More handpicked essays just for you.
Irony in “the story of an hour” by kate chopin
Character analysis essay story of an hour
Story of an hour plot structure
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"
“April Showers”
“Douglass” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
“Luke Havergal” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
1. Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used very effectively in her story. Situational irony is used to show the reader what is assumed to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to hint to the reader something is happening to the characters in the story that they do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
Situational irony is used in "The Story of an Hour" through Mrs. Mallard's reaction to her husband's death and the description of the settings around her at this time. Upon hearing the news of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment". It appeared to everyone that as a result of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard was incredibly sad. She insisted upon being alone and retreated to her room. The sort of reaction she had seems like one typical to someone who had just lost a loved one.
Dramatic irony is used through Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s return. His death had brought her such great sorrow but upon his return she died. Her death then created sorrier bringing in the irony of the beginning of the story where it was said that Mrs. Mallard’s heart was bad and she was tried not to be stressed.
2. The six major elements of plot are all displayed in “April Showers.” The first element of plot is the exposition. The exposition of this story is stated in the third paragraph of the story. The paragraph talks of her knowing that it would be difficult to obtain access to a paper with so many great authors writing to it. This sets the mood by indicating she has worked hard on this work and is nearing the end of a difficult experience with writing it and trying to have it published.
The conflict begins when she sends off her work and knows that it will be hard to get it published. The rising action follows as she finds her work is going to be published. The people of the town are amazed and as her for poems she had written as well as inquiring how she came about her great skills of writing.
Dramatic Irony is when an author allows the reader to know more than his/her characters in the story. This technique is used by the authors to add suspense to their literature. Edgar Allen Poe created many suspenseful stories using dramatic irony for the purpose of creating themes about human nature. In the short story “The Cask Of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe uses dramatic irony to develop the theme that one should be careful about insulting another because he/she will seek revenge.
Irony is used in writing to add new interest to a seemingly ordinary subject. Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game and The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe use irony throughout their stories, creating unique works. To recognize Irony, you must first understand it, then you can see how it is used in these two works. Irony is a word with many meanings aside from what we often think of as irony.
For example, on page HUGH, Red Pollard was afflicted with blindness in his right eye, yet he never told any of the other characters, so that is then dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something that the character does not. The reader knows that Red is blind, however characters such as Tom or Howard do not. Another example of irony is found on page HHJS, when Red is hospitalized and he can’t ride Seabiscuit, so he gives the new jockey, Woolf, advice. This advice is later determined to be the reason why Woolf lost a very big race. This is situational irony because Red’s advice was supposed to make Woolf win, however it caused the loss. One more example of irony is on page HFG, when Howard replaces the horse as the primary transportation with the car. Howard later comes to living on a secluded ranch with a love for horses. This technically falls into the situational type of irony.
Chuck D and Johnson in their article state that while Obama is in office they with the rest of the African American population hope to see a smaller wealth gap between white people and African Americans as well as a lower percentage of homelessness (45). This couple not only strongly believes in Obama, but also that he can bring reform to the country. Chideya in her article talks about Obama facing many problems that need fixing in the United States, and that he should focus mostly on education (136). This is another example of looking ahead into Obama's presidency and urging him to focus primarily on education. Lastly, Cleage writes about Michelle Obama and how she is as amazing and influential to the world as her husband is. She states, "Michelle Obama would still be a very powerful woman" (27), even if she did not marry Barack Obama. Cleage feels so strongly about Michelle Obama that she goes as far as to say that the First Lady is the best of the new Americans and that she really is America (28). She is trying to say that it was not just the president that changed the US, it was the entire Obama family and that with both Michelle Obama and Barack Obama in power great changes can be made for the country. These writers are imploring Obama to bring change to America since now there is a powerful
“The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.” -Robert A. Heinlein. In the short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, the author Shirley Jackson uses irony to develop the traits of the protagonist, Miss Strangeworth, in her small hometown. Throughout the story, there are many examples of irony as Miss Strangeworth goes through her normal day. Irony is an engaging literary device used by authors to expose underlying intentions which become critical to the development of the plot.
One example of expertly used irony is when Hamlet is talking to his mother when he hears a noise behind the curtains, so he stabs the figure behind the tapestries thinking it is Claudius, “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (3, 4, 24), only to find out it is Polonius. This irony can be interpreted as dramatic irony, because the audience knows Polonius is behind the curtains while Hamlet does not. It can also be interpreted as situational irony, because Hamlet suspects that the person spying on him is Claudius. Wanting to avenge his father, he stabs him through the curtain but it turned out to be Polonius. Doing this initiates a chain of events that lead to his tragic death. Another prime example of irony increasing the enjoyment of the readers for the past 400 years is when Laertes is killed by his own poisoned sword. When Osric asks Laertes how he is doing right after he was scratched with his own sword, Laertes responds, “Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. I am justly killed with mine own treachery.” (5, 2, 308-309). It is quite ironic that Laertes is murdered by his own plan. One would expect Laertes to draw first blood as he is a better skilled swordsman than Hamlet. However, he dies by poison first because the sword that was intended to kill Hamlet was used on him; this is situational irony. Irony brings a greater depth to the story.
