Reply to discussion 1 :
Why do you think that Chopin decided her main character should have heart disease as opposed to any other ailment?
I think that Kate Chopin concluded Mrs. Mallard should have heart sickness in contrast to any other illness because the heart is a hackneyed symbol of affection. Kate Chopin was giving us a glimpse of Mrs. Mallard’s character.
When the main character is in her room looking out her window, she sees typical scenes from a beautiful spring day. Why would Chopin choose the season of spring for this scene?
Personally, I think Kate Chopin chose a spring scene because spring means new beginnings, what she felt when she heard the news about her husband’s death. The fresh air runs freely, giving freshness and tranquility. What was happening outside her window was comparable to what she was feeling inside her.
The final sentence is full of irony – a common literary device. Merriam-Webster defines dramatic irony as “a literary technique … by which the full significance of a character’s words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.” Why is the last sentence of “The Story of an Hour” so ironic?
The irony in “The Story of an Hour” is that other characters mistakenly attribute Mrs. Mallard’s death to her shocked elation that her husband Brently is alive. At the end of the story, Brently, who was allegedly killed in a train accident, reappears out of nowhere. But Mrs. Mallard is privately celebrating her newfound independence from her husband and marriage throughout the story’s “Story of an hour.” Therefore, shock rather than joy causes her death.
Add any extra thoughts/ideas/insights that came to mind for you as you read this week’s text. Try to bring to the forefront something interesting that you’ve notice about the story and that you’d like to share with me and your peers for further discussion.
It is interesting that in this story when it begins, the first thing that comes to mind is a poor woman who has just lost her husband, how difficult it must be for her, but when the story progresses we realize as readers that what Mrs. Mallard feels is a peace of mind upon learning of her husband’s death. And how cruel that that happiness lasted so little and ended up taking her own life.
Reply to discussion 2:
Why do you think that Chopin decided her main character should have heart disease as opposed to any other ailment? In my opinion Chopin chose heart disease because the heart is the center of someone’s emotions because if the heart is not into something you will not have any feeling or motivation to do anything.
When the main character is in her room looking out her window, she sees typical scenes from a beautiful spring day. Why would Chopin choose the season of spring for this scene? Spring is often meaning of new beginnings, start fresh, it’s where flowers are blooming. After she received the news of her husband’s death she felt free, like she has a second chance to redeem her life, and finally she can start living for herself and not someone else’s life. By her saying, “Body and soul free” was a way to tell herself that she can finally allow herself to be happy after so many years and start seeing life differently.
The final sentence is full of irony – a common literary device. Merriam-Webster defines dramatic irony as “a literary technique … by which the full significance of a character’s words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.” Why is the last sentence of “The Story of an Hour” so ironic? The last sentence stated that she had died of heart disease of the joy that kills. Mrs. Blanchard finally found a way to get her life back and she was ready to start a new beginning with her sister Josephine and seeing her husband alive brought her back to her old self, she couldn’t hold that thought any more so she went into depression. While reading the story I felt like Mrs. Blanchard was never happy, and the thought of her husband’s death gave her a sense of freedom that finally she can be happy. The story portrays things that are still happening where people stay married just because they don’t want to have the status of a “divorcee”, or if they have children they do not want them to suffer, so they rather suffer and let themselves die slowly in depression.
2. Choose a topic for future paper: You will not be making an argument in this paper; however, you must choose a controversial topic to write about as you will be presenting, without revealing bias, two sides to an argument. For example, a popular topic would be the legalization of marijuana. If you were to choose this topic, you would not be arguing that marijuana should be legalized, nor would you be arguing it should remain illegal; instead, you would present the most compelling arguments for both sides to allow your reader to make up his or her own mind after seeing both sides fairly presented.
topic cannot be abortion. One sentence about which topic is being chosen and why did you choose that topic, what interest you about it. 3 sentences tops for this.
