The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

The Story of an Hour 

by Kate Chopin

http://www.fmgondemand.com/play/4QYHKU

• A word tells us the name of a thing and can stand in or take the place of the thing when it's not there.
• Does your name stand in for who you are?
• Does your first name or your last name best refer to who you are?
• Before you had a first name, you had a last name. As a word, which one defines you?
• Does the name stand in for the name of the body or the person who lives within it?

What is Mrs. Mallard first name?  What is the author trying to get us to understand or think about by referring to her as "Mrs. Mallard"? 

Questions

1. Why isn't Mrs. Mallard immediately told of her husband's death?
2. Who brought the news of Mr. Mallard's death?
3. Where did Mr. Mallard's accident happen?
4. How does Mrs. Mallard react when she hears the news?
5. How does the world outside look?
6. How does Mrs. Mallard normally look and how does she look since the news of the accident?
7. What feeling does Mrs. Mallard experience?
8. How does Mrs. Mallard think she will react when she sees her husband's dead body?
9. What is Mrs. Mallard excited about?
10. How does Mrs. Mallard die?

Text

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under hte 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. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.