Summer Reading
Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
2014-2015
Mr. M. Wisniewski
THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE THE FRIDAY
Tremper High School
WE GET BACK TO SCHOOL.
mwisniew@kusd.edu
mwisniew@teachers.kusd.edu
This year’s AP English Literature and Composition summer reading is The Awakening by
Kate Chopin. Students may purchase this novel at www.doverpublications.org.
Purchasing a different edition of the book might result in difficulty during assessment and
discussion as page numbers will likely vary.
Please read the background information and complete the following assignment prior to
beginning class in fall. If you have any questions, please email me during the summer.
Please understand that I have familiarized myself with summaries from various online
“help” sites, and I am not interested in you paraphrasing from them; doing so cheats you,
who should desire to sharpen your literary analysis skills in order to perform well in this
rigorous class as well as the challenging AP test in May, as much as it is academically
dishonest.
Additionally, although many of the questions remain similar to those utilized on past
summer reading assignments, I have made key changes so that copying from a previously
submitted journal will result in obvious shortcomings in your responses in addition to the
obvious consequences of academic dishonesty.
PLEASE read all of the directions before commencing your assignment: some elements
from the end of this assignment must be addressed throughout your reading.

Biography
Kate Chopin, (1850-1904) the author of The Awakening, was a bit of a 19th
century rebel. Happily married and the mother of six, her husband allowed her
independence and supported both her unconventional dress and actions.
Widowed at the age of thirty-one, Kate took over her late husband’s business
responsibilities and assumed his debts. Although she had lived in both New
Orleans and Natchitoches, Louisiana, she returned to St. Louis with her family
after her husband’s death. There, she lived with her mother and devoted herself to
writing. Her unconventional heroines and daring subject matter raised eyebrows,
but her editors continued to print her work. When The Awakening was published
in 1899, she was denounced and shunned by friends; the result was that no one
would publish her next book. Her work was virtually ignored until feminists
rediscovered it in the late 1950s after discovering that it international teachers
employed it at the collegiate level. She finally achieved the renown she deserved
in the 1980s, and her work took its place in the American canon. The College
Board continues to recommend The Awakening as a text of literary merit and
cultural significance.

19th Century New Orleans Society
In the 19th century, the Creole was the aristocrat of New Orleans and of south Louisiana.
They are defined as whites descended from the original French and Spanish settlers, and
many of their ancestors held titles of nobility. The Creoles were proud, exclusive people
who lived in their own private circles, accepted only the “genteel and cultured” into their
homes, and took “great care to maintain the purity of their blood.” According to M.H.
Herrin, their civilization was distinguished by “the courage and honorable bearing of the
men, the beauty and refinement of the women, and the genteel manners of both sexes”
(Herrin, The Creole Aristocracy New York: Exposition Press, 1952).
**As you read the novel, annotate the author’s comments on Creoles and their
various characteristics in your journal. The protagonist, Edna, is NOT a Creole**
 Possible annotations include inferences about the speaker’s or author’s attitude
toward Creoles and the Creole way of life; how Edna’s or the author’s comments
add direct or indirect characterization, or how they show a development in Edna’s
character.
**French terms from The Awakening:
If you speak some French, The Awakening will be easier for you. However, here is a list
of French and archaic nineteenth century terms to familiarize yourself with:
TERM
Parterre
Vingt-et-un
Tignon
Piroque
Banquette
Bourgeois
Peignoir
Coup d’etat
Accouchement
Ménage
Patois
Coupe
Quartier Francais
Porte cochere
Marron glace
Atelier
Cot
Lugger
Mules
Tabouret
Drag
DEFINITION/TRANSLATION
flower bed
game of 21
chignon (hair in a bun)
small bayou boat
sidewalk
ordinary man
dressing gown
overthrow of a government
childbirth
household
sub-literate dialect
carriage
the French Quarter in New Orleans
covered carriage entrance
glazed chestnut
studio
cottage
carriage
heelless slippers
low stool
carriage

