Genre: Dramatic Short Story

Chopin, Kate. “The Story of An Hour.” Vogue (1894): n. pag. Print.

 

                              When asked to discover a mentor text that we would like to emulate, It took me a while to think of one. There seems to be a lack of dramatic short stories about food out there in the world, and I decided to choose this style of writing as my mentor text. I wanted to focus on Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour;” a piece of literature that we studied, analyzed and critiqued in my previous English class.

                              This story displays the emotional roller coaster that Louise Mallard suffers after hearing about the death of her husband, Brently, who was believed to be dead after a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard has heart problems; so, her sister and friend deliver the devastating news try their best to deliver the news to her. After hearing this she runs and locks herself in her room to mourn her loss. However after a while she begins to consider her life outside of being married, she believes her “[b]ody and soul [are] free!” Sadly when she hears her husband enter the house, she suffers a heart attack, Brently flies up the staircase to see the body of Louise lying on the ground.

                              The structure Chopin has chosen for “The Story of an Hour” is a series of short paragraphs, many of which consist of just two or three sentences. The dense structure mirrors the intense hour Louise spends contemplating her new found independence. This story can be read quickly, making the impact so much more dramatic. Due to the fact that a short story leaves no room for background information, flashbacks, or excessive speculation, Chopin succeeds in making every sentence important by employing an almost poetic writing style. She uses repetition to highlight important points, also repeating phrases and sentence structures to highlight important points. Chopin makes the prose of the story beautiful by using alliteration and internal rhymes using stylistic and structural techniques making this very short story powerful.

                            I would like to mimic Chopin’s stylistic writing in my short story, I would like to make my short story about food powerful, and creates a mental impact to the reader. Using a slightly poetic tone with my writing, I enjoy the way she flows from thought to thought fluidly. Stories like this are uncommon, and I wanting to emulate this style of writing for myself, noting that my writing is more concise. Using my concise writing style and making it more complex and fluid.