Writers are able to use literary tools to present a specific image of a protagonist; Kate Chopin was no exception. Chopin, an American writer in the 1800s, crafted short stories where the main character, often a female, was molded by her careful word choice. In “A Pair of Silk Stockings” Chopin is able to use syntax and diction to portray Mrs. Sommers, a woman who was assumed to be in a middle to low economic class. The sentence structure and word choice illustrate Sommers as a conflicted, young girl, even though she is a grown woman. In the first paragraph, Chopin described Sommers in such a way that the reader becomes aware of her childish characteristics. Chopin writes about how, “Little Mrs. Sommers one day found herself the unexpected
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After Mrs. Sommers found the money and decided to go to the market, she was, “a little to faint and tired” to bargain with the shop owners ("A Pair of Silk" 1). Sommers had enough money and did not need to bargain, but saying that she was too exhausted displayed Sommers’s lack of financial responsibility. Like most children, Sommers was not able to manage her money. Chopin was able to associate childish characteristics with Sommers conveying to the reader that Sommers was youthful and even naive. Words were useful when presenting an image of the protagonist, but so is sentence structure. Chopin stated, “the neighbors sometimes talked of certain “better days” before little Mrs. Sommers had known before she had ever thought of being Mrs. Sommers” ("A Pair of Silk" 1). By describing Mrs. Sommers as little in one instant, but not the second time, draws the reader's’ attention. The audience become fixated on the “little” because they associated it with Mrs. Sommers due to Chopin’s common connection between the two in the past. Since the main focus is brought to the word “little”, which is a traditional description of a child, the readers identify Sommers as a minor. Another instance where sentence structure compels the audience to think …show more content…
Sommers to the readers. Her word choice exemplified how much of a child Mrs. Sommers was by using childlike adjectives and connecting the failure to be financial responsibility to Sommers. Chopin used sentence structure to reiterate how child-like Mrs. Sommers was and to demonstrate a conflict within Mrs. Sommers. By doing all of this, Chopin was able to display a very distinct image of her
After Mrs. Sommers found the money and decided to go to the market, she was, “a little to faint and tired” to bargain with the shop owners ("A Pair of Silk" 1). Sommers had enough money and did not need to bargain, but saying that she was too exhausted displayed Sommers’s lack of financial responsibility. Like most children, Sommers was not able to manage her money. Chopin was able to associate childish characteristics with Sommers conveying to the reader that Sommers was youthful and even naive. Words were useful when presenting an image of the protagonist, but so is sentence structure. Chopin stated, “the neighbors sometimes talked of certain “better days” before little Mrs. Sommers had known before she had ever thought of being Mrs. Sommers” ("A Pair of Silk" 1). By describing Mrs. Sommers as little in one instant, but not the second time, draws the reader's’ attention. The audience become fixated on the “little” because they associated it with Mrs. Sommers due to Chopin’s common connection between the two in the past. Since the main focus is brought to the word “little”, which is a traditional description of a child, the readers identify Sommers as a minor. Another instance where sentence structure compels the audience to think …show more content…
Sommers to the readers. Her word choice exemplified how much of a child Mrs. Sommers was by using childlike adjectives and connecting the failure to be financial responsibility to Sommers. Chopin used sentence structure to reiterate how child-like Mrs. Sommers was and to demonstrate a conflict within Mrs. Sommers. By doing all of this, Chopin was able to display a very distinct image of her