Analysis Of The Story Of An Hour

Analysis Of The Story Of An Hour Exploring the plot structure of Kate Chopin s short story The Story of an Hour, analyzing how this sets the scene for the events to unfold, and then builds the tension before the climax which lays bare disturbing insights into the protagonist s character. Finally, there is rapidly falling tension briefly set out before the resolution. All these insights shed light on the cultural norms from when the story was written in the late nineteenth century. In the first paragraph, we the readers are introduced to Mrs. Mallard who was afflicted with a heart trouble(261). Her illness is described as a heart trouble indicating that it could be secondary to some other problem of a deeper nature. We have our first suspicion that Mrs. Mallard may have an incapacity in how she loves. When Mrs. Mallard is told of her husband s death, her sister who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing (261) as if Mrs. Mallard can only be told indirectly. Richard has checked and rechecked the information that Mr. Mallard has been killed, not just an ordinary accident, but a railroad disaster (261). Mrs. Mallard is now a widow according to the cultural norms of the time, unlike single and married women she could legitimately be independent, have her own source of income, as well as have sympathy from all those around her. Instead of becoming paralyzed (261), frozen, silent, and not accepting what she is being told, she wept at once, with sudden, wild, abandonment (261). Then she goes alone to her room and She would have no one follow her (261). At that time it was considered dangerous for women even to go to their rooms alone as doing so might encourage independent thought. Chopin now gives us a picture of the freedom inherent in widowhood. First of all is the armchair, a direct metaphor to widowhood itself. It is roomy (261), expansive, and unrestricted, unlike the narrow closed world in which the majority of women then lived. Furthermore, the armchair faces the open window (261) so the reader is led to the vision of freedom, which would be thrilling to the readers of the time. The plot moves into rising action and complication, beginning with a description of Mrs. Mallard as a normal woman of the time: young, fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength (261). She appears to have control over her feelings but has a dull stare in her eyes (261) and not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought (262). Now we are wondering if Mrs. Mallard is mentally unstable and Chopin begs the question: Is Mrs. Mallard able to handle the complex and conflicting emotions brought on by her new state of widowhood. Chopin further increases the tension by indicating that Mrs. Mallard is now in the grip of something monstrous that threatens to overwhelm her. At first, she does not recognize it as it was too subtle and elusive to name (262), and only feels it creeping out of the sky (262), soon she is fighting it back powerless(262) and with ever increasing tension. She becomes so consumed with the energy of the thing that she becomes abandoned (262). Now she is able to name the monster; it is freedom and she whispers a word over and over free, free, free! (262). At this point we see Mrs. Mallard change completely from someone submissive to a woman seemingly in charge of her life: quite opposed to how women were supposed to behave in the late nineteenth century. She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her (262), she is now with a clear and exalted perception (262) dismissing the suggestion as trivial (262). This would be shocking to the readers of the time when it was unheard of for a woman to be dissatisfied about marriage and to be happy over her husband s death. Mrs. Mallard is pictured as a caged bird trapped in an unhappy marriage, even her name is an actual bird. The birds outside the window are truly free in their simple lives. As Chopin moves up the tension towards the climax, this idea is further reinforced as we see Mrs. Mallard from being subsumed by the monster overtaking her, striving to beat it back(262) as if she is flapping her wings to nothing. When she has perfectly given freedom, she opened and spread her arms out (262) as if they are now strong wings with which she is ready to fly out of the open window. Interestingly, Chopin states that it is both men and women who inflict their will on others. This can be understood as meaning that while Chopin wants to challenge then present norms on marriage. She is suggesting that both women and men need to understand each other more and not smash their marriage down completely. Mrs. Mallard however, emphatically believes it s a crime to impose one s will on others. At this point in the story we begin to question her motives and whether Mrs. Mallard is committing some kind of crime. Has she gone too far in her glorification of freedom? Is she not now imposing her will on others and being unkind towards them? She dismisses an unimportant thought that she had only loved her husband .She has no regrets whatsoever that she has lost his love and care. Our sympathies now turn against her as we see her determined her own selfish ambitions. The climax of the story comes at the point that Mrs. Mallard has rejected love. She ignores her poor sister who is worried at the other side of the door. Mrs. Mallard stands at the open window drinking in a very elixir of life (262) but we know by now that it is no such thing. Mr. Mallard arrives home, not dead, but very much alive. Having not heard of the accident and it is now just an ordinary accident, not the disaster as previously described. We are shown in this scene of falling action and given descriptions of her husband entering the house. She had died of heart disease of joy that kills (263). The others in the house, including the doctors believe Mrs. Mallard is so overcome with joy at seeing her husband alive that it killed her. Chopin s questions and challenges women s lack of freedom, especially within marriage. She will not go so far as to reject love. Therefore, she gives up on Mrs. Mallard who suffer from a heart disease in pursuit of her own selfish goals.

