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"The Story of an Hour" and Critical
Approaches to Literature
1
Literary Theory (pp. 43-58)
� The way we
“see” (read and understand)
literature
depends largely upon what kind
of “glasses” we
are wearing.
Literary Theory
� We call this
“perspective” or “point of view.”
� No single lens gives us the
clearest view.
� Most people use
several lenses
at once.
Why should I think about literary theory?
� Literary theory provides a deeper understanding of a text.
� Looking at a story from different perspectives often results in discover-ing new and intriguing things.
Literary theory lets you in on the “secret.”
How many sides to a story?
Take notes!
� Most likely you have been taught Formalism/
New Criticism. This is just one of many ways
to approach a text.
� Although there are many “lenses” (different
ways you can approach a text), we are going to
study seven in particular.
Types of Literary Theory (“Lenses”)
� Formalist / New Criticism (pp. 43-46)
� Biographical Criticism
� Psychological Criticism (pp. 47-48)
� Historical, Cultural, and Marxist Criticism (pp. 49-50, 52-58)
� Gender (Feminist, LGBT) Criticism (pp. 54-55)
� Mythological (Archetypal) Criticism (pp. 46-47)
� Reader-Response Criticism (pp. 48-49)
Formalist/New Criticism
� Concentrates on literary
features such as symbol, imagery, tone, style, and
structure to determine
how these function together to create the
reader’s experience.
� Supposes that there is a
central, unifying theme
in every work.
� Says there is one
“right” answer that can be found
within the text.
"The Story of an Hour" and Critical
Approaches to Literature
2
Formalist Analysis of Kate
Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”� Consider
• adjectives, adverbs, vivid verbs (diction)
• foreshadowing (“heart trouble”)
• metaphors (“storm of grief,” “a very elixir of life”)
• personification (“something coming to her… creep-ing out of the sky,” “monstrous joy,” “joy that kills”?)
• repetition (“open,” “free”)
• symbols (open window/“new spring life,” closed door)
• similes (“like a goddess of Victory”)
• irony (her sudden death at the end, “joy that kills”)
� What can you infer is the theme?
Biographical Criticism
� Concentrates on the author’s life
experiences and how those may have
influenced him or her
in writing the work.
� It is believed that every
work has a single interpretation—what
the author intended.
Biographical Analysis of Kate
Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”� Research Kate Chopin’s life and
marriage. Is any character a representa-tion of the author? (If not, don’t use this approach.)
� Look at the work through the author’s eyes. Is Chopin making a personal comment?
� How would the effect be different if a man, a woman who was a former slave or poor,
or a 21st-century writer had written this?
Psychoanalytical Criticism
� Explores the
symbolic meaningsof events
and the
conscious or subconscious
motivations
of the characters or the author.
� Takes into account
dreams, subcon-scious
desires, and
sexual repression
(for example,
the Oedipus or Electra complex).
Psychoanalytical Analysis of
Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”� Imagine that you are a psychotherapist and
Louise Mallard (or Kate Chopin) is your patient. (Do not assume the protagonist is the author.)
� What makes her the way she is? Why does she do what she does?
� What are her subconscious fears? What are her subconscious desires?
� Is she healthy or disturbed?
� Does she have issues with authority (what we might casually call “daddy issues” or “mommy issues”)?
� Can she adapt and function in her world?
� Does she have a “breakthrough”?
Historical, Cultural, and Marxist
Criticisms� Treat a literary text as a
document reflecting, producing, or being produced by the social conditions of its time or culture.
� Take into consideration what was happening in the world or a society at the time the text was written (for example, wars, social issues, political movements, andindustrialization).
"The Story of an Hour" and Critical
Approaches to Literature
3
Historical Analysis of Chopin’s
“The Story of an Hour”� Consider the author’s and protagonist’s
social (and economic) class.
� Consider what the world was like in the time
(late 19th century) and place (New Orleans) the story was written and takes place.� What was going on in the American South?
� What was life like then?
� How would the story be different if the main character were of a different race or social class?
� What comment might Chopin be making on social rules and expectations?
Gender (Feminist/Gay/Lesbian)
Criticism� Explores how what society
says is masculine or feminine is reflected in a literary work,
often seeking to correct or
supplement a heterosexual/male-dominated critical
perspective.
� Considers how litera-
ture portrays women and/or LGBT people.
� What was life like for women in Louise Mallard’s (and Kate Chopin’s) society?
� Who holds power in that society?
� Consider the female (Louise and Josephine) and
male (Richards and Brently) characters. Does each fit the stereotype of his or her gender? How? If not, how is he or she different?
� Which characters show power or weakness? How?
� Why is the protagonist called “Mrs. Mallard” in the beginning but “Louise” later in the story?
Feminist Analysis of Chopin’s
“The Story of an Hour”
Mythological (Archetypal)
Criticism� Looks for underlying, recurrent
patterns in literature (like death and rebirth/the seasons) that reveal universal meanings and basic human experiences.
� Finds associations between a literary work and widely known stories like myths, religious texts, and fairy tales.
� Can you find any allusions to familiar
stories or universal truths?
� The four seasons
� In what season is the story set?
