First Great Awakening

In the novel Jasmine, author Bharati Mukherjee uses protagonist Jasmine’s experiences and transformation as a critique of immigration. Specifically, Mukherjee describes how immigration can alter one’s persona and consequently reshape your identity. A key method that Mukherjee employs to establish her stance on immigration is through her use of secondary characters such as Taylor, Wylie, and Duff. Prior to immigrating to the United States, Jasmine is in a suicidal state and struggles to find a…

between being true and not true to yourself? The novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel about a woman’s desire to find and live fully within her true self. Chopin uses a variety of rhetorical devices similar to strong diction, imagery, personification, parallel structure, and likewise tone to reveals the time that Edna begins to awake or live her true self. First, in chapter six of the novel, Chopin clearly describes the awakening of the main character, Edna Pontellier, where Chopin…

The Awakening Study Guide Directions: Answer the following questions with specific references to the text, either in paraphrased form or with the use of quotations. At the opening of the novel, what is Edna’s position in life? What is expected of her in this position? Chopin likens Edna to the green and yellow parrot trapped in its cage crying for everyone to “Go away! Go away! For heaven’s sake!” (Chopin 1). Edna must keep her thoughts to herself and is confined by her family’s expectations…

Susan Griffin wrote: “He says that women speak with nature. That wind blows in her ears and trees whisper to her” (14). While the sentiment is beautiful, the dichotomous thinking in patriarchal society that sets up binary separations of male/female and culture/nature along with assumption that women are inherently closer to nature informs these lines, and as Griffin says, this “notion is not intended as a compliment” because “the idea … is an argument for the dominion of men” (Griffin 10). This…

Debussy was the oldest of five children, and his father Manuel-Achille Debussy, owned a china shop in and his mother, Victorine Manoury Debussy, was a seamstress. In 1867 the family moved to Paris but Debussy's pregnant mother fled in 1870 with Claude to his aunt's home in Cannes to flee the Franco-Prussian War. This is when and where Debussy at the age of seven began piano lessons paid for by his aunt with Italian violinist Cerutti. In 1871 he got the attention of Marie Mauté de Fleurville,…

Edna Pontellier, the main character in The Awakening, lives during the 1890s, a time when women were expected to stay at home, care for the children, and maintain appearances for the comfort of their husband. Any women, such as Mrs. Pontellier, that sought after their own desires and needs were considered selfish. Throughout the novel, Edna Pontellier is represented as a bird. In the beginning of the book, there is a green and yellow parrot hanging in a cage outside the door saying over and over…

The two leading stars of this film, “The Intern” have benefited from comedy at some point throughout their careers. The first one, is Robert De Niro, who entered into the world of comedy back in 1999 with “Analyze This,” which became a critical and commercial success, and it earned De Niro a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. After “Analyze This,” De Niro continued pursuing and stretching his comedic prowess with “Meet the Parents” in 2000. This film also became a…

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899, a time where women had little independence and did their daily duties were to be a perfect mother and wife, just like Edna Pontellier had to live her life with a businessman from New orleans, Leonce Pontellier. Edna discovers her own identity and acknowledges her emotional desire. During the 1800 women were expected to “ worship” their husbands , and do their job as a housewife. Many women is the 1800’s and in today’s society can relate…

Two women on two different paths to self-enlightenment but both paths end in a realization that one cannot simply focus on oneself, life is intertwined as in Victorian society or the jungles of the Congo. Edna, in The Awakening discovers that she cannot live outside of society’s norms; whereas, Orleanna of The Poisonwood Bible learns how deep seeded guilt can spark self-awareness. While The Awakening’s Edna develops into the beginnings of a self-actualized woman by understanding her deep inner…

well-thought of now than during her time, Chopin’s works were recognized among some of the most prestigious publications and organizations (Clark) -- that was until she wrote the highly controversial novel The Awakening. What she was once condemned for, she now receives praise. The Awakening was Chopin’s second novel and was written regarding the life of an infamous woman who lived in New Orleans. This woman lived a scandalous…