27 comments:

  1. Caitlin Jones
    The Story of an Hour is about a woman, Mrs. Mallard. She is married to Mr. Mallard and she is at home. This story is quite feminist. Her sister comes to her home and tries to carefully tell her that her husband is dead. When she finds out she cries and goes to her room. But was she actually crying? Or was it just an act? She would be better off without a man right? She felt something was coming for her, realisation. But maybe it was the thought of being free, without her husband she could live her own life, with no one to judge her. In that time you were dependent on your husband. But the story tells she was free now so it would be a feminist story. But her husband is dead now, or is he? At the end of the story he walks in, he was never dead. She was so shocked she died of a heart attack. If he would have never returned, she would be happy and be able to live her life how she wanted it to be. So the story basically says that she would be happier and better off without her husband.

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  2. elisa okur, cv3tb
    ‘The story of an hour’ is written by one of the few female authors in the 19th century. Kate Chopin wrote this story and I think it can be considered a work of feminist literature. Everything starts when Mrs. mallard hears a rumor about her husband being killed. She walks up to her room and sits on a chair in front of her window and starts crying after some time. But is this out really out of sadness? She realizes that her husband's death isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If I was living in the 1800s and my husband died, I would find the situation double-sided for myself. On one side the loss of your husband would mean ‘bye hubby, bye money.’ But on the other hand, you’d get freedom, be your own boss. This freedom is showcased in the story as the open window full of new spring life. But just as she starts seeing the positive prospects, guess who walks in? Her ‘dead’ husband, in the flesh. It startles her, and due to her heart condition costs her her life. In conclusion, I think that ‘the story of an hour’ shows us what women’s lives would be like in the 1800s and how women would’ve been better off without these wicked, bossy men ruling over them.

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    1. It’s a good story easy to read and it’s nice to read.

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  3. ~Christi Ligeon

    The foreshadowing in the story of an hour by Kate Chopin is pretty obvious already in the first sentence, because knowing that she had heart problems, we could already figure out that that would be playing a role in this story. Meaning her death. In the first sentence it said that “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.”, from which we could conclude that her sister and the husbands friend were aware of her heart troubles and might be fearing for her having a possible heart attack. They were probably scared that she would be so shocked/sad that she would pass away, which did not happen since she was actually happy now that her husband was dead. Knowing that she could start her own life she was filled with joy, until he stood in front of her. If he had died, he wouldn’t have been standing in front of her, causing a fatal heart attack by shock and probably an overload of sadness. But still, we could predict her death by the beginning of the story.

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    1. Very nice writing it actually seems like you were in the story and lives it with her so you really understood what was going on.

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  4. Hidde Aarsbergen, CV3tb

    How does Kate Chopin use foreshadowing in her story “The Story of An Hour’’? foreshadowing means that a writer gives you a hint of something that is going to happen. You can for example see it in the first sentence of the story, it says she has heart problems. Maybe if you read it you do not notice it but if you are taking a look twice at or you read the story global, you pay more attention to the sentence what means that you can maybe already predict what sort of event will happen in the story. Because later in the story she dies because of a heart disease. If you read the story very carefully, you’ll see that almost every paragraph exists of a foreshadow. But do not confuse foreshadowing with spoilers. Because a spoiler says what happens in a certain event. Foreshadowing only gives a hint. Because in very much stories there are spoilers.

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  5. Thijmen Romeijn

    The story of an hour is about a women called Mrs. Mallard. In the beginning of the story she hears that her husband has died. But in the end he comes walking through the door. Of the shock Mrs Mallard dies and the story ends, but what if I tell you that this was foreshadowed in the first line of the story. Let’s break it down. The first sentence is: “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death. In this sentence they say that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart problems. That’s why they are so carful with her husbands death, because the shock could kill her. If her husband walked in, it would be quit the shock. And that’s what happened. So they foreshadowed her death by naming her heart problem in the first sentence.

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    1. It's very good how you used the conditional

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  6. Cem Hellings

    Irony, that’s what this whole story is about. There are many things hidden in ‘The story of an hour’ that symbolise things like freedom, joy and oppertunities. But it is expressed in the opposite. For example, in the story they mention an open window with a comfy chair in front of it. Did you think the chair was meant to sit in and cry infront of a open window? I didn’t. That comfy chair and the window symbolise something, let me explain. The open window is the freedom mrs Mallard got when her husband ‘died’. And the comfy chair, it symbolises the relaxed life she would get. Also, the heart desease she had, maybe it symbolises their relationship. It wasn’t easy for a women back then. If you were a women, you would be responsible for the household, the children and you were supposed to serve a warm meal every day. You see, not everything you read is literally meant like that, there is always a story, a meaning behind it. And that’s why this story is very ironic.