� What is the significance of this season? What does it typically represent?
� How does this relate to the character of the
protagonist?
Archetypal Analysis of Chopin’s
“The Story of an Hour”� Says that every reader’s interpretation is
unique because every reader has a different biography, history, gender/sexual orientation, mythol-ogy, and psychology.
� What the reader sees and understands, not what the writer may have intended, is what is important.
Reader-Response Criticism
"The Story of an Hour" and Critical
Approaches to Literature
4
Using at least one of the critical approaches
discussed in class today, write a 1,000-to-
1,200-word, five (or more)-paragraph literary
analysis of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an
Hour.” Specific topic choices are on the handout.
Be sure that your essay focuses on a single
main point, clearly stated in the thesis. Don’t try to
write every thought that you have about the story;
narrow your topic so that you can cover it
completely in 1,100 words. I encourage you to
visit the ASC with these assignment instructions
before you begin your draft.
Your essay must contain an introduction paragraph that includes the
author’s name, title, genre, and theme and ends with the thesis statement. The
essay must also include three or more body paragraphs providing specific
“evidence” or details (including direct quotes from the story, at least one per
body paragraph), and a concluding paragraph that returns to the idea of the
thesis and provides a sense of closure.
Also, be sure you complete and submit all five steps in the writing process:
1. prewriting/brainstorming
2. organizing/outline with thesis statement
3a. drafting (the first draft)
4. revising (SmarThinking/Academic Success Center AND group discussions),
3b. drafting again (the second draft), and
5. proofreading (at least two classmates).
The final version of the essay is due on MyHCC/Canvas before class
begins February 16. Final essays will NOT be accepted if you do not
participate in and submit all five steps!
Remember, the literary essay is meant to offer and investigate an interpretation of the work.
It is NOT a summary!To decide on a controlling idea for a critical analysis, consider the reading strategiesdiscussed in pages 43-58 of your textbook:
� Formalist (How does the language or style used affect the reader?)
� Psychoanalytical (Is there anything Freudian in the work? Why?)
� Reader-Response (Consider your personal reactions to the work.)
� Historical (How did or does the time period affect the writer or reader?)
� Gender (Does the work have a feminist or homosexual level of meaning?)
� Mythological (Does the work echo a universal story? If so, why?)
� Biographical (How does the work reflect aspects of the author’s life?)
By Kate Chopin
Consider DICTION—how the author’s use of descriptive
language such as ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, and VIVID
VERBS as well as figurative language such as
METAPHORS, SIMILES, and SYMBOLS helps develop the
character and the conflict of the story.
metaphor (p. 327): a figure of speech, not meant to be
factually true, in which one thing is compared or substituted for
something else…
simile (p. 335): … a figure of speech whereby two unlike
objects are compared to each other with the word like or as…
symbol (p. 336): … an element that stands for something
beyond its literal meaning in the text…
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.
It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken
sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing.
Her husband’s friend Richards was there, too, near her.
It was he who had been in the newspaper office when
intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with
Brently Mallard’s name leading the list of “killed.” He
had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by
a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any
less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad
message.
She did not hear the story as many women have
heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its
significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild
abandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of
grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone.
She would have no one follow her.
"The Story of an Hour" and Critical
Approaches to Literature
5
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.
� “heart trouble” — Mrs.
Mallard is weak or
delicate; also, what does
“heart” symbolize?
� “great care,” “gently” —
notice the adjectives
and adverbs
� “afflicted” — notice that
this verb suggests
passivity, victimhood
� “her husband’s death”
— the initial conflict or
problem of the story
It was her sister Josephine who
told her, in broken sentences;
veiled hints that revealed in half
concealing. Her husband’s
friend Richards was there, too,
near her. It was he who had
been in the newspaper office
when intelligence of the rail-
road disaster was received, with
Brently Mallard’s name leading
the list of “killed.” He had only
taken the time to assure himself
of its truth by a second
telegram, and had hastened to
forestall any less careful, less
tender friend in bearing the sad
message.
� Adjectives: “broken,”
“veiled,” “half,”
“second,” “careful,”
“tender,” “sad”
� Adverbs: “too,” “near,”
“only,” “less”
� Vivid verbs: “revealed,”
“concealing,” “leading,”
“assure,” “hastened,”
“forestall,” “bearing”
� Repetition: “less
careful, less tender”
� She did not hear the story
as many women have
heard the same, with a
paralyzed inability to
accept its significance. She
wept at once, with sudden,
wild abandonment, in her
sister’s arms. When the
storm of grief had spent
itself she went away to her
room alone. She would
have no one follow her.
� Adjectives: “many,”
“paralyzed,” “sudden,”
“wild”
� Adverbs: “not,” “at once,”
“alone”
� Vivid verbs: “did not
hear,” “accept,” “wept,”
“had spent,” “would have”
� Figurative language:
“storm of grief” (nature
imagery)
1. Do prewriting and outlining for the
1100-word analytical essay and bring a
hard copy of those steps to class
Tuesday.
2. Read pp. 82-84 of your textbook.
3. Continue reading or re-reading your RP
book and taking notes.