The Awakening’s Men: Husbands, Seducers, Romantics, Philosophers
**Use a composition book to respond to the following questions in your journal. Both
the annotations on Creole characteristics and journal questions are due by the end of our
first week back to school. Please support all your interpretations with quotations from
the text.
The Husband Figure
1. Describe qualities that make Leonce a good husband. Describe actions and dialogue
in chapters 1 and 3 that suggest he may not always be an ideal husband. Please note
whether your descriptions result from direct or indirect characterization.
2. Ch. 11 takes place after Edna’s successful swim and her silent moments with Robert.
Reread the chapter (three pages) and comment on what it reveals about Leonce, focusing
on how revelations from this chapter might connect to your answers from question
number one.
3. In Ch. 17, Leonce reacts both to Edna’s leaving their residence on her “at-home day”
and to the cook’s food. In the first six paragraphs of chapter 18, comment on what he
expects of Edna as his wife. Be clear as you answer: what does he state, and what do you
infer?
The Seducer Figure
Alcee Arobin can be visualized as the figurative serpent of temptation that lured Edna
into adultery. His attributes are almost stereotypical since they portray a certain type of
male featured in countless books and movies: rich, handsome, charming, suave,
debonair, personable, and available. Chopin writes: “He possessed a good figure, a
pleasing face, not overburdened with depth of thought or feeling…”
“It was no labor to become intimate with Arobin. His manner invited easy confidence.
The preliminary stage of becoming acquainted was one he always endeavored to ignore
when a pretty and engaging woman was concerned.”
“Alcee Arobin’s manner was so genuine that it often deceived even himself.”
4. Comment on what these details suggest about his character. Focus on the
connotations of the diction (why does Chopin choose the words she does) and Chopin’s
resulting intentional irony.
5. Does Edna love Arobin? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Speculate on why she gets involved with Arobin instead of Robert.
6. Edna’s epiphany continues as she revels in her new-found freedom. Comment on the
significance about the scene in the little pigeon house after dinner.
The Romantic Figure
7. Every summer, Robert becomes attached to a married woman at his mother’s Grand
Isle resort. Everyone knows he isn’t serious. Edna’s awakening makes her consider
Robert as more than a flirtatious summer friend. Does Robert ever become serious about
her at Grand Isle? Support your answer with proof from the text. Direct quotations are
expected.
8. Describe the characteristics that make Robert a romantic rather than a realist. Look up
the terms as they relate to philosophical outlooks if you are unfamiliar with them. Note
actions that make him seem to be a perpetual adolescent. Also, list specific suggestions in
the text (quote excerpts are fine) that indicate he has been involved with other women.
9. After they again meet accidentally at the coffee house, Robert confesses his feeling
and says that he dreamed of marriage if Leonce would set her free. At the end of Ch. 36,
Edna responds to this in a short speech that baffles Robert. Reread the speech and
determine why it confuses him. What, in your mind, is Edna trying to convey?
The Philosopher-Sage Figure
Dr. Mandelet appears three times in the latter half of the novel: when he gives advice to
Leonce, when he observed Edna at dinner, and when he gives Edna advice after the birth
of Adele’s baby. On each occasion, he serves as a neutral observer who offers advice
without the interference of passion or possessiveness.
10. What is the advice Mandelet gives Leonce when he asks him about Edna’s muchchanged behavior? What question does he not ask? Why don’t you believe he asks it?
11. During dinner, Mandelet notices the change in Edna. Comment on the metaphor
used to describe her. Why would Chopin use this metaphor?
12. After the birth of Adele’s baby, note the warning and the advice Mandelet gives
Edna. Comment on what it foreshadows.

The Awakening’s Other Women: The Mother, the Artist
13. Compare and contrast Adele, the mother, with Mlle. Reisz, the artist. Both represent
two extremes even as Edna struggles to find a position between the two.
Does she succeed? Hint: It is useful to construct a Venn diagram to contrast the two
women and determine where Edna falls between them, if she finds any middle ground at
all.
Final Ideas:
14. The Awakening: A part to the whole concept
Authors often employ titles to suggest a recurring theme that might persist throughout
the entire text, and The Awakening is among these texts. Throughout the text, various
instances begin to awaken Edna figuratively. It is as if Chopin suggests that her
protagonist has multiple, small “awakenings.” List (using brief descriptions) at least
four events or conversations that contribute to Edna’s full awakening.
15. The Death Scene
There is no single, simple view or opinion of Edna’s death scene. Your view of her death
depends on your values. Read these comments by various critics about Edna’s death.
Select one of them to comment on and support it with quotations from the novel. This
should be your longest journal entry.
“Edna’s suicide represents her final attempt to escape---to escape her children, her
lovers, and most important, time and change. For only by complete isolation of self can
Edna be truthful to her inner life.” ~Susan Rosowski
“Unfortunately, she fails to see that her passion is for herself, and this error
perhaps destroys her.” ~Harold Bloom
“Prizing her freedom above all else, disdaining to trample on the ‘little lives’ she
loves, Edna gives back her life to the waters that had awakened it.”
~Barbara H. Solomon
“Edna has driven the blood until it will drive no further; they have played their
nerves up to the point where any relaxation short of absolute annihilation is
impossible…And in the end, the nerves get even. Nobody ever cheats them, really. Then
the ‘awakening’ comes.” ~Willa Cather (1899).
**A complete journal will answer the previous 15 questions in detail with support
from the text and will also include the annotations on Creole characteristics. You
will be assessed on the level of effort, thought, detail, originality, and thoroughness
you put into each journal entry. Best of luck and have a great summer!
-Mr. Wisniewski