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  7. Tom Rijken

    “The story of an hour” is a femenistic novel, because mrs. Mallardwas finally happy that she couldlive without her man. This is because she had to do all the work at home for him while he could do whatever he wanted to. But mrs. Mallard didn’t except this and she wasn’t happy doing all the work while her man did nothing except a little of working for the money. Around the 19th century it was normal for a woman to do all the chores and watch the children while men did nothing. Women were not respected and not treated the right way like the should be. It was also hard for women in the 19th century, if you do not have a man, you will have no money income. So basically this story tells how it was for a woman to live in the 19th century and we should treat women more respectfully.

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  8. Wouter Timmermans

    First of all I think that Mrs. Mallard died of a hearth attack, because at the beginning of the story it is said that “Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.” This states that any news that could inflict any shock to Mrs. Mallard should be told with great care. So when Mr. Mallard came back Mrs. Mallard of course got shocked, resulting (in my opinion) into her having a hearth attack. Of course there are other theories of why she got a hearth attack or how and why she died. If they knew about Mr. Mallard not dying, this story would have been way different. And if this situation happened today, she could have survived. This is why I think that the writer foreshadowed Mrs. Mallards death with her hearth problems.

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    1. I think it's a good story because you explained the discussion really well

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  9. English Blog no.3 question 3

    James Edwards

    The story of an hour is part of feminist literature, because in the story they show some of the problems that women had to face in 1894. For example, in the beginning of the story the protagonist Louise Mallard is told that her husband has died in an accident this is where the madness starts. If she had been sad about this, everything would have been fine, however she wasn’t she was actually quite happy about it, because she thought that she was finally freed from her husband’s influence. This clearly shows that she was treated in a poor- or maybe even in an inhumane way, since under normal circumstances no one would be happy about the death of their husband. Then at the end of the story Brently Mallards, Louise’s husband, walks into the house and upon seeing him Louise actually dies, she most likely died of her heart disease, however when taking the theme of the story into account there is also quite a good chance that she actually died from having her hopes of freedom crushed, which further proves that she had been living a hellish life and for pointing that out in 1894 when there was a lot of discrimination against women it is shown that the story is most definitely part of feminist literature.

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    1. I really like how you worded your blogpost, you made a lot of good points.

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  10. Sabi sorban
    The story of an hour is a work of feminist literature, but why is it that? The story is about a woman who lives in the 19th century but one day she finds out that her husband died. It's a feminist story because she has to all the work in the house and she doesn't like that. But when she finds out that her husband is dead she gets happy because she sees all the new chances to begin a new life so now she doesn't have to work at home. Also in the beginning of the story it said that they told her as gently as possible that her husband died but if she wouldn't have been a woman they would have told her otherwise.
    So This story is feminist literature because it shows that men and women where not treated the same back then.

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  11. Elwin de Kok
    The story of an hour is about a
    woman who just got the news her husband died, but why can Story of an Hour be
    considered a work of Feminist literature. It can be seen as a Feminist literature
    because it shows that most women of that time were not happy with their male husbands.
    This is shown in the way how the woman reacts to hearing her husband died. She is
    sad because her husband died, but she begins questioning if she really loved
    her husband. A woman in that time was most of the time forced to marry a man,
    make children, care for the children and work at home. If she had not got
    married, she would go and enjoy her life as a normal human would. This is
    shown by the woman looking outside of the window and seeing a bright future in
    front of her, but because of the man, this is not possible. Feminism is a lot
    about giving the woman the same changes and the story shows this. To summit, all up the
    story shows a bright future for the woman without the man this story can be
    seen as a work of Feminist Literature.

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  12. Emma Peredo

    This story is pretty complex and open, cause everyone can actually think something different about the most things happening, or more specific "why it happens?".
    Why did she die? Their could be much different answers to this question. But there are probably to main type of answers to this; a superficial answer and one that diggs further into the story.

    Probably the first reason you can think of is surprise, the good kind of surprise.. Because her husband lives! But if you actually analize the story, you can see that she is actually happy that her husband dies, she finally feels free. So, What would be actually the reason of her death?

    The reason of seeing his "death" husband seeing her freedom fall apart, or dying because the surprise or good news? Or maybe the fact of curiosity, cause, why did they actually lie about it on the first place? Or could it be.. She actually realized why they lied about it?

    How you can see, it's a story where your thoughts make a really big difference.

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    1. You have a very intriguing writing style, because it caught my eye, and kept me hooked all the way through. And your argumentation is solid too, because you use P.E.E.L. so well! And, leaving the reader with one strong sentance is very... how should I put this... Cool? Smart? I struggle to show how the final sentance shows perfectly how you feel about the story.

      Really good job, Emma!

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    2. Thanks!
      It really makes me happy knowing I can actually cause something like that just by my writing, and much more since I'm really bad expressing myself... Mostly.

      Thanks~

      Emma Peredo.

