Realism

1. “A Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin
a. Mrs. Mallard had heart problems so they feared telling her that her husband, Brently Mallard had died in an accident. At first she appeared upset but once in her room those appearances changed. “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" In her mind she was free from her husband and she was over excited. She felt that with her husband dead she had no more worries. “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.”
b. Chopin wants to solve the way that the lady feels. She wants the lady husband to be dead so that the lady can be set free and happy in every way. So in the story she shows the way the lady would feel if her husband died. In the end she finds out that he’s really not dead and all of her excitement goes away. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-- of joy that kills.”

2. “The Battle With Mr. Covey” by Fredrick Douglass
a. The slave was tired of being whipped by Mr. Covey, so he took matters into his own hands. One day he became ill while working but Mr. Covey didn’t understand, “He then gave me a savage kick in the side, and told me to get up. I tried to do so, but fell back in the attempt. He gave me another kick, and again told me to rise. I again tried, and succeeded in gaining my feet: but, stopping to get the tub with which I was feeding the fan, I again staggered and fell.” After the boy gained his composure he left, once he did return he had the strength to fight back. He was advised by a friend tom carry a piece of a root that would never allow Mr. Covey to touch him ever again. “I at length took the root, and, according to his direction, carried it upon my right side.”
b. A social issue that was trying to be solved in this story was between blacks and whites. The author wanted to find a way for the white man to have mercy on the black man in some way. I think that’s why he found a way for the boy to find something that would give him the strength to fight back, and that he did. Once the black boy fought Mr. Covey back he never again tried to whip him. This was a good way to solve the issue.
c. I think that Fredrick Douglass’s purpose for writing this was to show the way that slaves were treated by their masters’. In the story it showed that the slaves had no life of their own unless it was with the white man. I think that Douglass was trying to show that you can’t always rule everyone and think that they won’t get tired of your behavior. During the setting of the story it was obvious slavery time, and this black boy was being whipped all the time. Douglass was showing that it wasn’t right, so the boy found a way to defend himself.

3. I chose this poem as realism because it talks about the way that heaven is. Even though the author has never seen heaven before, this is the way she sees it, and wants you to see it. For example, “Heaven, the weathers always warm and mild.” We don’t truly know that this is true but this is a great way to see it.

Heaven By Savannah Allison

Heaven, where the streets are made of gold,
Heaven, where you never age or grow old,
Heaven, where life’s secrets unfold,
Heaven, where the secrets are told,
Heaven, where flowers grow wild,
Heaven, once again you’re a child,
Heaven, the weathers always warm and mild,
Heaven, where wings lay open in piles,
Heaven, where we are free,
Heaven, can’t you see?
Heaven, it’s for you and for me,
Heaven, when we are free.