STORY OF AN HOUR - Questions 1

THE STORY OF AN HOUR, by Kate Chopin
Part A: Close Reading

“The Story of an Hour” is filled with irony (the opposite of what is intended, expected or
expressed). Sometimes the irony is explicit and you see it at first glance, but in other instances
it is implicit. In the latter case, you have to think about the situation and what has happened to
appreciate how ironic it is in a broader context. When you read the story a second time, see if
you can discover all the examples of irony it contains. Before we look at irony in more depth,
answer these questions, which are designed to help you begin your exploration of the text.
PLEASE ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.
1 At the beginning of the story, why do Richards and Josephine try to break the bad news to
Mrs Mallard gently?
Ans: because Mrs Mallard is a heart patient
2 According to the narrator, how would most women have reacted to such news?
Ans: most women would have a paralyzed inability to accept its significance
3 How does Mrs Mallard react at first?

Ans: she wept once in her sister’s arm and then she wnet to room alone
4 Describe in your own words what Mrs Mallard feels and realizes as she continues to gaze out
the window?
Ans: she was feeling happy,” She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"
5 What has Brently Mallard always felt toward his wife?

Ans: Brently was a loving man
6 Why is Louise Mallard unhappy in her marriage?
Ans: because she was restricted, she was not free ,
7 What is the “crime” that Louise Mallard is talking about when she suggests “There would be
no one to live for…”
Ans: bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they
have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature
8 a) What does Louise Mallard recognize as “the strongest impulse of her being”?
Ans: the unsolved mystery of her love for husband
b) Explain what this means in your own words.
Ans: sometimes she loved her husband but not often , which she recognize as the strongest
impulse of her being.
9 What happens at the end of the story?
Ans: Mrs mallard dies of heart disease of joy.
10 What is the significance of the story’s title?
Ans: we are not sure what will happen in our life. The whole story takes place in an hour. How
the events and condition is changed during this short time
Part B: Writer’s Craft
Before answering these questions, give a definition for each of the following literary terms:
1) NARRATION 2) STYLE 3) SETTING 4) CHARACTERIZATION 5) THEME
NARRATION & POINT OF VIEW

1 What point of view is used to tell the story?
2 What type of narrator is used to tell the story?
3 Does the narrator seem close to or distant from the reader in the story?
4 Which type of narrator brings the reader closer to the characters in a story? Why?
(a) first person (b) third person
5 The story is told in the ___________ tense, which also creates a certain distance.
STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Irony

1 Explain how the following features are ironic in the context of the story.
(a) the last sentence
(b) Richards’ actions aimed at protecting Mrs Mallard
(c) Mrs Mallard’s seeing her dead husband’s body
(d) Mrs Mallard’s vision of her future
(e) Mrs Mallard’s exclamation: “Free! Body and soul free!”
2 Find at least three more examples of irony in the story.
STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Foreshadowing
1 Give two examples of foreshadowing in “The Story of an Hour”
STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Repetition

1 Kate Chopin uses repetition to create certain effects in “The Story of an Hour.” She repeats
two adjectives in particular that are full of significance to the story. What are they?
2 Find another example of repetition of adjectives or concrete images in the story.
STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Imagery

1 “The Story of an Hour” is rich in imagery. For example, Mrs Mallard’s weeping is described as
“the storm of grief.” This powerful image appeals to at least two senses: sight and hearing. Give
four examples from paragraphs 4 and 5 and identify the sense to which they appeal (each
example must appeal to a different sense: sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste).
2 Look at the following contrast:

Open versus Closed
open window (occurs twice) shut in her room
Find three more images (spatial elements or gestures) associated with “open” and two more
associated with “closed.”
3 Here is a list of words:
(i) open iv) natural vii) dead
(ii) closed v) repressed viii) alive
(iii) artificial vi) free
a) Which four words from the list best exemplify the kind of life that exists inside the
Mallards’ household?
(b) Which four could be used to describe life outside the house?
4 Chopin uses the weather and the outdoors as an extended metaphor to parallel Mrs
Mallard’s feelings. What do the following image represent?
a) a storm of grief (paragraph 3)
b) “ … the tops of the trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious
breath of rain…” (paragraph 5)
c) “… patches of blue sky” showing through the clouds (paragraphs 6 and 8)
d) “… something come to her … creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the
sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air” (paragraph 9)
e) “Spring days, and summer days …” (paragraph 19)
THEME & CHARACTERIZATION

1 Which of the characters In the story are round and which are flat? Give reasons for your
answers.
2 What is the main theme of the story?
Part C: Wrap-Up Activities

1 Write a paragraph about what “freedom” means to you
2 What do you think of marriage? Is it an outdated concept? Explain.

3 How relevant is the main theme of “The Story of an Hour” to people today? Explain.

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THE STORY OF AN HOUR, by Kate Chopin

Part A: Close Reading

3 How does Mrs Mallard react at first?

5 What has Brently Mallard always felt toward his wife?

1) NARRATION 2) STYLE 3) SETTING 4) CHARACTERIZATION 5) THEME

NARRATION & POINT OF VIEW

2 What type of narrator is used to tell the story?

STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Irony

2 Find at least three more examples of irony in the story.

STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Foreshadowing

1 Give two examples of foreshadowing in “The Story of an Hour”

STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Repetition

2 Find another example of repetition of adjectives or concrete images in the story.

STYLE & LITERARY DEVICES: Imagery

2 Look at the following contrast:

a) a storm of grief (paragraph 3)

c) “… patches of blue sky” showing through the clouds (paragraphs 6 and 8)

e) “Spring days, and summer days …” (paragraph 19)

THEME & CHARACTERIZATION

2 What is the main theme of the story?

Part C: Wrap-Up Activities

2 What do you think of marriage? Is it an outdated concept? Explain.

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