“Under the Lion’s Paw” and “The Story of an Hour” Notes

Background Hamlin Garland was born in 1860 and moved at age 8 from Wisconsin to the windswept Iowa prairie. During his early life he worked dawn to dusk on his family’s farm.

Living in the most primitive conditions; alone and often without enough water.  They braved weather that showed its extreme more often than its average. The homesteaders endured the extreme conditions of the high plains.   

In hail, blizzards and dust storms, and temperatures from -50 to +115, they persevered in tarpapers shacks, surviving from year to year by only the narrowest of margins.

Background What are Good Samaritan themes?

Background: Land Land speculation: Buying land at low prices and holding until it could be resold at higher prices

Regionalism or Local Color is about the specific landscape, people, values, and way of life in different regions

Regionalism / Local Color Regionalism exhibited — the growth of a national identity in American literature the influence of nature over characters

Literary Term: Psychological Fiction Fiction in which the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the characters are of equal or greater interest than is the external action. Fiction that deals with the emotional or mental disturbance or anguish of characters.

Human condition vs. Human nature Who / What are farmers at the mercy of? Does Haskins control his own destiny? Contrast Council and Butler in their relationship to Haskins How much should we trust other people? Instincts vs. cruel indifferent forces

“Lion’s Paw” Annotation How does style differ from “Devil & Tom Walker” and “Minster’s Black Veil”? What does the Narrator do on pages 9 & 11? Allusions? Human condition vs. Human nature Compare/Contrast 3 main characters Is anything inferred at the end? How is the story Realistic?

Background — Kate Chopin "The Story of an Hour" is a short story written by Kate Chopin on April 19, 1894, and originally published in Vogue on December 6, 1894 as "The Dream of an Hour.“ Her short stories were well received in her own time and were published by some of America’s most prestigious magazines—Vogue, the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Young People, Youth’s Companion, and the Century.

Background — Kate Chopin She grew up during the Civil War and at the age of 20, she married Oscar Chopin, 25, and the son of a wealthy cotton-growing family in Louisiana. To support herself and her young family, she began to write. She was immediately successful and wrote short stories about people she had known in Louisiana.

Irony What is Dramatic Irony? What is Irony? Is a difference between appearance and reality; or what is expected and what actually happens. Something known by the reader but unknown to the characters; or when a situation appears one way to the reader and another to the characters in the story.

What is inciting incident? Plot What is inciting incident? What is reversal? The incident/event that begins the conflict of a story. A dramatic change in the events of the story.

What is 3rd-person omniscient? Point of View What is point of view? What is 3rd-person omniscient? The vantage point from which the story is told. The narrator can reveal the private, internal thoughts of any character.

What is static character? What is a dynamic character? Characters What is static character? What is a dynamic character? Static characters do not change in a story or novel. Dynamic characters undergo change in a story or novel.

Ideas for Annotation Use the following quiz clues for each story to help you annotate each story.

Quiz Clues — “Under the Lion’s Paw” Who are the main characters, and what motivates each one? What role does the land play in this story? Know what land speculation is. What choices does Haskins have? What’s ironic about Haskins’ actions?

Quiz Clues — “Under the Lion’s Paw” What “kind” of religion does Council have? What is an appropriate theme? What influences the story more? Human nature or nature (human condition) itself?

Quiz Clues — “Story of an Hour” How is the setting important? What is the inciting incident? Whose point of view is the story told through? What are Mrs. Mallard’s inner thoughts or desires? How does the reversal change the story? What really happens to Louise Mallard?

Quiz Clues — “Story of an Hour” What kind of irony is present in the story? How is irony important to the telling of the story? What is the most important conflict in the story? How is Mrs. Mallard a dynamic character? (How does she change?) How does contrast exist in the story? What is the theme of the story?