Writing Assignment

on

Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour"

 

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There is a Study Guide to this story.  You should work your way through it before attempting this writing assignment.

You may also wish to review the general instructions on writing assignments.

In about a page (single-spaced, typed, standard margins, 12-point font), address the following question:  what are the main issues raised by the character of the protagonist of Chopin's story, as revealed in the conflict she undergoes in the course of it, in the way that conflict is resolved, and in what happens at the end? [See note.]

Before leaping into the actual business of writing, take some time to analyze carefully the question as posed.  If you do this, you can see that,

• before you can discuss (or for that matter, even detect) the main issues raised by Mrs. Mallard's nature,

• you're going to have to explain (hence, for yourself, discover) what traits and features ought to be brought into an adequate picture of that nature and how should be understood to connect with each other.  But in order to do that,

• you are first going to have to clarify the nature of the conflict that she is subject to.

Somewhere in the process of doing this, you'd want to have something to say about the implied and dramatized history of this conflict:

• how did the ground for it get laid, and

• what conditions enabled it to emerge as it does?

Look carefully, in other words, at the way she experiences what happens to her, and try to understand why she experiences it in this way.

Some clarifications of terminology:

• By "protagonist" we mean simply the central individual within the story as a whole, the person with whom the reader is invited most to identify and, even more fundamentally, to be curious about -- in this case, Mrs. Mallard. 
• By "character" in this question we mean Mrs. Mallard's personality (inclinations, dispositions), especially in its ethical relevance (her values). 
• By "the issues raised by" Mrs. Mallard's ultimate priorities, we mean what we are invited to think about her evaluation of the situation she finds herself in, and the choices this evaluation gives rise to. 
  • Of course, it is open to us to reject the invitation we understand ourselves to be solicited by.  That is:  we are not under any obligation to agree with what we take the author to be inviting us to assent to.  At the same time, we want to be clear to keep logically distinct what we understand the author to be committed to and our own judgments, even when we are willing to endorse the author's understandings and evaluations.  We don't want our own views about what is true about how life works and about right and wrong to govern our interpretation of what the author believes.  If we succumb to this temptation, we will never open up ourselves to be challenged by an author.  At the same time, we will never recognize our antagonists for what they are, since we will be turning everyone we meet into a copy of ourselves.  This is a confusion devoutly to be avoided!  And the only way to avoid it is to keep open the possibility that we might be in profound disagreement with the author, until we discover that we aren't.   Return.

  Consult the Study Guide to this story before attempting this writing assignment.

  You may also wish to review the general instructions on writing assignments.

  Suggestions are welcome.  Please send your comments to lyman@ksu.edu .

      Contents copyright © 1999 by Lyman A. Baker. 

Permission is granted for non-commercial educational use; all other rights reserved.

  This page last updated 28 March 1999.