1.  To compose an AP essay from The Glass Menagerie.  To examine the characteristics of Realism and Local Color and begin to see how The Awakening shows both of these.

2.  Notes on Realism and Local Color  Intro to Kate Chopin and The Awakening  Assign books. (I’ll pick names out of a container)  If your name is not selected, it is your responsibility to find a book!!  Timed Writing: forty minutes

3.  A break from Romanticism, Realism is any effort to portray life as it really is; focuses on ordinary people and events.  BIG emphasis on real characters that the reader can relate to. These characters are often dealing with a moral dilemma.  Focuses on the good as well as on the bad.

4.  Focuses on characters, dialect, customs, and other features of a particular region.  Mark Twain is the best example!!  Read pp. 1708-1710 in Bedford book. (Realism)

5.  1850-1904  Two published novels and over 100 short stories.  Settings: Louisiana (French Creole)  Focuses on the lives of subservient women in a male-dominated world in which there are certain expectations regarding gender.  The Awakening: published in 1899 and banned from libraries for its immoral content!!!

6.  Read chapters 1 through 14 by Tues, March 19. (I-XIV) These chapters must be finished when you walk in to class on the 19 th !!!

7.  Chopin came from a wealthy family  She lived in New Orleans for a while  She had six children  Vacationed in Grand Isle, a Creole resort in the Gulf of Mexico. (part of setting in The Awakening)  Widowed at age thirty-two  Many of her short stories appeared in magazines  Chopin became the first woman to accept sexual passion as a subject for her fiction!!!

8.  Creole: a person born in Louisiana but usually of French ancestry. Many French references in novel.  Setting: Grand Isle and the French quarter in New Orleans. (Quartier Francais)  Set in 1899

9.  Meaning in the title  Symbolism: note Chopin’s use of birds (among other symbols!!)  Allusions to the Greek myth of Aphrodite  The “Gulf Spirit”  Biblical allusions  Vocabulary: especially French words!! Understanding the translations reveals deeper meaning in the novel!

10.  Character contrast  Foils  Women’s roles in Victorian society  Connections with other female characters that we’ve examined this year