The Awakening

Blog Post #3 – Due September 30, 2016:

* Using a bullet point style list, identify text to support each major theme as noted in the calendar. There should be a minimum of TWO direct quotes per theme. Then, explain how this text supports the noted theme. This question should be answered in 3rd person limited point of view with direct quotes cited properly in MLA format. Please see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ for assistance with this.

* Personal reflection focus – could this have ended any other way for Edna Pontellier? Consider your posts throughout the novel on this blog where you discussed characterization, setting, historical context, and society. Use evidence from the text to support your answer. This may be written in narrative style using 1st person point of view. Text should still be cited appropriately.

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    Themes in The Awakening:

• Freedom
• “Edna began to feel like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul. The physical need for sleep began to overtake her; the exuberance which had sustained and exalted her spirit left her helpless and yielding to the conditions which crowded her in” (Chopin 11).
• “When Mr. Pontellier learned of his wife's intention to abandon her home and take up her residence elsewhere…” (Chopin 32).
• These pieces of evidence express freedom in Edna. When she defied Leonce and decided not to do her normal routine, she felt free. She no longer felt tied up and controlled. Then, in chapter thirty-two, she moves out of the house with Leonce. This also makes her feel a sense of freedom because she is no longer living the life she does not truly want, and is instead being free and going her own way.
• Sexism
• ‘"That's the trouble," broke in Mr. Pontellier, "she hasn't been associating with anyone. She has abandoned her Tuesdays at home, has thrown over all her acquaintances, and goes tramping about by herself, moping in the street-cars, getting in after dark. I tell you she's peculiar. I don't like it; I feel a little worried over it’” (Chopin 22).
• ‘"You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose”’ (Chopin 36).
• Both of these quotes display a theme of sexism in the novella. They talk about general stereotypes and expectations of women in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. When Edna does not show up for work, it is assumed that she has gone mad and that she isn’t herself, even though it was just a symbol for feminism. Also, when Edna says that she is no longer Mr. Pontellier’s possession, it shows that women were demoralized and treated as trophies or items.
• Search for Self
• “But that night she was like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over-confidence. She could have shouted for joy. She did shout for joy, as with a sweeping stroke or two she lifted her body to the surface of the water. A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (Chopin 10).
• “The pigeon house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with a charm which it reflected like a warm glow. There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to "feed upon opinion" when her own soul had invited her” (Chopin 32).
• These quotes express Edna’s search for sense of self by giving examples of how she has her own personal “awakenings” that point her in the direction of finding out who she really is as a person. They explain that she is happier as she discovers her true “sense of self,” like in the quote from Chapter 32 where Chopin writes that she had risen in the spiritual scale even though she had descended in the social scale. In the quote from chapter ten, Chopin describes how Edna feels overcome by emotion and acts completely out of her normal self, and decides to swim far out. She is discovering who she truly is and learning to accept it.
• Public Vs. Private Life
• “Even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions” (Chopin 7).
• “The Pontelliers had met with reverses, and were forced to conduct their menage on a humbler scale than heretofore. It might do incalculable mischief to his business prospects” (Chopin 32).
• These quotes display a contrast between public life and private life in Edna Pontellier. She acts totally different in public than she does in private. In public and around others, Edna puts on an act, and almost a cover-up of her true emotions and ideas. The quote from chapter seven of The Awakening says “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” Also, the marriage of the Pontelliers was not true love. It was a show to display to the rest of the community, and in private, they were not happy at all.

    The story ends with Edna recalling some of her most precious and most influential moments while swimming out to sea. Eventually, she grows too tired to continue, and drowns. Though this was a very dramatic ending, I believe it could have ended differently. Perhaps instead of simply swimming until she could not swim any more, she could have simply just gone out for a swim, and gone back to the group. Then, she could have discussed what she was thinking and feeling, and simply based her actions from these emotions. Instead of drowning, she could have lived a life with some people that cared for her, even though she wanted to go her own way. In the text, Edna is very introverted and does not like to stand out. Chopin characterizes her as one that "conforms to outward existence," so instead of just drowning, she could have recalled things that were important to her. She had children and a community to go back on, so she could have conformed to the outside world, yet still held her own beliefs and taken care of the children, while remaining alive. And, Edna could very well have found the right man for her, instead of just giving up after Robert and Alcee did not work out for her.









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 Blog Post #2 – Due September 9, 2016:
* Essential question focus: What words or phrases were unique to the text and how did they contribute to the overall understanding of the novella? This question should be answered in 3rd person limited point of view with direct quotes cited properly in MLA format. Please see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ for assistance with this.
* Personal reflection focus – select one piece of evidence from the text and explain why you found this to be a particularly well-written sentence (or paragraph) and then explain how it impacted you directly as a reader and/or connected to your life in a way that develops your own “sense of self.” This may be written in narrative style using 1st person point of view. Text should still be cited appropriately.

