The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Hi class!! Did you like the novel? I really enjoyed the analysis we did in class.

Now, here's a final question for you:

"The text leaves open the question of whether the suicide constitutes a cowardly surrender or a liberating triumph." What do you think? Take a stand and back up your choice.

KATE CHOPIN

You have read a novel by Kate Chopin: The Awakening, and a short story: The Story of an Hour.

Let's lear more about the author and her context.

I've taken great material from a webquest:

http://www.zunal.com/process.php?w=50307

I've assigned one question to each of you. We will deal with them soon, so please, start working.

The Life and Times of Kate Chopin

Use the following hyperlinks to discover information about Kate Chopin and answer the questions that follow:
http://www.angelfire.com/nv/English243/Chopin.html
http://www.katechopin.org/
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-bio/bl-kchopin.htm
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fiction/cultural.asp?e=2c
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fiction/cultural.asp?e=1b
http://www.legacy98.org/timeline.html

1. On what topic do Kate Chopin’s works focus? Sofia S.
2. What reaction did her two novels, At Fault and The Awakening, receive? Bibi L.
3. When did Kate Chopin live and write? What were the social, political and legal realities for women of her time? Cintia A.
4. When did critics/scholars finally begin to accept The Awakening? After viewing a timeline of the women’s rights movement, suggest a reason for that acceptance. Florencia D. S.
5. Are Chopin’s own life/family background/beliefs evident in “The Story of an Hour”? Cristian P.
6. Who were some of Chopin’s female contemporaries with whom she shared similar concerns? Lorena B.
7. Compare/contrast the following quotes taken from two of Chopin’s stories:

"Even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had
apprehended instinctively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life
which questions." Description of Edna Pontellier in The Awakening.

"There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There
would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe
they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature." Description of Mrs. Mallard in
"The Story of an Hour." Valentina P.

8. Choose a few lines from Chopin’s own words (her diaries or journals) and explain how those beliefs/concerns make her “a woman ahead of her times” and how they are reflected in “The Story of an Hour”. Fabiola S.

By reading we discover different worlds! Hope you enjoy the activity in spite of the effort it calls for!

"The Things They Carried": further discussion.

Here's something for you to think and write about.

In the story, the description of the different items in the soldiers' backpacks serve to humanize and individualize the soldiers. By listing their various belongings, O Brien helps the reader identify with the characters.

Are you what you carry? Does it reveal who you are? If your house was on fire and you could only carry out 10 items of your most precious belongings, what would you take?

Let's share our ideas. I'm looking forward to reading your comments.