How to Read a Story-stud-essay Examp

CHAPTER 15 - WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE 423

Before you begin reading the suggestions that follow, let’s dispel the mythabout “hidden meanings.” A work of literature is not a trick or puzzle boxwherein the author has hidden a message for readers to discover if they canjust uncover the right clues. Literary works are open to discussion and inter-pretation; that’s part of their appeal. They contain ideas and images that theauthor thought important, and some ideas or elements the writer may nothave consciously been aware of. You, as the reader, will have insights into apoem or story that your classmates don’t. It’s your job as the writer of yourliterary analysis to explain not only WHAT you see but also WHY and HOW,supporting your interpretation in ways that seem reasonable, persuasive, andsatisfying to your readers.

STEPS TO READING A STORY

If possible, make your own copy of the story and read with pen in hand. Pre-pare to make notes, underline important lines, circle revealing words or im-ages, and put stars, question marks, or your own symbols in the margins.

1. Before you begin the piece, read any biographical information thatmay precede the story. Knowing information about the author andwhen the story was written or published may offer some insight. Also,note the title. Does it offer intriguing hints about the story’s content?

2. Read through the story at least once to clearly acquaint yourself withits plot, the series of actions and events that make up the narrative. Inother words, what happened and to whom? Is there a conflict of somesort? Is it resolved or is the story left open-ended?

3. Many times you’ll see words in a story you don’t know. Sometimes youcan figure them out from their context, but if you find unknown wordsthat might indeed have a critical bearing on your understanding of acharacter, for example, look these up now.

4. Jot a few notes describing your initial reactions to the story’s mainidea(s) or major theme(s). ( If it’s helpful, think of the story in terms ofits “about-ness.” What do you as reader think this story is about?Loss of innocence? The bitterness of revenge? The power of sympa-thy? Tragic lack of communication? The wonder of first love?) In otherwords, what comments or observations does this story make aboutthe human condition?

5. As you review the story, begin to think about its parts, always askingyourself “why?”: Why did the author choose to do it this way? What isgained (or lost) by writing it this way? What does “X” contribute tomy understanding of the story? You might begin noting point of view—that is, who is narrating this story? Is a character telling this story oris it told by an all-knowing (omniscient) narrator? A narrator who ispartially omniscient, seeing into the thoughts of only some charac-ters? What is gained through the story’s choice of narration?

424 PART THREE - SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS

6. Is the story structured in chronological order or does the writer shifttime sequences through flashbacks or multiple points of view? Doesthe story contain foreshadowing, early indications in the plot that sig-nal later developments? Again, think about the author’s choices interms of communicating the story’s ideas.

7. Think about the characters, their personalities, beliefs, motivations.How do they interact? Do any of them change—refuse or fail tochange? Look closely at their descriptions, thoughts, and dialogue.Sometimes names are important, too.

8. What is the relationship between the setting of the story and its actionor characters? Remember that setting can include place, time of year,hour of day or night, weather or climate, terrain, culture, and so on.Settings can create mood and even function symbolically to revealcharacter or foreshadow a coming event.

9. Look closely at the language of the story, paying attention to reveal-ing images, metaphors, and similes ( for help identifying these, seepage 325). Note any use of symbols—persons, places, or things thatbear a significant meaning beyond their usual meaning. (For example,in a particular story, a dreary rain might be associated with a loss ofhope; a soaring bird might emphasize new possibilities.) Overall,would you characterize the story’s style as realistic or somethingelse? What is the tone of the story? Serious? Humorous? Does irony,the discrepancy between appearance and reality, play a part?

10. After you’ve looked at these and any other important elements of thereading, review your initial reactions. How would you now describethe main ideas or major themes of this story? How do the parts of thestory work together to clarify those themes?

Remember to add your own questions to this list, ones that address yourspecific story in a meaningful way. (For help writing essays of literary analy-sis, turn to pages 439–441.)

ANNOTATED STORY

Using the preceding guidelines, here is how one student annotated the storythat follows. Some of the notes she made on imagery became the basis for hershort essay, which appears on pages 429–431. Before you read the story, how-ever, cover the marginal notes with a sheet of paper. Then read the story, mak-ing your own notes. Next, uncover the student’s notes and reread the story.Compare your reactions to those of the student writer. What new or differentinsights did you have?


The Story of an HourKate Chopin

Kate Chopin was a nineteenth-century American writer whosestories appeared in such magazines as The Atlantic Monthly,Century, and Saturday Evening Post. She published two collec-tions of short stories and two novels; one of her novels, TheAwakening (1899), was considered so shocking in its story of amarried woman who desired a life of her own that it was re-moved from some library shelves. “The Story of an Hour” wasfirst published in 1894.

1 Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with aheart trouble, great care was taken to break to heras gently as possible the news of her husband’sdeath.

