The Awakening

Kate Chopin

Webquest Trial of Edna Pontellier

Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening is a provocative account of one woman’s quest for freedom in her restrictive environment. Her decisions challenge the social norm, defy conventional family roles, and disrupt her community’s “safety.” As you read about Edna Pontellier, decide for yourself whether she was courageous or mentally disturbed; an inspiration or a threat to society.

The Task

Edna Pontellier is considered a dangerous rebel! Her scandalous behavior has been deemed immoral and unfit by New Orleans society. It is feared that her negative influence will be the downfall of women everywhere unless she is stopped. Her trial will begin the last week of the semester and you will be a member of the jury. As the trial progresses you must collect facts to either vote against her behavior or to support her actions. But be careful, your decision may affect your own standing in society!

During the trial you must visit several places to collect information so that you may form an educated opinion. Unfortunately, jury duty restricts your freedom and these visits must be done on the laptop provided in your reserved hotel room. You have a room booked at a hotel called A Creole House where you will conduct your research.

Step 1 Check into your hotel (Creole House).

Read Chapters I-VII

  • Research a historical, local bed and breakfast. What are the historical points of your accommodations? What makes your hotel unique and connected with the historical location of New Orleans?

Resources:

Step 2Visit the Visitor Center.

Read Chapters VIII-XII

Please tour New Orleans Visitor Center to get a sense of the areas you will be staying during the trial.

  • Find 2 New Orleans laws that you think are silly or strange and revise them. Include 2-3 sentences explaining why you think they should be revised.

Resources:

  • Find 3 pictures that appeal to you and write a short half page the connection you find between the picture and the novel. Your focus should be on Edna and her family, friends, or lovers.

Resources:

Step 3Who InfluencedEdna’s? Kate Chopin Biographical Info.

ReadChapters XIII-XVII

  • Find out 15 facts (type them) about Chopin and decide whether or not she should be arrested as an accomplice or if she does not have enough connection with Edna. Write your decision in a paragraph that includes at least 5 facts that you found.

Resources:

Step 4 Know Your Cultural Geography

Read Chapters XVIII-XXVIV

In your books in the “Introduction: Biographical and Historical Contexts” section it is said that “Chopin’s ability to render the authentic details of the specific locale- the “local color” they would later identify as the best feature of her short stories” (12). Many authors we will read in this class center their novels not just around vivid characters, but also on detailed and vibrant places (settings).

Cultural Geography: A tool to understand human experience, which in turn lends itself to the study of literature.

  • Cultural Geography is dynamic in the sense that it is the study of the spaces people inflect/imprint and how people live in those places.
  • The subject of the spaces themselves, i.e. maps of meaning, what does a house mean, a freeway, Grand Isle? There can be multiple meanings derived from one image or space.

In The Awakening Edna deals with the pleasures and perils of living in her community. The spaces she chooses to inhabit or leave play a critical role in the development of the novel. Compare setting, spaces and environment of The Awakening and Grande Isle to either The Catcher in the Rye/ Prep School or All the Pretty Horse/ Mexico.

Step 5 How does the Women’s Rights Movement Influence The Awakening?

Read Chapters XXVI-end

  • Go to the following website and find 5 facts about the WRM that you didn’t already know. Explain how these pieces of history are influential in The Awakening (2-3 sentences for each fact)
  • Print out a page from the timeline from the web and highlight one event. Create a slogan, announcing the event to the world.

Resources

http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/No-Lady/Womens-Rights/

Step 6 Read short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  • How is this story like or unlike Edna’s situation in The Awakening? Explain, using supporting evidence in one page.
  • Research some common turn-of-the-century medical practices using the web and any you find on your own. List five ways that medical practices have improved since then in 2-3 sentences each.

Resources

Additional Resources

Kate Chopin biographical information

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“The story of an Hour” info

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Women’s Rights Movement information

Suffrage Songs and Verses-Charlotte Perkins Gilman

-http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/gilman/suffrage/suffrage.html

Local Color/ Grand Isle

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-http://www.loc.gov

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Medicine

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St. Peter House Hotel (was A Creole House)

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Step 2

Dumb Laws

New Orleans Library Online

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New Orleans

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Art

The Met

The Louvre