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  13. Xanthe Hough

    "The Story of An Hour" is a short story written by Kate Chopin, a female author. In the 19th century, there were not many female authors. In my opinion, this already proves that this is a piece of feminist literature as many women did not attempt to become authors. It was generally only men who became authors. Society decided that if a woman becomes an author, it is unsuitable.
    In the story, we talk about Louise Mallard, who deals with the news that her husband has passed away and unexpectedly responds to this. Most women break down immediately, thinking they have lost everything. Mrs Mallard looks at the situation from a different angle. She imagines it as an exit to freedom, a new beginning, and an escape from her controlling husband. The aforementioned is feminist since she defies the expectations of society for women.
    As the story continues, we find out that her husband wasn't deceased. Louise passes away at the sight of her husband, and the story comes to an end. I think that if her husband had been dead, she would have lived a different life. To conclude, this story is a piece of feminist literature because it displays immense power, independence, and bravery coming from a woman.

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  14. Carsten van der Kleij8 October 2021 at 23:30

    Carsten van der Kleij

    Kate Chopin has written many extraordinary short stories including, “The Story of an Hour,” which can be considered a work of feminist literature because of the bold choices the author uses. Kate Chopin lived during 1850-1904, a time when it wasn’t common for women to work, much less write. Many of the stories Kate Chopin wrote were considered unacceptable and scandalous. This is due to society at the time and their belief that if men work outside of the house, women must work inside of the house. However, the growing political ideology of feminism is gaining a lot of support, and Kate Chopin’s stories are feministic and give an insight into why it is necessary for people to feel free and equal. Therefore, if Kate Chopin lived and wrote in our time, her stories would have received more attention because it is a work of feminist literature.

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  15. Taco Hensema
    Why is this story of Kate Chopin considered to be feminist literature? Well I believe that Mrs. Mallard and the chain of events that happened in her life before her death, represent the life of Kate Choplin. The story discusses the fact that women in that time did not get the opportunity to work or have their own life but had to clean the house, have kids and take care of the family. This is something that often plays a key role in feminist literature. After hearing that her husband had passed she walked to her room and sat down in a comfortable chair. She had this weird feeling and was not quite sad but more relieved. She felt bad about it and tried to fight this. But “a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘’free, free, free!”” She had come to realise that this wasn’t the end, but the beginning of her own life. That she was now finally free and could make her own decisions, she felt happy. ‘’There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. ’’This is the same feeling Kate Chopin had. With her husband and kids at home she was not able to write because she had to clean, cook and take care of them. If her husband would not have died she could not have written these stories as she never felt free enough to do so with him around.

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  16. Thijs van Wijngaarden12 October 2021 at 12:30

    Thijs van Wijngaarden,

    In the story: 'The story of an hour,' Kate Choppin is Foreshadowing. You can see this in the first sentence of the story:'Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble. The sentence tells us that Mrs.Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble. This indicates that they have to be very careful with bringing Mrs. Mallard the news that her husband has died. This sentence told us that she would probably die, which happened at the end of the story. Throughout the story's paragraphs, Kate Choppin also foreshadows, such as the sentence:'Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. This sentence tells us that she is not doing well and that something terrible will happen to her. Once again, the terrible thing that is going to happen to her is that she will die. So it is undeniable that Kate Choppin is foreshadowing in this story.

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  17. this is hugo's blog


    The story of an hour by Kate Chopin

    In the story of an hour by Kate Chopin the effect of irony is present in so many ways. There is a build up to an anticlimax. Miss Mallard seems very miserable but throughout the story you see that she is actually pleased that her husband is dead. At one point the story tells about a open window viewing the outside, a metafor for a new life without her husband. But it turns out that her husband was not dead and due to that and her heart issues she died. And it is ironic because she seemed so joyful that her husband was dead because she was muttering tot herself that she was now free. And now that her husband was still alive she could not believe she had lost the freedom again that she thought she had gained.

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  18. Rosalie Koole
    The story of an hour is a piece of feminist literature, let me explain to you why. There are many moments at the beginning of the story where there is indicated that Mrs Mallard was not happy with her husband. This gets even more clear towards the end.
    If she had been happy with her marriage, she would’ve been crying in despair instead, she was over the moon that she was free from her husband. This could be an indication that she was being held back by her man. Or that he kept her from being a free human.
    The story states “spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own.” This supports my statement even more. It refers to the fact that her days are not her own and that she is not living her life for herself. My conclusion, therefore, is that she was not living her life as she wanted and that the idea of women living like they want themselves is praised.

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  19. Hello, my name is Jesse van Vugt.
    Blog post #3
    The effect of foreshadowing in: The Story of an Hour. The foreshadowing basically starts of in the first sentence already, where we heard that Mrs. Mallard had heart problems. Knowing this would probably come back later, leading to her death. The story explains that because of her heart problems the news of her husband’s death would be told as caring and gental as possible. Feared that the would overreact tot he news, she was actually quite happy that her husband was dead. Now that she could live her own life like she wanted to. After accepting that she had lost her husband, he suddenly walked in and she died to shock, or guilt. There are several different reasons for her to have died because of this happening, but knowing she had heart problems as said in the biginning of the story, I will conclude that the sight of her husband gave her a heart attack.

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