Shelby Gird's AP Lit Stuff!

Well, for the most part I’m done! I went back and re-did my criticisms, finished my works cited page, and I turned in my general introduction. I got a low B on my first general intro, so over the weekend I fixed it up some more. Hopefully I’ll get a little higher of a grade! Now its just a matter of getting everything together and putting it in the binder. I feel great knowing this project is almost over!

I’ve really gotten a lot done in the past week! I wrote the abstracts for the criticism, the annotations, and the introduction to the annotations! However, I had my abstracts of the criticism looked at, and I now need to go back and make some revisions. I feel much better that I’ve gotten a lot done, because I was feeling behind. I know all of my writing won’t be perfect, and that I will probably have to go back and fix a lot of things this coming up week. Even though I still have things to write/fix, I am confident that I will finish the project on time, and won’t be up all night the last night before it’s due. Now I’m just hoping that I’m doing everything well enough, so I can end up with a good overall grade in the class.

(This was supposed to be posted a long time ago)

As I continue to research more and more, I am becoming pretty interested in Kate Chopin. She was definitely not the classical, everyday woman back in the 19^th century. She was strong willed, and lived her life how she wanted to, not how others wanted her to. It has also been interesting to see what influenced Kate as she grew up and started writing, and to see how these influences directly affected her writing/characters in The Awakening. However, I did change my background sources. My other ones were too broad and weren’t specific on one idea.  I actually decided to use more from the back of the edition of the Awakening that I have. It has an Etiquette/Advice Book Sampler, of which Kate Chopin was probably given to as a young girl, and she disobeys it in several areas with her writing. It even includes some pictures of what women should look like back when Chopin was alive. Now that I’ve went to the library and made sure that I had the best resources possible I am now starting to write. I am in the process of writing my abstracts for the criticism. Hopefully I’m doing it right! I’ve also just picked out my three passages that I want to use for my annotations. I’m hoping that writing everything won’t be too difficult!

I have not yet had a chance to go to the library. I am planning to go soon to look at a few background sources, but I don’t need to go at all for criticism. The addition of The Awakening that Mr. Kreinbring  gave me has several pieces of literary criticism in the back. It is actually ‘A Norton Critical Edition’ so I really lucked out! I’ve read through all of them, and I have narrowed it down to three very good pieces that discuss his/her opinions on The Awakening in great detail. When I go to the library, I’ll still probably check out their selection and see if they have any good criticism, but for the most part, I’ve got the criticism covered. I also found a good background source on Kate Chopin from Google Scholar, written by Jasdomin Tolentino, from Pace University. There were a ton of biographies on Kate Chopin, so I have quite a few ideas for background sources as well. One of the best biographies on Kate Chopin that I’ve found was on the following website: http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/katebio.html

It went into detail about how Kate Chopin lived, and even gave a timeline of significant events that occured in certain years throughout her life. I’ve learned a lot of interesting facts about Chopin through my research so far, a lot of which adds to why she writes the way she does in The Awakening. This process/project has definitely lucked out for me so far, but I have a feeling it is going to get much more difficult.

I finished The Awakening! YAY! I really enjoyed reading this story, and it went by very fast for me. I really became connected with some of the characters, and enjoyed seeing them evolve. What stuck with me the most in The Awakening was the ending of the story.

Robert Lebrun, the young man that Edna fell in love with, ended up acting on his feelings for Edna. One night they shared a kiss, along with some other very romantic moments. However, when Edna leaves the house to check on Adele, who is very sick, she comes to find he has left. He leaves a note saying “I love you. Good-by, because I love you. Edna freaks out when she reads this, not knowing how to act or what to do with herself. The next day she goes to the Lebrun household, and decides to go for a swim. She gets completely naked, and goes out into the water. She then lets the sea take control of her, as she swims further and further away from the shore. She finally just lets the sea envelop her, and ultimately commits suicide.

I was somewhat confused as to why Edna decided to take her own life. Was it because of Robert’s note, and the fact that she would have to return to her husband and children? Or was it because she was trying to make a statement? I’m not really sure yet, but either way these events and the ending in general was very powerful, and left a big impact on me.

I am very happy with my decision to read The Awakening for this project. It was a book that shows a struggle of a young woman, as she is conflicted with her duties and her passions. It was one of the first stories in history to discuss women and their desires in a not necessarily negative way. I think Kate Chopin is a wonderful author, and writes beautifully. Maybe one day I will read a different novel by Chopin, but I doubt it will be as eerie, exciting, interesting, and great as The Awakening.

I am now about three fourths of the way done with The Awakening! What I’ve really been starting to notice is how well the title relates to and describes the book. Even though it’s only two words (the, and awakening) it really supports what Edna, the main character, experiences throughout the plot, and how she “awakens” into a new view on life.

