GENERAL
1.
Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the
narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed
interpretation of same.)
- Edna starts off as the wonderful wife who fulfills the role of a proper mother. They take a vacation as a family and spend their time in Grand Isle. There she meets a man named Robert and a romance begins. They end up declaring their love in the novel and we see the two grow and fall apart. Robert seeks a marriage but couldn't find it in Edna. Edna also became intimate with another man named Alcee. That connection Alcee and she had seemed like pure lust because he awoke feelings in her that lead to other realizations but no attachment Edna learns about her independence while being with these men and she tries to become the woman she always wanted to be. Her marriage seems to be fading away as she spends more and more time with her new persona. As her family is away she moves into her own home persueing her new lifestyle. Times goes by and her past is awaken when her friend Adele goes through a birth. Adele reminds Edna of the life she left behind and this leads Edna to think about things. Edna realized that in the end she was left alone, because Robert had walked out on her. She then decides to return where everything began and end her life there.
2.
Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
-
The theme revolves around marriage and Edna's involvement within
her life. During their time period marriage, money and security
was all society cared for. Love wasn't a favored characteristic in
relationships because then they had different priorities and beliefs.
Edna underwent a dramatic change that lead to her marriage's
collapse. She became a wild and disobedient women as the
novel progresses letting her true colors free. Her decision to start
her life over with her lover helped the audience see that
marriage wasn't of great importance for her.
3.
Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that
illustrate your point(s).
-
The author's tone is gloomy and direct. She addresses Edna's feeling
on marriage in the story but reveals that Edna isn't the caring,
loving person a mother's supposed to be. The tone is shown when Edna
speaks to her husband or when she reveals Edna's thoughts on
marriage. It sounded like the relation they had faded away as Edna
found herself and let her past fade away.
1) "Before
dinner in the evening Edna wrote a charming letter to her husband,
telling him of her intention to move for a while into the little
house around the block, and to give a farewell dinner before leaving,
regretting that he was not there to share it.." (Chapter 26)
2) “They
were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and
esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and
grow as ministering angels.” (Chapter 4)
3) "Her
marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this
respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the
decrees of Fate." (Chapter 7)
4. Describe a
minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that
strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's
theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual
support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please
include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
*Symbolism: “The
voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring,
murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of
solitude.” (Chapter VI) For the first time she feels free
and is reborn.
*Dialogue:
"The water must be delicious; it will not hurt you. Come."
(Chapter V) He tries to convince her that she should trust in
him.
*Setting: “They
were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and
esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and
grow as ministering angels.” (Chapter IV) She's surrounded
by the ideal mothers.
*Diction: “He
pleased her; his absolute devotion flattered her. She fancied they
was a sympathy of thought and taste between them..” (Chapter
VII) It reveals how she feels about the situation.
*Foreshadowing:
"She is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the
unfortunate blundder of taking you seriously." (Chapter
VIII) Adèle
Ratignolle warns Robert that Edna might take his affections
seriously.
*Imagery:
"A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power
of significant import had been given her to control the working of
her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating
her strength." (Chapter X) It shows Edna’s
rebellious side.
*Irony:
"She remembered the night she swam far out, and recalled the
terror that siezed her at the fear of being unable to regain to
shore. She did not look back now, but went on and on..."
(Chapter XXXIX) Edna's
death in the ocean.
*Forshadowing: "He
thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object
of his existence, evinced so little interest in things which
concerned him, and valued so little his conversation" (Chapter 17) Shows Edna losing interest in her husband.
CHARACTERIZATION
1.
Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of
indirect characterization. Why does the author use both
approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of
the character as a result)?
- The author uses both direct and indirect characterization because it helps the reader understand who each character is and how they are. Every reader takes in a story differently and characterization helps in developing a visual image for those who need it.
- DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION:
1) "I
would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my
life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself." (Chapter 16)
She tells that she is in it for herself and her needs. That she
wouldn't give herself up for her children.
2) "That
she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new
conditions in herself that colored and changed her environment, she
did not yet suspect." (Chapter 14) Edna has changed and this is being stated by showing a new person masked behind the old Edna.
2.
Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on
character? How? Example(s)?
-
The diction does change because the author is adding emotional appeal
to it. As you read about her romance with Robert the diction changes
adding an atmosphere of mystic. She experiments many things with her
lover thus changing the way she thinks, sees and feels the world. For
every action she made her character changed as well as how she spoke
or acted.
3.
Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round?
Explain.
-
Edna is a dynamic and round character because she shows change from
the beginning of the novel to the end. Every time she encounters new
people her persona changes and we see her feelings change as well.
The reader was able to pick this up as they saw how she treated her
husband and her lover Robert.
4.
After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a
person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that
illustrates your reaction.
-
I read a character because not everyone is as open as Edna was. She
underwent a dramatic change which is understandable considering the
time period, but she wasn't all there. Emotionally I saw a woman who
needed to find herself and experiment the only way she could. Not
everyone will see or think the way she did because putting oneself in
her shoes would make you think otherwise. The ocean is
where Robert and she spent
some time and it's ironic how she spent her last hours there. Only a
character would end there life where their grief starts not an actual
person.
Sonnet VII
