“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin Essay Example for Free

â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin Essay In her short story â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Kate Chopin portrays a woman – â€Å"young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength† – dealing with the death of her husband. Chopin laces the story with imagery – sounds, smells, sights, and sensations – to highlight contrasting traits of Mrs. Mallard’s experience for the reader. Chopin waits until Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband’s death before showcasing her visual exposition. â€Å"When the storm of grief had spent itself,† introduces a weather-oriented comparison that enhances the mental suffering typically felt upon receiving this kind of news. Mrs. Mallard secludes herself in her room and â€Å"There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.† The spring time elements contrast the news that lingers over her: â€Å"The delicious breath of rain was in the air,† â€Å"The notes of a distant song†¦ reached her faintly,† â€Å"Countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves,† Chopin uses these short, but descriptive, sentences to contrast how Mrs. Mallard appears to feel at that moment. The familiar smell of rain creates a connection between the reader and the main character, describing the common â€Å"April showers† that nearly everyone has experienced. As Mrs. Mallard gazes out the window at the â€Å"new spring life,† she hears a person singing and a bird singing. The different descriptions of the spring life function as a barrier for Mrs. Mallard because she now has to deal with the death of her husband and, at the same time, enjoy a beautiful spring day. The imagery Chopin uses to describe Mrs. Mallard’s activities in her room the way she sits in a comfortable chair, and looks out of the window of her room to see trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life are definitely not emblematic of grief. Despite that she was not consciously dissatisfied with her marriage to her husband, she suddenly looks forward to a life lived under her own recognizance. To support the assumption of oppression and sadness in Mrs. Mallard’s past, Chopin says that the clouds â€Å"had met and piled one above the other.† This image of unity symbolizes the happiness that Mrs. Mallard never felt before. The emotional divergence overwhelms Mrs. Mallard, leaving her â€Å"thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up in her throat and shook her, as a  child who ahs cried itself to sleep continues to sop in its dreams.† The comparison to a child further supports the metaphorical rebirth that she is going through. Mrs. Mallard feels overwhelmed by her day’s happenings until a rush comes upon her. â€Å"When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped through her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’† She felt overjoyed about the news of her husband’s death. â€Å"Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.† This sensation helped her to realize that this event finally gave her the chance to get away and live her life the way she had always wanted to. The reader has just accepted Louises reaction to her husbands death, when the most unexpected happens; Mr. Mallard walks through the door â€Å"a little travel-stained.† This imagery depicts him as worn-down and docile, not valiant. Josephine’s â€Å"piercing cry,† highlights the abruptness of the situation, and serves as a curtain to the scene. By effectively appealing to the senses, Chopin creates a story filled with suspense and dramatic descriptions. Mrs. Mallard feels trapped and alone in her room until she realizes the true potential of the open window that showed her the world outside her dull, gray life, â€Å"She was drinking the very elixir of life through that open window.† Sights, sounds, smells, and sensations all serve to support the reader’s understanding of Mrs. Mallard’s experience.

An Argument Against a Presupposition Essay -- Political Science

In The American Democracy and Its National Principle, Herbert Croly makes an eloquent and poignant case for adopting a nationalistic frame of mind. According to Croly, we are rapidly approaching a junction where we must choose between the traditional values, measures and mind set of our past or embrace the opportunities of the future. As a people we should realize that the future holds great promise, and that is why we should focus on empowering a centralized system of governance that replaces the antiquated approach to governance: regional centricity whose players are driven by their self-interest rather than the common good. This may sound like nationalism but this is an inadequate assessment. To Croly, nationalism is a much grander thing. Nationalism requires substantially more than â€Å"merely† centralizing the government; there must be a shift in how people see themselves, from a collection of states into a single American people. Nationalism is a philosophical ide al that far outstretches any tangible thing. Nationalism requires a unified frame of mind focused on a single point of governance. Croly’s opinion, while not revolutionary, was still regarded with suspension by many people in 1909 (the year Croly’s essay was published). People who were wary of a nationalistic government and a unified frame of mind had a good argument against Croly’s essay. Much of this essay focuses on this argument against Croly’s presuppositions regarding the â€Å"progressive† outcome of nationalization. First off, Croly bases everything in his argument on the claim that the â€Å"national interest† is predicated on democratic principles (as cited in Eisenach, p19). This is why people should have nothing to fear from a nationalistic government: i... ...al level (Eisenach, viii). I do not buy the argument that consolidating more power into the national government invariably leads to progress. At the same time, Croly‘s argument against nostalgic dogma is well founded and enlightened. Indeed, there are several interesting points Croly makes about the ramifications of inaction and indifference regarding amending the constitution. However, it was evident to me after reading the essay that his call for progressivism had, at best, several logical flaws and, at worst, paralleled fascism to an alarming degree. Works Cited Croly, H. (1909). The American Democracy and Its National Principle. (as cited in Eisenach, p#) References to the introduction section are in roman numeralsEisenach. (2006). The Social and Political Thought of American Progressivism. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. (Eisenach)

Humanitarian Aid Essay

Grants are mainly used to help recipient countries to build hospitals, schools and low-cost houses, and support well-digging or water-supply projects, and other medium and small projects for social welfare. In addition, grants are used in projects in the fields of human resources development cooperation, technical cooperation, assistance in kind and emergency humanitarian aid. Interest-free Loans Interest-free loans are mainly used to help recipient countries to construct public facilities and launch projects to improve people’s livelihood. The tenure of such loans is usually 20 years, including five years of use, five years of grace and ten years of repayment. Currently, interest-free loans are mainly provided to developing countries with relatively good economic conditions. Concessional Loans Concessional loans are mainly used to help recipient countries to undertake productive projects generating both economic and social benefits and large and medium-sized infrastructure projects, or to provide complete plant, mechanical and electrical products, technical services and other materials. Concessional loans are raised by the Export-Import Bank of China on the market, and since the loan interest is lower than the benchmark interest of the People’s Bank of China, the difference is made up by the State as financial subsidies. At present, the annual interest rate of China’s concessional loans is between 2% and 3%, and the period of repayment is usually 15 to 20 years (including five to seven years of grace). By the end of 2009, China had provided concessional loans to 76 foreign countries, supporting 325 projects, of which 142 had been completed. Of China’s concessional loans, 61% are used to help developing countries to construct transportation, communications and electricity infrastructure, and 8. 9% are used to support the development of energy and resources such as oil and minerals. [Figure 1 Sectorial Distribution of Concessional Loans from China (by the end of 2009)] 1. BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhuanet) — China’s Tibet Autonomous Region received international aid gratis of 144 million U. S. dollars from the early 1980 to October 2009. Since 1980, Tibet has benifited from 158 such aid projects from international communities. These projects involve poverty relief, medical services, education and new energy development, with 90 percent implemented in rural areas. 2. Maharashtra seeks aid from abroad for infra projects rs. 4000 crore Education Aid : Education is a right. It’s the key to a better childhood, and a better future for children, their communities and their countries. When you hear someone say Educational Poverty it does not sound as bad as suffering from hunger and disease.

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