Kernel’s and Satellites
Kate Chopin’s story, “The Story of an Hour” is an ironic short story of a wife in the late 1800’s. The story is only a few pages long and in doing so Chopin writes a story filled with kernel’s (events that have important causal chronological coherence) with very few satellite’s (events not logically essential to the narrative action). There were no satellites that I could find while reading the text; I found every word written essential to the narrative, the progression and the conclusion of the story.
Freytag’s Pyramid and Function’s
Upon examining Freytag’s pyramid, I can see that the narrative does follow this diagrammatic representation of the story structure. From the inciting moment (Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble, and Mr. Mallards “death”) to the climax (Mrs. Mallards becoming of a free independent person) to the catastrophe (Mrs. Mallard’s death) we can follow Freytag’s design. The most interesting element to the story, following Freytag’s pyramid, is the reversal; Chopin surprises us in Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death. The reversal is Mrs. Mallard’s joyful acceptance of his death, her realization of freedom; the narrative twists the story to the exact opposite of what the reader was expecting. The reversal of the readers expectation is a much more effective way for Chopin to express her message. The element in the reversal also has the role of a function (an act defined by its significance for the course of action in which it appears). A death would usually be thought of as a tragedy, but once we start to gain insight on Mrs. Mallard’s character we can see why she responds with the opposite reaction. Another function within the story is the “joy that kills” it makes sense in this story, but in most you would see an immense joy at Mr. Mallard’s return, these circumstances would not often see a wife dying from, what I assume is, a miserable shock.
Acts and Happenings
Once examining the story I found an interesting insight on Mrs. Mallard in terms of acts and happenings; the happenings (a change of state not brought about by an agent and manifested in the discourse in the act of happen) are events out of Mrs. Mallards control, and the acts (a change of state brought about by an agent) are Mrs. Mallards emotional realizations and her change of outlook on life and death rather than physical actions: Mr.
Both Chopin and Deneau put major emphasis on the passage of the story where Mrs. Mallard is alone in her room and makes the transition from heartbroken housewife to joyful, independent and free widower. Chopin says “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled
Mallards death. After Mrs. Mallard imagines her new found life and goes down stairs "Someone was opening the door with a latchkey. It was Brentley Mallard, who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his gripsack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one" (58) When he walks in Mrs. Mallard dies. The timing of Mrs. Mallards death is also a symbol of her new found freedom coming to an end literally and physically. All the characters in Chopin 's story believe that Mrs. Mallard has died of happiness, but the clues throughout the story lead the reader to the true cause of death. Dramatic irony, such as "when the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills" (58) brings the reader back to the quality of the Mallards ' relationship and really sparks the interest to decipher the
In the modern era we recognize pacifism from its great figures on non-violent resistance. Ghandi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. stand as the most recognizable and prominent figures of the ideology. However, these figures do not provide a complete picture of pacifist thought. Pacifism has a long and distinguished history stretching from the origins of Christianity to the modern day. This review will evaluate and compare the ideological characteristics of early 20th century pacifism from two distinct angles: 1.) pacifism based on Judeo-Christian tradition, using Leo Tolstoy as an example; and 2.) pacifism as a secular belief, with a focus on the writings of intellectuals Bertrand Russel and Albert Einstein. While they share the same basic ideological
If any other characters in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” were to read Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, they would surely be horrified. What sort of sane, caring woman would feel joy and relief at the death of her husband? She must be a terrible person, despite her reasoning for those feelings. How could Mr. Mallard have chosen such a woman for his bride? She’s a gem, truly; note the sarcasm. Though, one does have to consider what else there is to Mrs. Mallard. She is a human and there is much more to her than her seemingly ill feelings toward her late husband, such as her desire for freedom, her genuine care for Mr. Mallard, and her capacity to exhibit strong emotions.
Hepburn had two half-brothers, Ian and Alex Quales van Ufford from her mother’s first marriage. When she was 6-years-old, her father left their family and she was devastated. She later described the event as the most traumatic moment of her life. During World War II, Hepburn, her mother, and her two half-brothers relocated to the Netherlands. Hepburn’s mother thought that they would be safe from any German attacks, but she was wrong. The German’s raided the Dutch’s food and fuel supplies leaving the people hungry and cold. Hepburn suffered from malnutrition and developed anemia and respiratory problems. Her half-brother Ian was soon sent to a German labor camp and her other half-brother Alex left to escape it. To avoid punishment for having ...