History and Work of Ikko Tanaka Essay

Looking over the work of Henryk Tomaszawski I found his work to be uniquely his own in the way that each design is composed. I also felt he’s done a fine job in expressing his culture throughout his work. I’d have to compare his art form and technique to Japanese graphic designer Shigeo Fukudo. In comparing their poster works they both display their own unique style but the form, colors, and in some posters ideas are much alike. In both artists work you see their individual cultures expressed. In Tomaszawski work there’s a constant use of rich colors of purples, yellow, reds, and greens. He also uses black to emphasize his designs. Like bold lettering in heavy stroke lines. His use of these heavy stokes resembles to Japanese calligraphy. Many of his posters are very impacting but in an animated and lively way that pulls the viewer in. His work presents much softer and curvier stroke than that of Fuduka, but much of their elements are similar. The feeling is quite the same with Shigeo Fukuda. He’s also expresses his culture throughout his work. In his more recent work there’s a modern Japanese feel to it. Much of his work displays the vivid red color like that from Japan’s flag. He also fuses heavy strokes of black into most of his work. In some of his older works you see these heavy yet softer strokes but recent work shows harder more uniformed lines. Fukuda’s work is very simplistic with an animated twist. Throughout his work you see a constant use of bright colors. I think Tomaszawski and Fuduka express a sense of illusion in their work. They do this excellent job of getting their points across in a way that’s almost fantasy like. Even in their more serious nationalistic posters both chose to represent them in a impacting way that still expressed a bit of animation. Henryk Tomaszawski â€Å"Manekiny Opera Poster† (1985) Shigeo Fukuda â€Å"In Poland† (1995) In both posters you can see the elements are very similar but each artist has a distinguished way of expressing his style. I found throughout many of their posters they both have found a usage for limbs that’s quite interesting. Here is these poster Tomaszawski used more whimsical strokes to draw a female’s leg. His poster looks very much like other Polish art I have seen. While Fuduka’s poster is quite similar he chose harder more serious modern style. Here he has intertwined a male and female leg while giving the illusion of a necktie flying.

