Kate Chopin "The Story of an Hour"

"The Story  of an Hour" by Kate Chopin is obviously a short story for woman.  Woman's rights were a very large issue during the realism period and this story showed that issue well. Mrs. Mallard was a woman with heart disease and one day she learns that her husband has been killed in the derailment of a train.  At first she is sad for she loved her husband but then she thinks of the future.  She thinks of how she will no longer be oppressed by anyone and that she can do as she wishes.  "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering"(Chopin, "The Story of an Hour").  This is where the feminist part of the story is located. She is thinking on her own and this was almost frowned upon during this time period. However her joy is short lived, just as the rest of her life, as someone rings the bell at the door.  When it is open we learn it to be Brently Mallard. "He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one". The doctor came to the house and concluded that she had died of heart disease, or the joy that kills(Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"). This is almost ironic because the reader is not sure whether she really died of happiness.  She was excited about the new life she was to begin being free and when she saw her husband the reality of her world came crashing down on her all at once. 


"Changes in mood, in perceptions, in opinions and ideas constitute turning points or climaxes"(Rahn, "Realism"). This is part of the definition or characteristics of the Realism period.  I think that this definition fits this story well. She was happy knowing that she was not going to be tethered to someone anymore and when she saw her husband, a drastic change in mood constituted the climax of the story where she has her heart attack. The Realism period showed a major shift in the type of writings being made and this story shows the characteristics of realism including the changing of mood and perceptions.




Chopin, Kate. ""The Story of an Hour"" Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 


Rahn, Josh. "Realism." - Literature Periods & Movements. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. 

Willa Cather "A Wagner Matinee"

Willa Cather is the author of the short story "A Wagner Matinee". As some to most of the short stories and poems assigned to us to read, I find this short story to tug at the strings of nature during the transcendentalist period. The descriptive words used in this short story are great. "her linen duster had become black with soot"(Cather, "A Wagner Matinee"). This may not seem all that descriptive but it gives us details on how long and tiring her journey must have been and on what her appearance is. When the author meets his aunt on the train we know that she is battered and worn from the journey but he still respects her. The author talks of the old times working on the farm for her and how he respected her. "I became, in short, the gangling farm boy my aunt had known, scourged with chilblains and bashfulness, my hands cracked and sore from the corn husking. I felt the knuckles of my thumb tentatively, as though they were raw again. I sat again before her parlor organ, fumbling the scales with my stiff, red hands, while she, beside me, made canvas mittens for the huskers"(Cather, "A Wagner Matinee"). This tells us that she cared for the workers and took the time to make mittens for the workers so that their hands would not be as sore as they would be without them.

"Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood"("EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text."). Nature was important to Ralph Waldo Emerson as shown in his famous essay "Nature". The symbolism of nature is evident in this short story as well as emotion which was also important to Emerson and Thoreau. After Clark took his Aunt to the opera and the audience had left they remained behind reminiscing on the old days. "I spoke to my aunt. She burst into tears and sobbed pleadingly. "I don't want to go, Clark, I don't want to go!"(Cather, "A Wagner Matinee"). This is because the music had brought some memories of home back to her which was all but gone due to relatives passing away. She was happy and sad at the same time and did not want to give up those happy memories of her long life.

This short stories showed some characteristics of the Transcendentalist period and it is an important piece of writing to that period. It shows both nature and emotion to engage the reader and help us to understand the meaning of memories. Memories are to be cherished and can be brought back to us in the smallest things, such as an opera show.

Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinee." Willa Cather's Short Story:. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

"EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text." Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

Sojourner Truth- Ain't I a woman

Ain't I a woman is a very deep essay based on the feelings and lack of attention for an enslaved woman. Sojourner Truth feels that she is not treated the same as other woman are and she wishes that someone would show her some attention. "That man over there say a woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches and to have the best place everywhere Nobody ever helped me into carriages or over mud puddles or gives me a best place. . ."(Truth, "Ain't I A Woman?"). It is obvious that she is treated differently from other woman because of her ethnic background being African American and that she is a slave. We have heard about how slaves were treated and neglected by society but never have I heard an account on how they felt about things that we consider to be normal and on things that happen everyday.

Emerson and Thoreau's philosophies can be related to this essay in some ways. Emerson thought that "the differences among the members of a race are greater than the differences between races"(Brewton,"Emerson, Ralph Waldo [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]."). He thought that all the different characters and behavioral patterns were far different that the skin tone between races. This belief gives us an insight on to his views on racism. Emerson does not seem to be a racist man and this is significant because of how many people owned or had just lost their slaves at this time. Many people believed that "blacks" were the scum of the Earth and some did not consider them human. "Civil disobedience means to protest what one believes to be an unjust law or an unfair sociopolitical system through nonviolent means, fully aware the the consequence may entail imprisonment and/or brutality by the powers-that-be"(Mannion,"Henry David Thoreau - Philosophy."). Since Thoreau wrote an essay on civil disobedience I find it hard to believe that he thought slavery was just and fair to the slaves. I am not saying that he was giving his life for the freedom of slaves but he considered it to not be something God wanted.

This book does not share the political style of writing these men were famous for but it does show the emotional and spiritual side of their philosophies. Truth was not afraid to speak what had been killing her whole life and she was able to get her message across. Truth must have hit a keynote with this speech or we would not be reading it today.

