Midterm Writing Test

Part A:

Question 2:
Louise Mallard stops crying after realizing that she is now liberated from her husband and can start living for herself: she is excited about the idea of being independent. This is clearly shown in the following quote: "She said it over and over under her breath; 'free, free, free!' The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright."

Question 3:
When Louise finds out that she is a widow she goes through a mix of emotions. After having first heard the news, she is sadened by it; however, she feels liberated now that she is alone. She ccan now live for herself and no longer for her husband: she is independent. "There would be no one to live during those coming years; she would live for herself."

Question 5:
While Louise is sitting in the chair, looking out a window while she is alone in her room there are many descriptions of what she can see through the window. The first thing that she can see through the squares of her window is the new spring life aquivered at the top of the trees. This is important because the new spring life represents the new life she is about to begin as a widow. She also see's patches of blue sky here and there piercing through the rainy clouds. The patches of blue sky can here be compared to hope; hope that there is life after the dark times. (What she is seeing through her window reminds her of what her life as a widow will be like).

Question 7:
Louise feels joy and sadness at the same after the death of her husband. In the text, it is stated that Louise did love her husband, but only sometimes: most of the time she had not. This helps understand why at first she feels sadness towards the death of her husband: because she had in fact loved him. However, because she had not loved him a lot of the time, she felt liberated by the idea of him no longer being there.


Part B:

In Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour", there is a great deal of irony used in order to make a greater effect upon the readers. The message of the story as well as the marriage situation comes across differently through the use of irony. The main use is of course, the fact that the sick wife celebrates her husband's death and then dies after realizing that her husband is in fact, still alive. The first example of irony found in the text is when we find out that Louise's husband is dead. "He has only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram." After reading this sentence, it is clear that the husband is dead, although later on in the text, it is shown that he was never dead to begin with.

The use of irony creates a wonderful effect while describing the couple's marriage in the story. The reader first gets the sense that Louise has an emotional attachement to her husband when reading: "she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms." However, when Louise cries out "free, free, free!" it is easy to understand that she has here understood that she is liberated from her unhappy marriage with her husband and that she did not have as big of an emotional attachement. It is later stated that "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." By reading this is is clear that she did not love him as much as she felt hate towards him (as she would spend more time being happy about his death rather than sad).

Another use of irony throughout the short story is Louise's illness. It is stated at the begining of the story that she is sick and her resentement of life is clearly shown throughout te story. I first came to that realisation after reading the sentence: "It was only yesterday that she had thought with a shudder that life might be long." After reading that Louise is sick at the begining of the story, it comes across as being meaningless; however, when she dies after realizing that her husband was never dead, the use of irony creates a great effect for the reader. It seems as though Louise was destined to die. Without the use of irony in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour", the story would not have been as interesting for the reader.