2 It was her sister Josephine who told her, in bro-ken sentences, veiled hints that revealed in half con-cealing. Her husband’s friend Richards was there,too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspa-per office when intelligence of the railroad disasterwas received, with Brently Mallard’s name leadingthe list of “killed.” He had only taken the time to as-sure himself of its truth by a second telegram, andhad hastened to forestall any less careful, less ten-der friend in bearing the sad message.

3 She did not hear the story as many women haveheard the same, with a paralyzed inability to acceptits significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wildabandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the stormof grief had spent itself she went away to her roomalone. She would have no one follow her.

4 There stood, facing the open window, a comfort-able, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, presseddown by a physical exhaustion that haunted herbody and seemed to reach into her soul.

5 She could see in the open square before herhouse the tops of trees that were all aquiver withthe new spring life. The delicious breath of rain wasin the air. In the street below a peddler was cryinghis wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countlesssparrows were twittering in the eaves.

6 There were patches of blue sky showing hereand there through the clouds that had met and piledeach above the other in the west facing her window.

similar theme

foreshadowing

storm imagery

Setting: closedroom but openwindow–spring–trees, air–songs–blue sky


7 She sat with her head thrown back upon the cush-ion of the chair quite motionless, except when a sobcame up into her throat and shook her, as a child whohas cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

8 She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose linesbespoke repression and even a certain strength. Butnow there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gazewas fixed away off yonder on one of those patches ofblue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but ratherindicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

9 There was something coming to her and she waswaiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did notknow; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But shefelt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward herthrough the sounds, the scents, the color that filledthe air.

10 Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. Shewas beginning to recognize this thing that was ap-proaching to possess her, and she was striving tobeat it back with her will—as powerless as her twowhite slender hands would have been.

11 When she abandoned herself a little whisperedword escaped her slightly parted lips. She said itover and over under her breath: “Free, free, free!”The vacant stare and the look of terror that had fol-lowed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen andbright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing bloodwarmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

12 She did not stop to ask if it were not a mon-strous joy that held her. A clear and exalted percep-tion enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

13 She knew that she would weep again when shesaw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the facethat had never looked save with love upon her, fixedand gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bittermoment a long procession of years to come thatwould belong to her absolutely. And she opened andspread her arms out to them in welcome.

14 There would be no one to live for during thosecoming years; she would live for herself. Therewould be no powerful will bending her in that blindpersistence with which men and women believethey have a right to impose a private will upon a fel-low creature. A kind intention or a cruel intentionmade the act seem no less a crime as she lookedupon it in that brief moment of illumination.

Mrs. M.:repression andstrength

3rd personnarrator—readers knowher thoughts,feelings.new insight fromspring sky

conflict withinherself

*Revelation:freedom

images ofvitality

more “open”imagery

**self-assertion,wants to controlher own life


15 And yet she had loved him—sometimes. Oftenshe had not. What did it matter! What could love,the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this pos-session of self-assertion which she suddenly recog-nized as the strongest impulse of her being.

16 “Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering.17 Josephine was kneeling before the closed door

with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admis-sion. “Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door—you will make yourself ill. What are you doing,Louise? For heaven’s sake open the door.”

18 “Go away. I am not making myself ill.” No; shewas drinking in a very elixir of life through thatopen window.

19 Her fancy was running riot along those daysahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and allsorts of days that would be her own. She breathed aquick prayer that life might be long. It was only yes-terday she had thought with a shudder that lifemight be long.

20 She arose at length and opened the door to hersister’s importunities. There was a feverish triumphin her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like agoddess of Victory. She clasped her sister’s waist,and together they descended the stairs. Richardsstood waiting for them at the bottom.

21 Some one was opening the front door with alatchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a lit-tle travel-stained, composedly carrying his gripsackand umbrella. He had been far from the scene of ac-cident, and did not even know there had been one.He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; atRichards’ quick motion to screen him from the viewof his wife.

22 But Richards was too late.23 When the doctors came they said she had died

of heart disease—of joy that kills.

closed door,illness imageryvs “elixir of life”(potion thatcures all ), openwindow

future: seasons oflife, growth

victory imagery

Is he associatedwith rain?

Irony: She maydie from a“broken” heartall right, butreaders know it’snot from joy.


Initial Reactions: Mrs. Mallard is sad about her husband’s death, thoughI’m not sure she really loved him all that much. He wasn’t a bad guy—shejust wants to be a “ free” woman, back when women had few rights, littlecontrol over their lives. She dies—of shock? disappointment?—when he turns up alive.

After Re-Reading: I think Chopin wanted readers to see how confined some19th-Century women felt in their traditional roles. I felt sorry for Mrs.Mallard, whose realization that life will not be hers after all is so traumaticthat it kills her.

Open window—lets in spring scenes, colors, sounds of new life—symbol of future possibilities. Also, lots of sick versus well imagery.

