1. “The Story of an Hour”
Kate Chopin

2. Author: Kate Chopin (1851-1904)
Wrote two published novels and about a hundred short stories in the 1890s (Realism Literary Period)
Most of her fiction is set in Louisiana and most of her best-known work focuses on the lives of sensitive, intelligent women.

3. Build background: status of women
“The Story of an Hour” takes place about 100 years ago, when the status of women was very different from what it is today.
Both custom and law severely limited women’s actions and their control over their own lives.
Women were not allowed to vote, so they had almost not political or legal power.
Not allowed to own property, and their educational and employment opportunities were limited.
Women had little or no financial independence.

4. Status of Women, contd.
Few careers were open to middle-class and upper-class single women, and even fewer to married women-like Mrs. Mallard in this story- who were expected to be supported by their husbands.
Those who did work had to turn over their wages to their fathers or their husbands.
In most American marriages of the time, the husband was the undisputed head od the household and made all the important decisions.

5. Before You Read
Predict what you think might happen in this text from the first line:
“Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.”

6. Literary Elements: Irony
Irony: When something opposite of what was expected happens
There are three forms of irony:
Verbal
Situational
Dramatic

7. Verbal Irony Definition:
When a character says something different than what is meant. (sarcasm and understatement are included)
In literature, however, a reader can sometimes take literally something a writer meant ironically
The remedy for this misreading is to pay close attention to context.
Example
Prometheus says to Zeus, "You are as kind as you are wise." Zeus thinks it's a compliment but it’s actually an insult because Prometheus doesn't think Zeus is wise.

8. Situational Irony Definition:
When what happens is entirely different than what is expected.
Example:
Guy Montag, the protagonist of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a fireman. However, in this novel set in a possible future, a fireman doesn’t put fires out: he starts them, burning books which society has deemed dangerous and unsafe.

9. Dramatic Irony Definition:
when a writer allows a reader to know more about a situation than a character does.
Example:
In Romeo and Juliet, the reader knows that Juliet has taken a sleeping potion. Everyone else, except Friar Lawrence, believes she is dead.

10. Literary Elements: Symbols
Symbols- Determine what these objects and people might stand for while reading the text:
Heart Troubles
Heart
Mrs. Mallard
Spring time
Patches of blue sky
Chair facing an open window

11. Literary Elements Look for examples of: Foreshadowing
Figurative Language
Use of Diction to create imagery within the text

12. Writing Activities
What is your interpretation of Mrs. Mallard’s death? Write a persuasive essay, using textual evidence, to support your thoughts.
Write a comparison/contrast essay differentiating the use of irony within the text (namely situational and dramatic irony) and use textual evidence to show this contrast (4-5 paragraph essay)
Discuss symbols within the text. Discuss, using textual evidence, your interpretation of these symbols