In "The Story of an Hour," (1894), Kate Chopin shows us the lack of independence/ self-assertion in women and its affect on love in the nineteenth century. The main character, Louis Mallard, has a serious heart problem which is taken into consideration when her sister Josephine and Mr. Mallard's friend, Richards, arrive at the Mallard's home to gently announce the news of Mr. Brently Mallard's death expressed in the newspaper office. When Mrs. Mallard receives the information she weeps as she dismisses herself , going into a room alone leaving her sister worried. Ironically, as Josephine tries to get Louis Mallard to open the door, we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard's changing emotions about her husband's death. She realizes that she is now living for herself and that being a widow might not be a terrible experience. As she finally opens the door and walk down the steps with Josephine, Mr. Mallard opens the front door. Richard's tries to block Mrs. Mallard's view of her husband but he is too late as she dies of a heart disease. Chopin's story is meant to open the reader's eyes on the significance of self assertion. Though Chopin expresses that Brently Mallard treated Mrs. Mallard well, we still see more relief from Louis Mallard for becoming a widow the longer she sits thinking. Chopin's point seems to be that true emotions will come out if it's expressed to an individual or behind closed doors.
That was my introduction. Now that I reread it over and over again, I do see things that I can fix but I still have some questions. Is my summary too long? Does it give details that I can use in my body paragraphs. I put a sentence in bold on purpose because that is one sentence that I think that I can eliminate but then I do not think that the paper will sound accurate if it goes from the previous sentence to the following sentence. My topic sentence for my next paragraph is......
Chopin's goal in the story is to challenge the reader's assumption on love and its level of importance compared to independence/ self-assertion.
I feel like I'm repeating something. I need feedback!
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You're doing some good work, Brandi. I have to limit my feedback somewhat, (sorry), but re: your summary, I do think you could trim it down a bit. But the length of your summary is LESS important than its substance--how it functions in your paper, how it HELPS you present your thesis. That's really what the summary is supposed to do. The reader doesn't need to know every element of the story. You only need them to know enough to make them understand your claim.
ReplyDeleteSO, think about what you're trying to argue as you're summarizing the story. OMIT unnecessary details, and get the story to work for YOUR THESIS. Does that make sense?
(If your thesis, then, is about how the story shows us the importance of independence and self-assertion, you should try to highlight those parts of the story line that support that. Everything else about the story should be condensed as much as possible or omitted.)
i thought it was good but you could have made it a lil shorter but overall it sound pretty good to me.... RS
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