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             The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novella based in the past, many years before today's modern vocabulary and diction. Since it is set in the past, there are many words and phrases that are unique to the text and unique to that time period. These words and phrases that Chopin uses in the text could affect the way it is understood and interpreted, but some also give a deeper meaning to what is happening in the story. Using unique words and phrases also gives off a certain tone that would not be interpreted by the audience as if it were expressed through normal, mundane vocabulary. An example of some unique words or phrases is when Chopin describes Edna's shock, where she says "never would Edna Pontellier forget the shock with which she heard Madame Ratignolle relating to old Monsieur Farival the harrowing story of one of her accouchements" (Chopin 4). The words "harrowing" and "accouchements" give off a more dark and serious tone, further allowing the audience to understand and connect with the text. Throughout the story, Chopin also included many phrases in French, to give emphasis on the setting of the French Quarter and New Orleans. For example, "'Tiens!' he exclaimed, with a sudden, boyish laugh. 'Voila que Madame Ratignolle est jalouse!'" (Chopin 8). These unique messages give a view on characters, themes, setting, tone, and the overall mood of the story that normal phrases and boring words would not normally be conveyed as strongly. 

            There was one section of the text that really stood out to me and was a turning point of the text. "In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her. This may seem like a ponderous weight of wisdom to descend upon the soul of a young woman of twenty-eight—perhaps more wisdom than the Holy Ghost is usually pleased to vouchsafe to any woman. But the beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing. How few of us ever emerge from such beginning! How many souls perish in its tumult!" (Chopin 6). This section was extremely well-written, as it used strong diction and imagery to help convey the theme of development of one's sense of self. This section of chapter 6 provided a strong image in my mind of Edna finally "waking up" to herself and finding who she really is. This also connected to a personal moment in my life, where I realized my true passion and where I wanted to go with life. A couple years ago, I had a realization of my potential for my future being a neurosurgeon, and I just had a burning passion to achieve this goal ever since. That day was the turning point of my life, just as this one is for Edna. This just proves that an author's use of well-structured words and phrases can bring deeper meaning into the text and even bring up personal connections. 








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Blog Post #1 – Due September 2, 2016:
* Essential question focus – how is Edna Pontellier struggling with her sense of self? Identify evidence from the text in characterization, plot, and setting that develop this idea in the novella? Do not neglect the impact of other characters, historical context, or society expectations on her identity. Both questions should be answered in 3rd person limited point of view with direct quotes cited properly in MLA format. Please see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ for assistance with this.
* Personal reflection focus – What do you believe to be the most critical element in the novel thus far? Paraphrase text to support your answer. This may be written in narrative style using 1st person point of view. Paraphrased text should still be cited appropriately.
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        In the novella, Edna Pontellier shows a struggle with her sense of self, or how she sees and thinks of herself. Kate Chopin, the author of The Awakening, develops this struggle through characterization, dialogue with other characters, and the overall plot of the story. Throughout the text, Edna has problems facing who she is and who she thinks she is. In the text, Mr. Pontellier tells Edna that one of the boys was sick, but she testified to this and said he was not. In the text, it says "Mrs. Pontellier was by that time thoroughly awake. She began to cry a little, and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her peignoir. Blowing out the candle, which her husband had left burning, she slipped her bare feet into a pair of satin mules at the foot of the bed and went out on the porch, where she sat down in the wicker chair and began to rock gently to and fro" (Chopin 3). This quote explains that Edna is struggling with her sense of self, in the sense that she is dis-satisfied with who she is, and feels as if she has failed. Another way Edna's overall struggle with her sense of self is the fact that she is reluctant with most of her life decisions, and she can't seem to find her true nature. However, she has a sort of awakening in chapter six. "A certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her, ---the light which, showing the way, forbids it" (Chopin 6). This quote foreshadows a change in nature of Edna, where she begins to recognize her position in the world and changes the views of herself. "In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her" (Chopin 6). This quote reveals that Edna still has conflict with her sense of self, but that she is slowly beginning to have a different perception of herself. Then, as the plot advances, Edna reveals that even in her early life, she lived a dual life, where she would conform but question herself, life, and society. In her early life, Edna used to be very devoted to religion and church. However, as she grew up, she drifted away from religion (Chopin 7). This suggests that Edna had a realization about herself and what she truly believes and made changes accordingly. Overall, Edna's struggle with her sense of self is evident in her actions and how she interacts with other characters, such as Robert and Leonce, as well as her actions when she went "far" into the sea. She is formulating her views on who she is as a person and what her role is in the world.   

I believe the most critical element in the story is when Edna Pontellier has a sort of "awakening" in chapter 6.  Chopin writes that a certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her. This symbolizes the start of a "new" Edna. I believe that this was the turning point of Edna's struggle with herself, as from here on, she is more open-minded. She was beginning to realize her position in the universe, as well as her position as a human being (Chopin 6). I also believe that this section is what influenced Edna to do some of the actions she did later, like swimming out into the sea. Edna was not the same after she had this eye opening moment.