Answers for “The Story of an Hour”
1. Protagonist- Mrs. Louise Mallard
2. Protagonist’s main characteristic –feels oppressed/desires
freedom
3. other characters- Richards, Josephine, and Brently Mallard
4. Setting:
a. Location- Mallard house
b. Time Period- late 1800’s
c. Time elapsed- one hour
5. Plot Development:
a. Exposition- When they take great care to break the
news to her
b. Complication- the way she receives the news
c. Rising Action- from the time she hears the news to the
time she descends the stairs “like a goddess of Victory”
d. Climax-Brently enters, Josephine screams, Louise dies
e. Falling Action- none
f. Resolution- Doctor comes and gives diagnosis
6. Main Conflict- internal conflict- to accept or not to accept her
happiness
7. Point of View- 3rd person limited (but detached to some
degree)
8. Tone (one word) ironic, dramatic, detached
9. Theme (in a complete sentence) Unless people/women have
free will they will never discover their own identity and will
be alienated from reality.
10.
foreshadowing –the setting outside of the open window
foreshadows her feeling of freedom; prayer that life would be
long foreshadows her death
11.
Title’s significance –it all happened in an hour and she
was only free for that hour
12.
Irony (two)- the doctors said she died of joy, ironic
because she died of sadness
-irony in her being excited about all of her free years ahead
because she dies and never sees those years
13. Symbolism (two) –blue sky symbolizes her thoughts
clearing to new thoughts
-her heart disease symbolizes her emotional heart trouble
–the open window- symbolizes opening to her new life