Brewton, Vince. "Emerson, Ralph Waldo [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]."Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 24 July 2003. Web. 14 Feb. 2012.

Mannion, James. "Henry David Thoreau - Philosophy." Netplaces. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. Truth, Sojourner.

"Ain't I A Woman? Famous Speech by Sojourner Truth." Find Famous Quotes, Funny, Movie and Motivational. Web. 14 Feb. 2012.

Walt Whitman"Cavalry Crossing a Ford"

Walt Whitman's poem "Cavalry Crossing a Ford" is literally about Union soldiers crossing a ford riding their horses as the "guidon flags flutter gaily in the wind"(Whitman, "Cavalry Crossing a Ford"). Even though this is one of the shorter pieces we have had to read for this project, it is still easy to see the resemblance to the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood"("EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text."). Emerson wrote this in his essay "Nature" and I believe that it can relate to Whitman when he was writing his poem "Cavalry Crossing a Ford". Whitman is very descriptive and chooses his words well when speaking about nature and the men in his poem. He talks about the "silvery river" and "their arms flash in the sun"(Whitman, "Cavalry Crossing a Ford"). These are all very descriptive phrases and assists the reader in imagining the scene and beauty of nature through the soldiers' eyes.

"Cavalry Crossing A Ford by Walt Whitman." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

"EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text." Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865

Abraham Lincoln was voted for a second term probably because of how he handled the war that was between parts of our own country. In his "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865" he reflects on why African Americans are as equal as caucasians."Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we will be not judged"(Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865"). This statement made by Lincoln is proving that in the end we are all the same and that God will not judge us on the color of our skin or the type of race we originate from, but from the actions we live by during our time on earth. Emerson and Thoreau were both part of the Transcendentalist movement and this quote and belief tie into nature very well. Everything lives and at the end of that life everything dies whether young or old. The circle of life is one of the biggest factors in nature.

"when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize"(Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience"). Thoreau could not have said it any better. Back in 1775 Britain was rebelled against by men who thought that they deserved freedom from a tyrant of a nation. They had many supporters in this rebellion as do the slaves. Douglass, Lincoln, Thoreau, and many others believed the new nation to be hypocritical and did what they could to ensure that the constitution and Declaration of Independence was being carried out as they saw it ought to be. Others were so blind and ignorant to the freedom that was given to them that they forgot about the men that were forced to tend to the tobacco fields these recently freed men owned. Lincoln was not blind though and looked back on the hard and tiring work that occurred in giving the bound men their freedom and thanks the soldiers who fought for the right of freedom to the slaved. "let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting piece, among ourselves, and with all nations"(Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865").

Like Lincoln, Emerson also believed that this was not the way the divine wanted it to be. "Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events"(Emerson, "Self-Reliance). These men believe that God has allowed these men to be free and that it should remain this way. Many men fought for the freedom of others and Lincoln connects to the beliefs of Emerson and Thoreau in his second inaugural address.

Emerson, Ralph W. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 08 Feb.

Lincoln, Abraham. "Internet History Sourcebooks." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

Thoreau, Henry D. "Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (DL SunSITE)." Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.

The Meaning of the 4th of July for Negros

"The Meaning of July fourth for the Negro" by Frederick Douglass was written in 1852. With this speech being written during the Civil War it is very appropriate for what was going on at that time. The country was basically fighting over whether it should allow slaves or not. The entire essay is based on how hypocritical the celebration of the 4th of July is. The American citizens of this time celebrate over their freedom from the British yet they deny other human beings in the same country freedom. With emotion being a key factor in the transcendentalist style of writing, Douglass was able to hit a major emotion in guilt. Douglass made the white man feel bad for celebrating their freedom from Britain, while the African Americans were denied the same privilege. "Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?"(Douglass, "The Meaning of July fourth for the Negro"). America had fought so hard for its independence that it did not care what happened to the non-Americans living in the country.

The diplomatic and military disputes fall right into the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. "How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also" (Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience").Thoreau did not believe that his government could possibly be the same one that was working for the slaves because of how the slaves were treated. It is evident that Thoreau did not believe in or encourage the possession of another human being.“Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said to-day”(Emerson, "Self-Reliance"). I think that this quote from Emerson is saying to not be afraid of changing what you thought right yesterday. Slavery may be a good thing for you today but will you wake up tomorrow thinking the same thing? Do not be afraid of what others may think, but go with what you feel is right. Most plantation owners fought to keep their slaves to the very end, but we do not hear about the men who let their slaves be free before the war. There are some owners out there who had done this and our country should be proud of these few. They gave up their workers and probably lost a lot of money for doing what was necessary and what they thought was right. you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said to-day”(Emerson, Self-Reliance). I Douglass, Frederick. "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass."History Is A Weapon. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.

Emerson, Ralph W. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.

Thoreau, Henry D. "Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (DL SunSITE)." Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. will you wake up tomorrow thinking the same thing? Do not be afraid of what others may think, but go with what you feel is right. Most plantation owners fought to keep their slaves to the very end, but we do not hear about the men who let their slaves be free before the war. There are some owners out there who had done this and our country should be proud of these few. They gave up their workers and probably lost a lot of money for doing what was necessary and what they thought was right.