Response Essay !!!!!!!!!!!
DR1997
Sharing Chopin: Teaching "The Story of an Hour" to Specialized Populations by Nicole Diederich
1 hough the Delta region is but a six-hour drive south on 1-75 from Findlay, Ohio, at times the areas seem much farther apart. Both the meandering Blanchard River in this "Black Swamp" region of Northwest Ohio and its flat farmlands—filled with corn and soybeans— look very different from the awesome Missis- sippi River and the lush rolling hills I've visited in the Delta. Perhaps this is one reason that in my fifteen years of teaching at The University of Findlay, I've taught students from as far away as Oregon, New York, Turkey, and Japan, but I've never known a student from the states com- prising the Delta. As ä'result, I believe that en- countering Kate Chopin's "The Story of An Hour" in my sophomore-level writing and lit- erature classes may be the first college-level ex- posure many of my students have to the history aiid literature of the region. My selection of this work is even more deliberate: with its sociocul- tural commentary on nineteenth-century mar- riage and the plot device of a "heart condition," Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" invites rr.y students to connect literature to their own lives as both members of a culturally diverse commu- nity and future practitioners in the health field.
The idea that a piece of literature may be connected to a reader's life and its meaning constructed through the interaction of text and reader is neither new nor innovative in literary studies. Over thirty years ago in Is There a Text in this Class?, Stanley Fish argued that interpre- tive strategies for approaching literature arise from the "interpretive communities" to which readers belong. From the context of that inter- pretive community the meaning or value of the work emerges. Since the publication of Fish's
work in 1980, different critics have considered the effects of interpretive communities on the value of literature, including Janice Radway, who examined romance readers' responses to the genre and Paul Lauter, who, in discussing working-class art, notes that "in a larger sense, all working-class art (perhaps all art) must be explored precisely in terms of its use" (233). While concepts of both use-value and commu- nity-specific meaning may, for some, detract from a discussion of the aesthetic value of liter- ature, for teachers such as myself, looking to en- courage students to read and appreciate literature, these approaches offer practical ap- plications of theory within the classroom.
Two classes in which I have asked students to read "The Story of an Hour" have been soph- omore-level writing and literature courses, but each has been comprised of vastly different readers. One course was specifically designed for a combined class population of domestic (stu- dents whose country of origin is The United States) and international students. For a small, regional institution, my university enrolls a sub- stantial international student population. Last fall (2011), over 300 international students studied on campus either in classes at our In- tensive English Language Program (IELP) or in traditional undergraduate or graduate courses, comprising 8% of our total student population. In 2007, an outside consultant visited campus and recommended a more concerted effort be taken to integrate diverse student populations. In spring 2010, in response to a campus-wide initiative to increase interactions between these often self-segregated student groups, the direc- tor of the IELP and I co-taught a section of writ- ing and literature thematically structured
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around global literature, inviting students—in- temational and domestic—to read beyond their own culture and country of origin and form a diverse interpretive community. In addition to short stories from around the world, we also as- signed plays and novels with a focus on diverse social and cultural issues, including The Awak- ening, Night, and The Joy Luck Club. By bringing these two self-segregated groups together in the class, we hoped that both sets of students would be increasingly willing to interact with each other not only in class but also in contexts out- side of class.
Within this interpretive community, we read and analyzed Chopin's "The Story of an Hour." We selected this text as one that was both accessible to native and non-native, read- ers of English and offered a perspective on mar- riage that could generate discussion about social, historical, and cultural norms. Whereas other works might resonate with different stu- dents based on the country of origin or setting, given the likelihood that no student in the class would hail from the Delta (and none did), we surmised that "The Story of an Hour" provided a level playing fleld for all students to approach Louise's marriage and death.
