Critical Thinking Journal 3

Name___Natalia Wingo_______________ Time of day your class meets:_5:30-6:50_____

1. Who is the Author or artist or musician of the original work and what influenced them to write what they did?

The author of this piece Kate Chopin. She was a feminist who lived from 1851-1904, and she wrote many stories based on her views on feminism. This piece was heavily influenced on her mother’s life. Louise Mallard was supposed to represent Chopin’s mother, Brently Mallard was supposed to represent Chopin’s father, and Josephine represented Chopin’s aunt.

2. What is the full Title of the piece? What is the meaning of this title?

The full title of the piece is The Story of an Hour. I took the title in a more literal way, because the story takes place over an hour of Louise’s life. So it’s the story of an hour in Louise’s life.

3. What was the Historical context within which the work was produced? How does the context affect the meaning and interpretation of the piece?

Well, during the time period that Chopin lived, feminism still hadn’t quite reached its peak so her way of thinking was quite different than a lot of women her age, but Chopin grew up in a household that valued the independence of women. Her household followed a matriarchal lineage rather than the patriarchal one that was usually seen during that time period. Chopin, being a very independent feminist, wrote all of her stories with a feminist backstory to show her own thoughts on the matter of feminism. It’s not that she was against men (as feminism has become today) being as she was married and had six children with her husband who later died of a fever in 1882. But she was very much into being independent. Like in the story, when Louise finds out her husband has died in an accident, she is very sad at first but rejoices later after realizing that she is now free to be who she wants to be, rather than being forced to be docile for a man. But when Louise finds out that her husband isn’t really dead, she dies of heart disease.

Chopin’s mother didn’t die though of heart disease, even though I mentioned earlier that Louise Mallard was symbolic for Chopin’s mother. When Chopin’s father died he didn’t come back but Chopin’s mother was quite excited to be a free woman not being held down by a man. Which is why the symbolism is there, it’s not literal at the end but it is (kind of) at the beginning.

4. Who do you think the intended audience or audiences might have been at the time the work was created? How does the audience affect the meaning and interpretation of the piece?

The intended audience of the time is women who thought that they needed a man during this time period, which was almost all women. But Chopin is quite clear with her feminist ideas in saying that women shouldn’t have to be held down, that they should be allowed to have minds of their own. Yes, women can still marry and be happy with a man, but they should also be allowed to speak freely and have their own freedoms rather than having no freedom with a man.

5. What do you think the work’s main argument, point, or conclusion might be? How would you analyze the “argument”? How would you compare this specifically to other artistic works you have seen both in class or outside of class? What is your personal response to the work?

I think the main argument is that women do not need to be married to be happy. That as long as we have our own freedoms, that we will be happy. That’s why I’m quite happy to live in this time period, I would never be able to live in a time where women had next to no freedoms. I’ve always been very independent and I’ve been happier than most other people. I’ve met people who were held down by something -- ranging from boyfriend to religion -- and they weren’t happy. They would say they are but they aren’t truly happy. And I think if those people read this story intending to learn something, they would realize that whatever is holding them back shouldn’t be there anymore. And honestly, I’d like to compare this to feminism we see now, in this time period. Feminism back in Chopin’s time was about equality. Women having the same benefits that men had. But feminism now has changed to something completely different. A lot of people now who call themselves “feminists” are just people who hate men and want all the wealth to themselves. And that is not feminism, it will never be feminism. “Feminists” now don’t understand that feminism is about equality, not shunning people of the opposite sex. And I honestly really liked this piece. It was interesting to see how feminism should be. I mean, I’m definitely not an expert in feminism, I just have my own ideas on how it should be. I’ve never been one to follow the crowd, I prefer thinking my own thoughts, which is difficult in a time such as this with the internet. People get shunned on the internet if they think differently or don’t know about the latest memes. But that’s a topic for a different time. But yeah, anyway, I really liked this piece, it really spoke to me.

Works Cited

http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=research_awards

Refelection

This was a very interesting read, in my opinion. I have always felt very strongly about how women should be treated. The piece we had to read was a feminism based piece. And though I'm not necessarily a feminist, I am a strong equalist (which is different). Feminism now means denying men, being an equalist means equal rights for men and women. People will deny these definitions, but (in my opinion) it's the truth. Feminism has become a very different concept in today's society.

#humanities #Fall2015