The word “awakening” or different variations of it (“awake, awoke, etc.) pop up several times throughout the story. It could even be classified as one of Chopin’s motifs. Originally, Kate Chopin wanted to title this novella “A Solitary Soul”. This also is a decent title because Edna is in fact very solitary, and can’t relate to the people who surround her; even her family and friends. However, an intelligent publisher of Chopin’s thought that “The Awakening” would better suit the story, and I agree. Even if the actual word “awakening” isn’t used in some parts of the story, it is often implied. For example, on page 80, Chopin displays this idea with the following sentence: “She felt as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to look upon and comprehend the significance of life, that monster made up of beauty and brutality”. Even though “awakening” is never used in this sentence, it is obvious that Edna indeed has awoken into a new life, and into a new attitude. Whether the word “awakening” is said or not, the story revolves around Edna’s awakening, and how it changes her in several different ways.

A character that has really made an impact on the story so far is Robert Lebrun. He is the one who has driven Edna’s awakening, since she is in love with him, and desires him greatly. In the beginning, I did not realize how crucial Robert would be to the story. However, he has caused Edna to do many rebellious things without even realizing it (such as driving her away from her husband and children). He loves her as well, but hasn’t acted on it, because Edna is married to Leonce Pontellier. I am very curious and excited to see how the ending of the story turns out, and what will happen with Robert and Edna.

The story of The Awakening has become even more exciting and intense as I continue to read. Robert Lebrun, Edna’s very close companion, has hastily decided to leave Grand Isle, and move to Mexico, to seek fortune. This unexpected news greatly saddened Edna. Robert was Edna’s escape and sense of passion, but now this was going to disappear from her life. Chopin describes this sadness of Edna’s when she says “Robert’s going had some way taken the brightness, the color, the meaning out of everything. The conditions of her life were in no way changed, but her whole existence was dulled, like a faded garment which seems to be no longer worth wearing” (Chopin, 44). Edna even becomes destructive, as she tried to destroy her wedding ring, along with some vases. These violent outbursts that Edna has, I think, foreshadow something even worse to occur in Edna further along in the story. Edna has been changing drastically since the beginning of the novella. Her husband, Leonce, even thinks that Edna might be mentally disturbed, and seeks the advice of his good friend, Doctor Mandelet.

The mood/tone of this story has changed. It went from being light-hearted, when Edna, Adele, Robert (etc) all had fun, talked and visited the beach, to very dark.  There is something inside of Edna that is eating away at her. Even though it was apparent Edna wasn’t perfectly happy in the beginning, mood still seemed to be happy overall. Now, as the story has been progressing, the overall feel of the book is kind of dark and eerie, since Edna is very conflicted inside. But I like this dark sense, as I think it is entertaining and makes the story more interesting all together. I even connect this change in mood to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, as Edna seems to be shifting from light to dark, happy to sad, quite frequently throughout the story.

Now that I am a little further into the story, the characters and certain symbols in The Awakening are really starting to emerge. The main/most important characters at this point in the story are Edna Pontellier, Leonce Pontellier, Adele Ratignolle, Madame Lebrun, Robert Lebrun, and Mademoiselle Reisz.

Edna, being the center focus of the story, is starting to change, or experience her “awakening”. She (along with her husband) starts to realize traits within herself that make her different than the Creole women that surround her. It has been very interesting to see a change and rebellious side to Edna, as she desperately tries to figure out who she is, away from her husband and children. This is very strange however, because most women in the south during this time gave their families their entire life. Edna starts to disobey her husband, which she never would have given a thought to doing in the begining of the story. She also starts to seek passion in the young Robert Lebrun, the son of Madame Lebrun. This desire for independence from her familiy makes Edna appear selfish to me, as she only is focusing on her own happiness, and not her loved ones. 

This begining stage of Edna’s rebellion/awakening on her life has really gotten me entrigued. Her epiphanies/ changes in her life are often influenced by the supporting and surrounding characters (mostly Adele, her husband, and Robert), which makes everyone and every event a crucial part to her discovery and the story as a whole. I am curious as to how she, and those around her, will end up at the end of the novella, and if other characters will start to change drastically as well.

So far so good! I’m really enjoying this novella. Since it was published in 1899, I was a little worried that Chopin’s writing would be hard to follow or would be very “old sounding”. However, it is not at all! Her writing flows very well, which makes the story easy to read. There are some words that I’m not sure of their meaning, but for the most part I am able to figure them out. What’s great about this edition of the book is that it has those little numbers by some words/expressions, and at the bottom, tells the meaning of each number. Because of this, I’ve been getting a better understanding of both the setting, along with the characters. One thing that I was a little confused about was Mr. Pontellier’s character in general. He is described as an average 40 year old looking man, who is married to Edna Pontellier. Everyone loves Mr. Pontellier, especially his two children. He seems awesome, until there are a few, subtle examples of him treating his wife like a possession, and being very hard on her. Maybe I will understand his character more as the story goes on, since I’m only on page 20/109. It just seems odd that he goes from a man that everyone adores to a man who is very harsh and stereotypes his wife. I’m actually excited to keep on reading!