Critical readings of Louise Mallard's death from "the joy that kills" frequently focus on the challenge the ending poses to the reader. Louise's abrupt death upon seeing her husband Brentley—to whose death she has just recon- ciled herself after an hour's musings on her less than ideal and restrictive marriage—startles most flrst-time readers. Some critical interpre- tations depict Louise's awakening to her new freedom as a widow as a rejection of the status quo, a similarity to Chopin's Edna Pontellier in The Awakening. Others question the irony of the ending. For instance, Mark Cunningham argues that Louise's death occurs not because of Brentley's return but rather because of Louise's realization that her autonomy cannot last: even if Brentley were dead, her freedom would be constricted by Brentley's will and society, result- ing in "a loss of any place for her in male-dom-
inated society" (53). Thus, her death represents the futility of her freedom. Likewise, our stu- dents pondered Louise's death, suggesting di- vorce as an escape option instead of death, an indication of their contemporary context. Some students found Lquise's death an extreme way for Chopin to extricate her main character from marriage.
Quite understandably, the subtleties of di- vorce and marriage law that both traditional readings and those like Cunningham's explore were not readily apparent to our class of mostly sophomores. Many of the fifteen domestic and six international students in the course wanted to know more about turn-of-the-century Louisiana and its marital laws. Chopin's work thus provided an opportunity for us to discuss the history and culture of this part of the Delta region—the influence and confluence of Eng- lish, Spanish, and French law with issues oí feme covert. With its own context informed by differ- ent nations and cultures, "The Story of an Hour" lent itself to promoting a discussion of not only the narrative elements but also the stu- dents' own diverse belief̂ regarding marriage and relationship practices. Our analysis of the ending of the story, the irony of the phrase "the joy that kills" (276), the context of the Delta region and its history led students to share their own cultures' customs, from those in Northwest Ohio to Turkey and South Korea. Eleven stu- dents in the class were traditional college-stu- dents from the United States. Their comments suggested that they believed American mar- riages, despite the marital history discussed by the story, best upheld a relationship of love and equality between husband and wife (given the story, heterosexual marriage was the model for discussion). Their views of perceived inequality were challenged when students from South Korea, Turkey, Japan, and Sweden—the coun- tries represented by the international stu- dents—explained the importance of both love and equality in marriages in their countries. Do- mestic students, international students, and the instructors all learned from each other about
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different views on cohabitation (in some coun- tries discouraged, in others more accepted); on divorce (in terms of attitudes, access, and expe- rience, as domestic non-traditional students dis- cussed their experiences); on the balance between love and economics in a relationship. Importantly, these interactions made the class- room an environment that did not succumb to what Paolo Freiré describes as the "banking model" wherein instructors deposit "knowl- edge" in their students. Rather, students partic- ipated alongside instructors in the construction of their own understanding of both the story and related sociocultural and historical issues.
Moreover, because "The Story of an Hour" was the first work discussed, it became a jump- ing-off point for what Wolfgang Iser called the literary repertoire—the territory within the text. Iser pragmatically notes that in order to determine "meaning," one must study the effect of the text on readers. He explains that litera- ture "questions or recodes the signals of external reality" so that the "reader is thus placed in a position from which he can take a fresh look at the forces, which guide and orient him, and which he may hitherto have accepted-without question" (373). The readers in our interpretive community confronted unfamiliar elements in both the story and in subsequent discussions, al- lowing them to consider anew the differences and commonalities among the genders and cul- tures represented not just in the story but also within the class.
Thus, Chopin's work, with its narrative twists and invitation to understand Louise's death, resonated with the framework for the course and our community of readers within it, allowing students an entry point to our study of literature in keeping with the global focus of the class and enabling them to begin to shape their own interpretive community of diverse perspec- tives. As we progressed through the semester, students continued the practice of discussing both literature and diverse approaches to social issues engendered by "The Story of an Hour"—> sharing views on education and classroom be-
havior, perceptions on gun ownership and vio- lence, interpretations of familial responsibility, to name a few. The power of Chopin's; story for establishing our interpretive community is its depiction of the unfamiliar microcosm of nine- teenth-century Delta marriage through which students gained a greater understanding of a place and time removed from them, yet one that connected to elements of their own.