Question: Why is she named “Mallard”—a duck?


SAMPLE STUDENT ESSAY

After studying Chopin’s story, this student writer decided to focus her essayon an important element in the work, the life-death imagery, to show howcontrasting images reveal the main character’s changes in attitude. Num-bers in parentheses following direct quotations refer to the paragraphs inthe story.

A Breath of Fresh Air

1 In Kate Chopin’s 1894 story “The Story of an Hour” a

young wife grieves over news of her husband’s

accidental death but soon discovers herself elated at the

prospect of a life under her own control. The story ends

tragically when the husband’s sudden reappearance

causes her weak heart to fail—not from joy—but from

the devastating realization that her newfound freedom

is lost. To help readers understand Mrs. Mallard’s all-too-

brief transformation to a hopeful “free” woman, Chopin

contrasts images of illness and lifelessness with positive

images of vitality and victory.

2 In the first line of the story, Mrs. Mallard is associated

with illness because of her “heart trouble” (1). Following

a “storm of grief” (3) on hearing of her husband’s death,

she isolates herself in her room, lifeless and numb

behind a closed door. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard as

feeling “pressed down” (4) and “haunted” (4),

exhausted in body and soul; she sits “motionless” (7)

with a “dull stare” (8), except for an occasional sob. The

lines in her strong, fair face “bespoke repression” (8)

and indeed Mrs. Mallard is a young woman who, only

the day before, hopelessly shuddered to think “that life

might be long” (19).

Introduction:title and authoridentified;brief summaryof plot andtheme

Thesis

Images ofillness andlifelessness,supported byexamples fromthe story


3 In direct contrast with these images of lifelessness

and emotional repression, Chopin introduces images of

rebirth and hope. Mrs. Mallard’s room has an open

window, which becomes the key symbol in the

description of Mrs. Mallard’s transformation. Chopin

uses the open window to provide Mrs. Mallard with both

a view of new life and with fresh air, paralleling the new

hopeful feelings that come to her. Through this “open

window” (4) Mrs. Mallard sees beyond her house to an

“open square” (5) with “trees that were all aquiver with

the new spring life” (5). The repetition of the word

“open,” the budding trees, and the spring season all

emphasize the contrast between the world of

possibilities and new life and Mrs. Mallard’s enclosed

room and enclosed spirit. The air after a life-giving

spring rain has a “delicious breath” (5), and both people

and birds are now singing. “Patches of blue sky” (6) are

symbolically breaking through the clouds, but, as yet,

Mrs. Mallard can only stare vacantly at the blue sky

rather than respond to it.

4 Soon, however, Mrs. Mallard realizes that

something—she’s not sure what—is “creeping out of the

sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents,

the color that filled the air” (9). She resists at first but

ultimately allows herself the glorious revelation that she

is free to live a new life as she, not others, wants it to

be. The imagery associated with this revelation shows

Mrs. Mallard becoming energized and healthy, in direct

contrast to the imagery of lifelessness that characterized

her before. The “vacant stare” (11) is replaced by eyes

that are “keen and bright” (11). No longer beaten down,

“her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed

Contrastingimages ofrebirth,supported byexamples

Contrastingimages ofvitality,supported byexamples andcomparison


and relaxed every inch of her body” (11). In contrast to

her previous hopeless view of the future, Mrs. Mallard

joyfully thinks of the future years and “opened and

spread her arms out to them in welcome” (13). This open

gesture aligns her with the open window and open

square, with their images of rebirth and hope.

5 Chopin emphasizes the transformation even further

by contrasting Mrs. Mallard’s description to her sister

Josephine’s image of her. Symbolically placed on the

opposite side of the closed door from the open window

and spring sky, her sister tells Mrs. Mallard that “you will

make yourself ill” (17). But the images associated with

the transformed Mrs. Mallard are not of illness but of

health and victory. Through the open window, she is

drinking in a “very elixir of life” (18), a potion that

restores the sick to health, as she thinks of spring and

summer, seasons of fertility and growth. She finally

emerges from her room with “triumph in her eyes” (20),

carrying herself “like a goddess of Victory” (20).

6 Mrs. Mallard’s victory is cut short, however, as the

return of Mr. Mallard destroys her hopes for her future

life. The image of illness once again prevails, as doctors

wrongly attribute her death to “heart disease—of joy

that kills” (23). With this ironic last line echoing the

story’s first line, Chopin’s imagery describing her

character comes full circle, from illness to life and back

to death, to emphasize for her readers the tragedy of

Mrs. Mallard’s momentary gain and then the crushing

defeat of her spiritual triumph.

Conclusion:Restatement ofthesis showingpurpose of theimagery

Contrast of illnessimagery toimages ofhealth, victory

Documents

How to Read a Story-stud-essay Examp