Second Great Awakening

Swimming is something that almost everyone loves to do. Whether it is in a pool or the ocean, there is a sense of freedom and weightlessness that we can't get anywhere else. As long as you can float in water you shouldn’t really have any fear or worry. If that water is thirty-two degrees on the other hand, then you might start to worry and panic. In the case of Lynne Cox, after the first page it kept me in suspense wondering, was she just going to die of hypothermia? I assumed the swim was going…

and self-reliance were key aspects to the new mindset that encaptured women, and helped to begin their questioning of the way they could live their lives. In the novella, The Awakening, Kate Chopin portrays the way that Edna defies social convention on what women’s role in society should be and reaches and ultimate awakening at the end of the novella. In the beginning of the novella, Chopin shows that Edna does not conform to the standards of what women’s roles should…

conflicts arise in The Awakening by Kate Chopin as Edna Pontellier struggles with her internal conflicts. Chopin uses foils to demonstrate Edna’s evolution in the novel. In a time where women are expected to be subordinate, Edna defies the standards and her oppressive husband. Two polar characters, Adèle Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, exemplify compliance and individualism. These women act as foils and provide references to the reader in understanding Edna’s awakening of herself and society.…

In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier experiences a revelation about the lack of freedom she experiences as a woman in the 1890’s. The book covers her progression of thought and her transformation from repressed but yearning for freedom to her attempts at full freedom from society’s dictations, building up to her suicide. Chopin fills the book with underlying motifs that symbolize Edna’s gradual change, one of these being clothing. Edna’s awakening mirrors an alteration in…

At the start of the poem it seems as if the author describes the lake in the quarry to be quiet and lifeless yet inviting. Then suddenly the author introduces the woman with metaphors to water like creatures. This makes the reader keep guessing what the author is talking about, but after they realise that the woman is being described like an animal, because she’s eager to dive into the water. This leads to one of the themes of life and a new adventure. As the author describes the woman's descent…

A major motif in Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening is the image of a bird, appearing frequently throughout the story. Compared to the image of the bird towards the beginning of the novel, the image at the end of the story signifies a significant characteristic change in the bird: it struggles to fly with a “broken” wing and dies. This transition from an image of a bird that initially succeeds in flying to a bird that struggles to explore the skies serves to demonstrate the parallel change that…

In 1899 Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was released to readers, which is now regarded as a classic in American fiction. Her style consists of strict following of grammar rules and sharp, precise sentence structures, bringing an entirely different feel to her story when read compared to other works of fiction that deliberately cut and switch their choice of words and structures to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. The Awakening contains a strict writing style, a theme of identity crisis, and is…

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening the Edna Pontillier evolves throughout the novel and her identity is complex. Edna Pontillier is slowly awakened by Madam Reicz’s music and Madam Ratignolle’s company. In this novel the imagery of the ocean, the allusions to the bible, and interactions amongst Edna and other female characters characterize Edna as Aphrodite. In a time of men and patriarchy Chopin’s The Awakening made a statement. Her character, Edna Pontillier, became an independent woman who did…

continued for more than a century after their publication. In order for a book to have this effect, it must present its ideas in an entirely new way, often boldly challenging the preconceived notions of the reader and perhaps even society itself. The Awakening by Kate Chopin does this unlike any other novel of its time. It tells the story of a young woman named Edna as she makes the transformation from an introverted housewife to an independent feminist, which alone was enough reason for it to…

Imagine that you are coming to the realization that you are a nobody. That you are just an average person in an average society. Chopin's story The Awakening in Chopin's story symbolizes the realization that the main character and protagonist comes to. Edna has become awakened by the end of the story because she realizes that the life she left was the life she cherished the most. Her new life was not what as luxurious as she thought it was going to be. This caused her to reconsider all of the…