Effect of Alcohol on Family Conflict

Owing to its legality, many individuals engage in alcohol consumption. A growing body of evidence indicates that alcohol is the widely used drug among the various populations. Evidence also indicate that there are many health risks associated with alcohol consumptions.Many families have one or two members who have problems associated with alcohol use. Alcohol has many social, psychological and economic consequences that are not desirable and as such, often leads to conflict. However, it has been suggested that marital, family or workplace conflicts leads an individual to drink.There are also suggestions that marital, family of workplace conflicts are consequences of abusive drinking. All these suggestions hold some truth as alcoholism is associated with various problems while on the other hand; various problems are associated with alcoholism. These problems, such as marital, workplace and conflicts can be risk factors for the problem of drinking. However, they can also be conceptuali zed as consequences of alcohol use.The conceptualizations of these problems as emerging as a result of alcohol use is important in designing intervention strategies and policies that reduce the negative effects of alcohol use. The aim of this paper is to look at the social consequences of alcohol use, specifically with regard to conflict.The social consequences of alcohol use can be categorized into those that leads to changes in social interactions with others and those that leads to the changes in an individual's social position or life chances.One of the major factors that influence the consequences of alcohol consumption is the quantity consumed. Many psychosocial consequences are associated with episodes of acute intoxication or prolonged dependency symptoms that accompany alcoholism (Hauge and Ingens-Jensen 1986). For instance, family violence is often associated with episodes of intoxication.The proximal biological and psychological consequences of the consumption of alcohol that are relevant to the analysis of the social consequences are the chronic and acute effects of alcohol on an individual's physiological processes and the effects of alcohol on memory, cognition and mood.An individual's ability to interact with other people may be seriously incapacitated by dependence symptoms and acute changes in the thinking process and mood. This may also impair an individual's performance in their roles. Beyond this, alcohol may lead to aggressive behavior resulting in direct social conflicts.There are some mediating factors which determine the degree to which consumption may result in particular biological and psychological consequences. Among them are the expectations about the effects of alcohol, alcohol metabolism, gender and other biologic vulnerabilities or resilience (Kreitman 1992).The majority of these factors are not mutable. The expectancies about the possible effects of alcohol consumption play an important role in the degree and patterns of consum ption. These however may be subject to educational interventions. The consequences of alcohol consumption are largely influenced by the social context where the drinking takes place.According to Herd (1984), social context encompasses the social or ethnic group norm that defines relevant and irrelevant occasions for and the level of drinking. For instance, alcohol intake in communities practicing abstention may result in immediate negative consequences for social interactions and hence threaten an individual's social position in the community.As such, he will be in conflict with the rest of the community members owing to his decision to contradict the norms of the community. This is often the case since not many communities encourage drinking. By contrast, heavy drinking may be encouraged in some social groups and ethnic communities where alcohol consumption is valued and expected.The effects of alcohol use in particular social contexts such as at home may lie on the negative conseq uences of use in unre4lated contexts such as work. Alcohol consumption may or may not be considered as problematic by spouses depending on whether it affects job performance or maintenance of the functions of the household.

Underground Airlines And The Secret Life Of Bees Tell Related

Underground Airlines and The Secret Life of Bees tell related thematic concepts through distinctly similar and different ways. Both Underground Airlines and The Secret Life of Bees discuss themes along the lines of, racism and prejudice brings pain and injustice, and to not judge a book by its cover. These two thematic concepts develop together throughout the course of each novel. Each novel has an individual narrative; Underground Airlines containing one of thrills and suspense set in present day when the civil war had never taken place. The other, The Secret Life of Bees, tells a slower, realistic fiction narrative set in the 1960’s. Similarities in the process of presenting the themes are found through the topics and events both novels†¦show more content†¦The main character recounts events of horrific injustice, racism and prejudice throughout the novel. While still living with her abusive father, the main character travels with her African American maid, Rosaleen , to claim her right to vote under the recently passed Voting Rights Act. On their way to the administration building, they are stopped by three white men, all repelled by the idea that she has the right to vote. Rosaleen, enraged by these men’s flawed ideologies and racist remarks spills tobacco spit onto one man’s shoes. Rosaleen is then beaten by the men, picked up by the police, and then hit again in front of the police, resulting in no punishment for the man who assaulted Rosaleen (Kidd). This, in addition to many other examples of similar degree, display the injustices and racism faced by the African American community during the 1960’s and the reasons racism should be fought against and looked down upon for the horrific beast that it is. In addition to this, the main character also helps to express the themes of not judging a book by it’s cover, through the main character’s self revelations. Once staying with the family for a short time and meeting their friend Zach, the main character, Lily, realizes that she has held a prejudice against the African American community due to her upbringing. She learns not to judge others by their skin color, because she finds the family is more