Michelle Obama is without a doubt aware of this, and it is no wonder that her speech is of the persuasive kind, trying to convince the voters that a vote for the fellow democratic Hillary Clinton is a vote for a bright future for the US. The audience can be divided into two groups: the primary and the secondary audience. The primary audience consists of the people gathered at the Democratic National Convention who are watching her speak live. The secondary audience is made up of the general public who hears, sees or reads the speech later. Michelle Obama’s speech is mainly aimed at the general audience though, which is very clear at the beginning of the speech: “You know, it’s hard to believe that it has been eight years since I first came to this convention to talk with you” (p. 1, l. 1-2). In this quote, she addresses the people at the convention in a very friendly manner, implying that they share a close bond with her. While a lot of the viewers may not necessarily have anything in common with her besides being a democrat,
Theme; Marriage/Family, Women/Femininity, Identity, Repression, Self-actualization, passion/love, reputation, art/culture, repression, adultery, and society/class are all of the themes.
I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. “(Barack Obama pg.2). This is important, because it shows that Obama is able to relate to both black and white people. This in return gives reassurance to the readers that Obama would be fair and understands both of their perspective. Barack Obama starts to give his own experience of racism and stereotypes, Obama expresses “At various states in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough”. We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary” (Barack Obama pg.2). Barack Obama being able to share his own experience makes his speech
The reinforcement theory was of interest for a consideration as a tool in my current work environment and possibly be utilized as intervention of controlling the behaviors of employees. Since, I have observed the negative behavior of employees displayed due to varies unjust reasons that demotivate them to perform at an optimal level. Therefore, I believe implementing positive reinforcement to rebuild trust and to motivate employees by acknowledging a job well done, reward programs, and providing challenging task would encourage them and give them something to strive for to be higher achievers. In addition, all things mention and utilizing the reinforcement theory can reinforce the desired behavior in the workplace. Furthermore, I think that
Throughout the whole short story “The Story of an Hour” the reader sees’ irony but the best usage of irony occurs toward the end of the story in the last few paragraphs. As the reader reads the story they notice that Mrs. Mallard’s husband Brently Mallard died in a railroad disaster. The reader also finds out that Mrs. Mallard has a heart trouble, and great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death. (157) There ar...
The literary device that Chopin uses to strengthen the drama and create the story prominent is irony. Irony is an expression that means something but means the opposite.
What is the effect of positive reinforcement on your mental health? Positive reinforcement is considered to be one of the best ways to teach kids something, or emphasize a point. According to google, positive reinforcement is defined as the addition of any reward following a desired behavior. School systems today are using positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement, because kids like the reward that is given after the desired behavior thus resulting in improved learning and better mental health. Positive reinforcement affects Adults and children’s overall health.
Seitz argues that M.Ns are happy to help their masters at any time. African-Americans are serving whites to succeed in their life and these mentors willingly serve whites. Seitz states, “Magical Negro”: a saintly African-American who acts as a mentor to a white hero… [their] relationship is that of a master and servant… one that truly lives to serve, has no life to speak beyond his service” (Seitz 357). Years after the end of slavery, blacks are still considered as servants of whites in America. Even though social reforms have ended slavery and the exclusion of blacks from society, whites still consider blacks as their slaves and this has been portrayed ambiguously in many movies. In pro-white popular culture, African-American actors and actresses have not received fair treatment to perform at the highest of their abilities. In today’s modern world, there are roots of racism; popular culture and mass media production are very important key factors in promoting the racial distinction in our society. In this modern world, media and television are a part of everyday life. People have easy access to movies and TV shows; viewers of these shows tend to believe what is being shown. Films and TV shows have played a significant role in reestablishing racism and discrimination in popular culture. Many of the mass media production industries have characterized racial stereotypes. Omi reveals racial stereotypes, “[in
Situational irony is used in "The Story of an Hour" through Mrs. Mallard's reaction to her husband's death and the description of the settings around her at this time. Upon hearing the news of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment" (Chopin 213). It appeared to everyone that as a result of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard was incredibly sad. She insisted upon being alone and retreated to her room. The sort of reaction she had seems like one typical to someone who had just lost a loved one. She experienced grief and shock. However, once she is alone in her room, the reader discovers another side of her emotions. Once she calms down, she whispers "Free, free, free" (Chopin 214), and the reader realizes that she is not having a typical reaction. Instead of being saddened by the loss of her husband, Mrs. Mallard is relieved. "She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome" (Chopin 214). Mrs. Mallard, instead of wondering who will support her in years to come, realizes that she will have no one binding her a...