Kate Chopin

1. Kate Chopin 1850 - 1904

2. Kate Chopin: Early life • Born Katherine O'Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri on February 8th, 1950. • Basically an only child. • (Her two older brothers were in adulthood when she was a child and her two younger sisters died in infancy.) • Her father died in 1855. • She developed close relationships with her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

3. Kate Chopin: Early Life • In 1870, she married Oscar Chopin (at the age of 20). • They had their six children (sons) by the time Chopin was 28. • They lived in New Orleans and later Cloutierville, Louisiana. • When her husband, Oscar Chopin, died in 1882, Chopin moved back to St. Louis at her mother’s request. • Her mother died a few years later.

4. Kate Chopin: Later Life • By the early 1890s, Kate Chopin was writing short stories, articles, and translations which appeared in periodicals and later literary magazines. • She also wrote two novels in the 1890s. • While in St. Louis on August 20, 1904, Chopin suffered a brain hemorrhage and died two days later, at the age of 54.

5. Kate Chopin: Works • Chopin started writing shortly after the deaths of her husband and mother as part of therapy against her depression. • Kate Chopin had different lifestyles throughout her life. • A lot of her early writings have influences from the Creole culture from the area. • She became known only as a regional or“local color” writer because of this and her literary qualities were often overlooked. • Many of her writings also include insights and analysis of the late 19th-century American society.

6. Kate Chopin: Works • Through her stories, Kate Chopin wrote her autobiography and documented her surroundings. • Some of her surroundings included notes on abolitionist movements and the emergence of feminism. • Many coined her writings as those with a feminist voice.

7. Kate Chopin: Works • Books: • At Fault (1890) • The Awakening (1899) • Short Stories: • "The Story of an Hour" (1894) • “A Respectable Woman” (1894) • "The Storm" (1898)

8. The Awakening • Short novel, or novella • First published in 1899 • Setting: New Orleans and Southern Louisiana in the late 1800s. • “Feminist Voice” • One of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. • Alternate title: A Solitary Soul

9. “The Story of an Hour” • Short Story • First published in 1894 • Includes feminist viewpoints • Considered as controversial during the 1890s because of the feminist viewpoints expressed in it. • Alternate Title: "The Dream of an Hour"

10. Analyze the picture on page 593 of your textbook. Why do you think it was chosen to accompany this story in the book?

11. Poster Activity • Create a poster that could be used to represent this story in a compilation or textbook, that is different from the one already in your textbook. • This means you cannot use a woman looking out a window! • Your poster needs to include at least 3 details that can be related back to the story. • You will also need to provide a short (one or two sentence) explanation of each of the three details explaining how it relates to the story. • (This can be on the back of the poster or attached) • You will not be graded on artistic ability, but you will be graded on neatness, so make sure you spend time on your poster.