Continue with Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

Literary Terms: Irony

1. Verbal irony. A character says something opposite of what they intend or mean. Sometimes it’s accidental, sometimes intentional. (Can be considered sarcasm, although some critics won’t include it.)
2. Situational irony. The opposite thing happens than the reader expects. The situation is reversed.
3. Dramatic irony. When the reader knows what’s going to happen, but the characters don’t, and there’s nothing the reader can do about it.

What kind did we encounter in “The Story of an Hour”?

6 Big Ideas: NARRATION

This is known as point of view. There are three popular forms:

1. First Person – In this point of view, a character (typically the protagonist, but not always) is telling the story. You’ll notice a lot of “I” and “me” or “we” in first person narrations.
2. Second Person – In this point of view, the author uses a narrator to speak to the reader. You’ll notice a lot of “you,” “your,” and “yours” in second person narration. THIS IS RARELY USED.
3. Third Person – In this point of view, an external narrator is telling the story. You’ll notice a lot of “he,” “she,” “it,” or “they” in this form of narration. Third Person has three different kinds:
   1. Third Person OBJECTIVE–The story is told by an impersonal, seemingly objective narrator reporting only on the facts as they are presented. Like watching a story on a screen.
   2. Third Person OMNISCIENT–The story is told by an all-knowing narrator who can see not only the facts but also into the characters’ minds, and can reveal their thoughts.
   3. Third Person LIMITED–The story is told by a partial-knowing narrator, who can see only into one or two characters and doesn’t reveal the thoughts of others.

Each kind of narration allows the story teller to give different points of view, different ways to tell the story.

(Narrators might also be UNRELIABLE–they may not be telling you what’s really going on, but giving only their perspective. Unreliable narrators are more common in First Person points of view, but Omniscient Narrators may also be unreliable).

In “Story” Chopin uses the Third Person–which kind? Whose minds can we see into?

What if Chopin had used the First Person, where we experience the story through Louise Mallard’s character? What more would we gain? What would we lose? (For instance, how would the story end if we were hearing it from her perspective alone? And WHEN would the story end?)

Literary Terms: MOOD AND TONE

These are frequently confused because they are so closely related, but think of them as where they have their effect:

TONE: This is feeling the AUTHOR establishes in the writing; the AUTHOR’S apparent attitude toward the story. What words do the author use, and what kind of attitude do they have toward their subject matter? And does the tone change throughout the writing? Why?

AUTHORS establish TONE by what they present, what they let the reader see, hear, and understand. Given the wide range of words and images, authors carefully select that which will produce the TONE they want.

For example, the creators of this video create a TONE for “Frozen” based on selecting scenes and background music:
https://youtu.be/jJLxTqiUl44

MOOD: This is the feeling the READER receives from writing; what emotional response the READER gets from reading it. In the “Frozen” example above, what kinds of emotions did the trailer create in you?

How do the words the author chose affect you? What kind of moods do you go through, and how do you feel emotionally at the end?

What kind of TONE does Chopin try to convey in “Story”?

What kind of MOOD(S) did you as a reader experience as you read “Story”?

HOMEWORK: FINISH your Literary Terms and SUBMIT them to Mrs. Mercer before midnight Thursday.