Story of an Hour

Sarah Broge
January 6, 2010
Johann 4
The Story of an Hour

The ways of the 1800’s were not as simple as they are today. You couldn’t get a divorce and women could not be free within themselves. One woman’s journey to freedom finally comes but is taken away from her in about a less than an hour.
The Story of an Hour’s mode line is tragedy. The main character Louise Malard just lost her husband in a train wreck. Only for a few minutes she feels grief. She rises to power when she realizes that she is finally free of his torment and the power over her that he had. She feels free now. Independence is what she gained from his death. But there’s a catch. Her husband is alive. She has to live with him now and her independence and her freedom have been taken away from her as easily as they came. She dies not only from her existing heart problem but she dies because her freedom has died along with her. She can’t get it back unless he dies. But she died instead. Now she is free in another place.
Louise Malard has a hard life. She lives in 1894 and she has no respect because she is a woman. Women were not respected in that time period. She has lost her individuality when she got married to Brently Malard. He supposedly died in a horrible train wreck. She is free of him and she is glad to be away from the torture of the ways of that time. But he’s alive and her happiness is gone as quickly as it came. She dies because the pain of living with him is just too much to bare. She is not a strong woman but she should be respected as all women should be. The times were hard then but that’s what happens when you live in a society run all by men. She is brave and strong but in the end she just falls apart because of the tragic return of her husband in her life.
The way that the author describes the way that Louise thinks is different from what other writers do. Symbolism that is used in this story is kind of like others but the meaning of them if different. The patches of blue sky and the distant song which someone is singing is described on what is happening around her. The sky is clearing up because she is happy again and the distant song is the way that she is feeling. Her heart is singing to her because she is free. Her heart may have a problem with it but it is almost fully healed of the pain that she had received when her husband was alive.
Women in the 1800’s were not as free and open as they are today. Over the years they have progressed in achieving the goals of independence. But sometimes their independence is taken away from them as quickly as it came.

Speak Essay

Sarah Broge
Ms .Johann
LA 8 Hr.4
December,17,2009
Speak Essay
Speak

At the end of the summer there is always a party. But also there is always someone who calls the cops. That’s what Melinda’s last day of fun was like. The end of the summer party went horribly wrong and she called the cops because she needed help. No one believed her and everyone hates her. Now as a freshmen in high school everybody knows what happened that night to Melinda Sordino.
It was dark outside and the moon was shining. Everyone was having fun, dancing and laughing the night away. As on coming freshmen join in the seniors are drinking even more because this is their last year of high school. So many things can go wrong at parties like these. Unfortunately the most common one is rape. It happens to almost 80 percent of girls around the world. Most of them don’t do anything about it and just let the fear and the torture bottle up inside until they either commit suicide or go into a deep depression about it. Rape is a serious problem. How many more of these horrible crimes have to be committed for someone to actually take a stand and say no.
A lot of the people, both boys and girls, don’t say anything because they are too afraid of what their rapist might do to them to harm them or to cause them mental pain. Some of these people start to alienate themselves or do things to them that might hurt them physically to try and deal with the pain. A couple of reports to police have stated that it has been a couple of years since the rape and they can’t do anything about it. That doesn’t give the victim peace of mind. Their rapist still might be out there and might find them again. But does the law care about that after a period of time? No.
Some people tell someone right away. It doesn’t mean that they are stronger that the people who don’t it just means that maybe they knew the person or they have faith in what their family and the legal system will do for them. Speak shows the way a girls’ life is after her attack. She starts to alienate herself from the world and starts to hurt herself physically and mentally. She has the time to open up and say something before it was too late. She is brave and she is overpowering in the way she starts describing things in her point of view.
Melinda Sordino used to be an outcast. But now she has her old friends back and is finally getting the attention that she needs to be free and open within her like all the people in her situation should.

Journal 1-20-10

The Story of an Hour is about a woman who just lost her husband in a train wreck. She at first is grieving but when she relises that she is free of her husband's power over her she is happy. She then finds out that her husband really is alive after all but then she dies from her exsisting heart problem and from her loss of freedom. The theme of this story is Man vs. Society. The ways of that time period prevent her from getting a divorce from her husband. She feels tortured by the rules of the time and of what she is considered as every day that her husband is alive. She gets no respect from society because they only see her as a wife to a man. Not anything else. Just a woman who is married to a man and someone that has nothing to do with anything that the men have a say in. Society is killing her and when she gets set free she feels happy and she has gained her freedom. But it is taken from her as quickly as it has came. Society was against women in the 1800's but thankfully they have changed their ways and their views on women.

Journal 1-19-10

Man vs. Himself is an important component in writing. In the story The Necklace the main character Mathilde Loisel is disappointed in the way her life has turned out. She is married to an accountant but she wants more. When her husband gives her an invitation to his boss's ball she is still disappointed. She has no proper jewelry or clothing to wear. Her husband buys her a new gown and goes to her childhood friend Madame Forestier's house to borrow some jewelry. She chooses this beautiful necklace and when she goes to the ball she is the most beautiful woman there. When they return home the neckalace is no longer there. They buy a replacement necklace and it takes them 10 years to pay it off. When Mathilde meets up with Madame Forestier again she learns that it only costed about 500 francs. Mathilde's hunt for social acceptance puts her in this poverty stage. It wasn't her friends fault. It was her self centeredness that got her in that position.

Journal Writing 1-18-10

Man vs. Nature is a common topic used for writing. An example of that is the man from How To Build A Fire. He is hiking in about -50 degree or lower weather and he is not properly prepared for the challenges that nature is causing for him. He doesn't think about what he should or shouldn't do in these kind of conditions.So nature is winning against him in the fight to survive so far. The cold and the numbness that is starting to overcome his body is making him kind of crazy. He has lost any rational thoughts by now because of the freezing temperatures. He even tries tokill his dog and stick his hands in the body to keep his them warm. He starts to think about what is waiting for im at the lodge where the other boys are at. He then starts to run but when nature gets even with him, falls to the ground and tries to sleep. In the snow covered sleep he dies and the dog goes back to the lodge leaving his companion behind. Nature beats all of us in some point in time of our lives. Even if you're not even outside,it still wins.