“The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin

Plot (fill in the plot of the story)

 Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble.

Characters (tell who each character is and primary role in the story;
designate who is the protagonist and antagonist of the story)

 Louise Mallard – A woman who wants to be free from her husband and learns that her
husband was supposedly killed in train accident. (protagonist)
 Brently Mallard – Husband of Mrs. Mallard and the person who supposedly killed in
train accident. (Antagonist )
 Josephine – Louise’s sister and the informative of Mr. Mallard death.
 Richards – Mr. Mallard friend who learns about Mr. Mallard death at newspaper office.

Setting (where and when does the story take place)

 The story takes place in the nineteenth century in Mr. and Mrs. Mallard home.

Point of view (fill in the blank)

 __third _ person limited

Style, Tone, & Language (explain the following)

 Style: length of the story – (What is the connection between the length of the story and
the title?) The story of the hour discusses Louise like in an hour.

 Language: (Why does Chopin repeat words like “open” and “free”?) Chopin uses words
like open and free to symbolize Louise new life of freedom.

Theme (explain each of the themes in the story)

 Forbidden Joy of Independence – Louise not really having joy when she
realizes that Mr. Mallard had passed due to mixed emotions.

 Gender and Identity – men set the rules and women follow them is how
it was during this era in this story.

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  Marriage – Mrs. Mallard feels oppressed by her husband. She does not
feel free in the marriage to be herself. Just like women today feel they
have loss a sense of their self when in a marriage.

 Life & Death – Death was portrayed when Mr. Mallard supposedly died
in a train accident. Life is portrayed when Mrs. Mallard finds out her
husband is still alive.

Symbolism & Imagery (what do each of the following symbolize, or stand

for?)

 Heart trouble = (Symbol for what?) Louise unhappiness with her

marriage.

 Open window = (Symbol for what?) symbolizes the freeness and

opportunities that is waiting on Louise when she believes her husband
has died.

Questions: Deep Thinking and Making Connections (answer the following

questions)

1. After reading Chopin’s “Story of an Hour,” do you think Chopin was a

feminist? Why or why not? I believe Chopin was a feminist. I believe
her goal was to make sure that women were treated fairly.

2. It has been said that Chopin’s stories were controversial for the time.
What is controversial about them? Are they controversial for today?
Chopin stories were controversial because she spoke on women’s
rights and the fairness of them. She touched on topics that were
frowned up on in the 19th century that is okay to speak about today.

3. Going further with the previous question, what does this make you
think about judging things created in the past by current standards? Is
this fair? I believe that judging things created in past for current
standards is not fair. Things change and just because it worked in the
past does not mean it will work now.

This study source was downloaded by 100000839787072 from CourseHero.com on 11-21-2022 14:44:25 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/86100384/Elements-of-Fiction-Story-of-an-Hourdoc/
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