As the title puts it, “The Story of an Hour” takes place in the span of an hour. The title of the story also shows the possibility of occurrences within a single hour. This story is mostly centered around one woman, Louis Mallard. In conventional circumstances, death brings sorrow, grief, seclusion, guilt, regrets, along with other feeling depending on the cause of death. In “The Story of an Hour”, sorrow and grief are a product of the recent happenings, however, these feelings are coupled with joy and independence. Kate Chopin uses this story to convey death as a joyful circumstance whereas conventionally it is portrayed as sorrowful.
Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour. Kate Chopin was a Victorian writer whose writing manifests her life experiences. She was not happy with the principles of the time, because women had fewer rights, and they were not considered equal to men. Afraid of segregation from society, people lived in a hypocritical world full of lies; moreover, Kate Chopin was not afraid of segregation, and used her writing as a weapon against oppression of the soul.
There is a considerable debate about the precise meaning of nonviolence. Some people believe that nonviolence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of violence. In other words, nonviolence is a method for resolving a conflict without the use of physical power nor enmity towards opponents. Instead, it emphasizes you to look beyond convictions and one’s urge for victory, it is the motto behind the saying “hate the sin and not the sinner”. For others it is a way of living and an essential part of their values and norms, for those people, nonviolence is the road which will lead them towards attaining inner piece and moral satisfaction. “Learn and teach nonviolence as a way of life; reflect it in attitude, speech and action” say’s Gerber in his article The Road to Nonviolence. Thus making nonviolence the ultimate behavior towards achieving truthful, spiritual, loving life. Mahatma Gandhi, the nonviolence guru, defines nonviolence as “a power which can be wielded equally by all-children, young men and women or grown-up people, provided they have a living faith in the God of Love and have therefore equal love for all mankind”. (mkgandhi.org) Therefore we understand that nonviolence has some terms and conditions to be met; living faith in God, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, loving kindness, honesty and the willingness to sacrifice. ...
Most women in Mrs Mallard’s situation were expected to be upset at the news of her husbands death, and they would worry more about her heart trouble, since the news could worsen her condition. However, her reaction is very different. At first she gets emotional and cries in front of her sister and her husbands friend, Richard. A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse...
The mysteries of love, hate, and compassion are all part of marriage. The mysteries of the heart are felt in the short story, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin (Clugston, 2010, sec 2.1). This story pulls you in with the suspense of Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition and the idea of her husband’s death. When you first begin to read this story you get a feeling of compassion for Mrs. Mallard having a heart condition. As the reader you receive sadness within you to know the revealing of her husband’s death may harm her in some way, only to find out that love isn’t that simple and maybe it was the news of her husband being alive that killed her.
seldom used nonviolence to address issues at hand. Pacifism is a tricky subject to deal with
Pacifism holds that all violence and war are morally wrong, and that Christians should not participate in warfare in any way. Pacifists literally take the “turn-the-other-cheek” and “love your enemies” (Matthew 5). They must be ready to accept violence without resistance or retaliation. Christians must never use force, even in personal self-defense. Pacifists believe that Christians who condone violence and warfare do so by relying on philosophical arguments, not on biblical text and that they have become corrupted by values that are a part of the secular world. Having a new identity in Christ and being a part of the Kingdom of God (2 Cor 5:20 and Philippians 3:20), Christians must not become entangled in this world’s affairs. Pacifists make the point that one’s loyalties and obligations are to God and when there is a conflict between obeying God or obeying one’s government, “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Discussion: Have participants read 2 Cor 5:20, Phil 3:20, Acts 5:29) Ask: Is it possible for someone to love their enemies if they are killing
The first reader has a guided perspective of the text that one would expect from a person who has never studied the short story; however the reader makes some valid points which enhance what is thought to be a guided knowledge of the text. The author describes Mrs. Mallard as a woman who seems to be the "victim" of an overbearing but occasionally loving husband. Being told of her husband's death, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance." (This shows that she is not totally locked into marriage as most women in her time). Although "she had loved him--sometimes," she automatically does not want to accept, blindly, the situation of being controlled by her husband. The reader identified Mrs. Mallard as not being a "one-dimensional, clone-like woman having a predictable, adequate emotional response for every life condition." In fact the reader believed that Mrs. Mallard had the exact opposite response to the death her husband because finally, she recognizes the freedom she has desired for a long time and it overcomes her sorrow. "Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering." We can see that the reader got this idea form this particular phrase in the story because it illuminates the idea of her sorrow tuning to happiness.
What is food security? Why is food security important, and how is it measured? In contrast, what is food sovereignty and how might it differ from food security? What are some contradictions and dilemmas inherent to these two concepts? In what ways might they be seen as contradictory to one another?