The second writing and literature interpre- tive community developed in versions of the course designed for majors pursuing the study of either physical or occupational therapy. The University of Findlay is also known for its blend of liberal arts and pre-professional programs; since the late 1990s, our occupational (OT) and physical therapy (PT) programs have grown in size, with undergraduate programs preparing students for their work at the gradu- ate level. After collaborating with both OT and PT faculty, I have offered three sections of this course since 2009, populated by various majors but mearit to be taken by PT and OT under- graduates as part of their general education re- quirements preparing them to write for their graduate-level programs. While providing a venue for students to form a diverse and inclu- sive interpretive community was one goal ofthe globally-focused course—a goal "The Story of an Hour" facilitated—the challenge of interpre- tation in the OT/PT version of the class cen- tered not on perspectives of other cultures but rather on the perceived value of literature itself. My challenge, one faced by many educators in general education classes, was to ameliorate stu- dents' prevailing attitude, which often empha- sizes use-value to the extreme: course materials should directly link to the study of their major or the materials are often considered irrelevant. In my experience, focused pre-professional stu- dents often dismiss literature as irrelevant to their professional course of study.
As with the globally-focused version of the class, in this version of the course it was still im- portant, on the one hand, that I allow students to form their own interpretations and not teach
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ftom the pedantic- bully-pulpit Freite de- nounced. On the othet hand, the context fot this coutse is not as tevolutionary as Fteite's: the students' "dominant ideology" viewing liteta- tute as ittelevant to their coutse of study was not one to be cast aside as a "false consciousness of teality" (125), but rathet a viewpoint indica- tive of theit hoped-fot tole as futute ptofession- als in theit fields. My students' desire to prepare for theit futute ptofessional community undet- pinned theit skepticism about a wtiting and lit- etatute coutse, and I respect theit futute professional communities. Reading novels, like To Kill a Mockingbird and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as well as longet non-fiction works such as Bbod Brothers: Among the Soldiers of Ward 57, initially seems removed from stu- dents' dominant intetest and theit teason fot at- tending the univetsity. While 1 did not want to "convett" these students into English majots, 1 wanted to blut theit boundaties, to encoutage them to develop an intetpretive community that would tecognize connections between lit- etatute and theit majots, thus tecognizing the value of litetatute as well as theit disciplines. As Richatd E. Millet notes in "The Att of Com- plicity," I acknowledge the "hidden ttansctipt" (667), the students' doubts about the education they ate teceiving, and instead ptactice a "ptag- matic pedagogy" that "build[s] on the discutsive vetsatility that out vety humanity has bestowed upon us" (670) by ptoviding students "with the oppottunity to speak, tead, and write in a wider tange of discutsive contexts than is available to them when they labot undet the codes of si- lence and manufactuted consent" (674). As a tesult of this apptoach, one of my goals of the coutse thtough the teading of both novels and longet wotks of non-fiction was to blend the students' familiatity with theit pte-ptofessional discoutse with a new appreciation of literary discourse, for both disciplines demand analysis and synthesis. "The Stoty of an Hout," out fitst teading fot the semestet, again provided an entty point into establishing such an intetpte- tive community.
