"The Story of an Hour"
Describe the expectations placed on women during the 19th-century.
Women were confined to the home and expected to cook, clean, and raise children.
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke describes her ancestors as preferring to be memorialized through songs and stories rather than "material legacies." What does this suggest about their cultural values?
They value spiritual and communal legacy over the accumulation of physical wealth.
Roxane Gay uses this specific metaphor to describe the feeling of being trapped in her own body.
A Cage
This term refers to a brief story of a person’s life, written by that person, often focusing on a specific theme or "story of survival".
A Memoir
When writing an essay comparing these texts, what is the most important element of a thesis statement?
A clear, arguable claim that connects the themes (like independence or conformity) across the selected texts.
Why is the death of Louise Mallard's husband such a relief to her?
Because it represents the end of a marriage where her legal identity was overshadowed by his, granting her "body and soul" freedom.
As the author discusses her specific memories, she focuses on two aspects of the childhood. What are they?
Family & Nature
Gay writes, "What I know and what I feel are two very different things". What does this suggest about body positivity?
Simply "learning" or knowing the theory of body positivity is not enough to heal the actual emotional/physical feeling of discomfort.
In both "The Story of an Hour" and Hunger, the female protagonists are described as being "trapped." What is the main difference between their "cages"?
Louise is trapped by external social/legal structures (marriage/law); Gay is trapped by internal/physical sensations and her own body.
Define the term "excerpt" as it is used in the context of reading these stories.
A short extract from a film, broadcast, or piece of music or writing.
How does Louise describe her husband?
She describes him as "kind" and "tender."
What does the author’s name, Allison Adele, mean according to her family history?
"Back foot soldier (rear or tail fighter) for truth (honor)."
To avoid judgment, the author often does this when she cannot keep up with her friends physically.
She "thinks up excuses" to explain her physical limitations.
How does the theme of identity connect Hedge Coke’s memoir to Gay’s memoir?
Both explore how identity is shaped by history—either through ancestral storytelling and heritage or through personal trauma and societal pressure.
Why is the title Rock, Ghost, Willow, Deer: A Story of Survival italicized?
Because it is the title of a complete, long-form work (a memoir/book).
If Louise "had love" for her husband, why did she feel "free" after his death?
She could now live her own life.
How does the father’s reaction to finding a spider in the house demonstrate the traits of their culture?
He values the spider for bringing pottery and weaving to "The People," showing a spiritual and practical cleverness in coexisting with nature.
Gay describes her body as a cage "of my own making." How does this relate to the "toxic culture" she mentions? (Who does she blame for feeling "trapped"?)
While the cage feels personal, it is built in response to a culture that disciplines women’s bodies and sets unrealistic beauty standards.
Which two authors focus most heavily on the "female experience" regarding gender roles and expectations?
Roxane Gay and Kate Chopin
What four elements belong in an MLA formatted essay?
Name, Class, Teacher, Date
Explain the irony in the doctor’s conclusion that Louise died of "the joy that kills".
The doctors think she died of joy because her husband was alive; the reader knows she died of the shock and disappointment of losing her newly found freedom.
What does Hedge Coke say about the importance of names?
"A name creates life patterns, which form and shape a life."
We've talked alot about expectations placed on women. Name a few placed on men.
Traditonal Masculinity, "Protector, Provider," Being Emotionless, etc.
Compare the "societal standards" that the women in "The Story of an Hour" and Hunger must conform to.
Chopin addresses legal and marital expectations that erase a woman’s identity; Gay addresses physical beauty and "unruly body" standards that lead to self-consciousness and isolation.
If a question asks you to define a word using "context clues," what does it mean?
Using context clues means to analyze the meaning of the other words in a sentence to assume/infer the meaning of a specific word.