As wete the flrst-time teadets in the glob- ally-themed coutse, thé OT/PT students wete sutptised by the abtupt ending to the stoty, yet the ending ptesented the oppottunity to de- velop theit vetsatility with analysis and synthe- sis. David S. Miall, in his study of Chopin's piece, examines how teadets deciphet the nat- tative twist by analyzing teadets' tesponses to diffetent episodes comprising the narrative. He found that some teadets telated the stoty to the death of a loved one in theit own life ot some othet point of convetgence (126). The point of convetgence fot the OT/PT students has been the medical angle: Louise's ptesumed heatt at- tack at Btentley's unexpected enttance. Fot in- stance, OT and PT students ate familiat with client histories and case studies, a fotm of wtit- ing they will putsue in not only theit latet classes but also their cateets. Chopin's foteshad- owing of Louise's death with het passing tefet- ence to Louise's "heatt ttouble" (275) tesonates with the pte-ptofessionabstudents, fot they will need to obtain and thotoughly review theit clients' health histoty as they devise a coutse of tteatment. Skimming ovet seemingly minot de- tails can lead to setious complications, just as a quick teading of the beginning of Chopin's story can result in additional sutprise at Louise's death. Moteovet, OT and PT ptactitionets will come to know theit clients, gaining insight into what motivates them, just as.Chopin gives in- sight into Louise's thoughts and emotions to set up the story's ending. The students' coutse of study in the health ptofessions, Louise's health, and Chopin's foteshadowing become impottant intetptetive points of analysis fot this commu- nity of teadets. Because of the medical element of Chopin's stoty, students have discussed the ease with which teadets might skim ovet the tefetence to Louise's heatt condition; the effect of sudden shock—both physical and etno- tional—on the heatt; the possible intetventions one might recommend to build up Louise's sttength and to help het with het new activities of daily living if she were to live mote than just anothet hout. The mote health-focused intet-
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pretive communities not only analyzed the lit- erary aspects of the story, such as foreshadowing and character, but also synthesized these details with their burgeoning professional knowledge, making their own commuriity-based under- standing of character and narrative. Louise's context—less than happily married, living in a time and place less medically advanced than ours—allows my students a health-based point of convergence in which, as Lauter suggests, they explore the work in terms of its use. As we continued through the course, the earlier dis- cussion of Louise served as a model for ap- proaching other characters—what is going on with Boo Radley, how would you work with Chief—in a manner that ernphasized literature as a medium with value, even if use-value, to more than English majors. Although not all stu- dents embraced a wider appreciation of litera- ture, many enjoyed the literary aspects as well as the connections to their fields. In responding to Chopin's work, these students actively con- structed the framework for their interpretive community within the course by blurring pre- conceived boundaries and tying their majors to literature.
In discussing the pedagogical context be- hind my teaching of "The Story of an Hour," admittedly, I am influenced by pragmatists such as Miller and Iser. As a result, the aesthetics of Chopin's story, which we do discuss in these classes—the compactness of her language, the symbolism of the heart—may be overshadowed at times during class by more practical consid- erations. I'm no stranger to the "culture wars"; I harbor misgivings about "selling out" literature to pragmatic educational goals. Nevertheless, because my sharing of literature with my stu- dents is also informed by my context at a school with a large population of both international and pre-professional students, I find that teach- ing "The Story of an Hour" in these courses lends a constructed value to this work of litera- ture as it invites students to become active par- ticipants in developing their own knowledge, in making their own meaning within an inter-
pretive community. In these two courses, their specialized populations of interpretive commu- nities and Chopin's work converge in a manner that demonstrates how "The Story of an Hour" continues to reach readers beyond the Delta. A T A
Works Cited Chopin, Kate. "Story of an Hour." (1894). Lit-
erature, the Evolving Canon. 2nd ed. Ed. Sven P. Birkerts. Boston: AUyn and Bacon, 1996. 275-6. Print.
Cunningham, Mark. "The Autonomous Eemale Self and the Death of Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour." English Language Notes 42 (September 2004): 48- 55. Print.
Fish, Stanley, is There a Text in this Class?: the Authority of Interpretive Communities. Cam- bridge: Harvard UP, 1980. Print.
Freiré, Paolo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1968. Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos. NY: Contin- uum, 1989. Print.
Iser, Wolfgang. "The Repertoire." Critical The- ory Since 1965. Ed. Hazard Adams and Leroy Searle. Tallahassee: Elorida State UP, 1992. 360-380. Print. Originally published in The Act of Reading, 1976.
Lauter, Paul. "Caste, Class, and Canon." Femi- nisms: an Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Prince Hemdl. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1991.227-248. Print.
Miall, David S. "Episode'Structures in Literary Narratives." Jourriai of Literary Semantics 33 (2004): 111-129. Print.
Miller, Richard E. "The Arts of Complicity: Pragmatism and the Culture of Schooling." 1998. Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Victor Villanueva. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2003. 655-675. Print.
Radway, Janice. Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1984. Print.
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