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Summer Reading Assignment – Honors English III
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening - ISBN 9780486277868
Due Friday, August 16, 2013 – no late work will be accepted
1. Read Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. (may be obtained online, on e-readers, or at any local bookstore)
2. While you are reading, answer the attached study questions:
3. You will be given one of the following writing assignments on Friday, August 23, 2013 to complete in class for a
major grade. Please review the following three prompts and have an idea of how you would respond to each. You
will not be able to choose your prompt, so be prepared for them all.
a) Write a personal narrative: Almost everyone has some aspect of his/her life that makes him/her believe that
he/she is outside of the mainstream of society. These differences can be based on race, economics, family
structure, religion, personal style, etc. In a 5-paragraph essay, explain how you have felt like an outsider in a
specific situation; include setting details, the origins of this feeling of exclusion, and the interactions with
others. Additionally, your essay should make comparisons/contrasts to those feelings and situations which
are present in the novel.
b) For many works of literature, the title is a straightforward representation of the work’s content (for example,
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). For other works, however, an understanding of the title’s meaning is
derived only after fully understanding the work’s content and themes (for example, The Grapes of Wrath). In
a well-organized essay, discuss the title of Chopin’s The Awakening and explain the title’s significance in
relation to the novel as a whole and consider if Edna is truly awakened and what that means for other
characters in the piece.
c) In Chapter 27 of The Awakening, Mademoiselle Reisz tells Edna that “[t]he bird that would soar above the
level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.” In a well-organized essay, explain what
Mademoiselle Reisz’s words mean as they relate to Edna and her situation.
The Awakening Summer Reading Assignment
Directions: Read the questions before you read the chapters. This will help you remain focused on the literary
elements of the chapters rather than simply the story line. Once you have read the set of chapters, go back and
think about your responses. Jot down your idea. Look up unfamiliar words and terms, before you begin to
write your responses.
You MUST write in complete sentences. You will be graded on accuracy, spelling/punctuation, neatness, and
sentence structure.
Your work MUST be typed using MLA formatting. Check http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
for formatting quotes, paraphrases, and summaries. Also, make sure that your paper has proper pagination,
heading, font, and margins. You may only use Times New Roman 12 point. Separate your responses by section
and number your responses as they are numbered in each section. Make sure that your ideas flow by using
transition words, clauses, and phrases.
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Chapters I – XI (1-11)
1. Symbolism: Explain the significance of the parrot and the mockingbird at the beginning of Chapter 1. How is
the sound of the parrot used in Chapter 9? What is significant about the words the parrot says, particularly in
relationship to the turmoil developing in Edna Pontellier? How are the sea (Ch. 6) and the road to the beach
(Ch. 7) used symbolically? How does Edna respond to swimming successfully for the first time? What happens
that can be considered symbolic? How are the following characters “foils” to Edna? What might these people
symbolize: Madame Ratignolle; shadowy pair of lovers; lady in black; Mademoiselle Reisz? (Remember you
learned about character foils in your study of Shakespeare.)
2. Conflict: Describe Edna and Mr. Pontellier’s (Leonce’s) attitudes towards each other. Why did Edna marry
Leonce? What is Edna’s feeling about marriage and intimate relationships? What does the flashback to Edna’s
childhood reveal (Ch. 7)? How is Edna different from the other women on Grand Isle? Describe Edna’s attitude
toward her children. Why is this atypical for the time period and culture of the novel? What realization are
Robert and Edna arriving at on the porch of Edna’s cottage after the midnight swim (Ch. 10)? What is
significant about the exchange between Leonce and Edna in Ch. 11?
3. Theme: How is the theme of “awakening” revealed in Chapter 7? How does Mademoiselle Reisz’s music
affect Edna? How might this reaction be a beginning for Edna? How is this related to the above theme? How
does Edna feel about swimming successfully for the first time (Ch. 10)? What is her fear? How might this relate
to the “awakening” theme?
4. Imagery: Discuss how sounds are used as a backdrop to the scene of disagreement between Leonce and
Edna (Ch. 3). How is the sound of the sewing machine used to reflect mood (Ch. 8)? In the past, what image has
been evoked in Edna’s mind by a certain musical passage (Ch. 9)? How is this in contrast to Edna’s life up to
this point? How are images of sound and smell used as a backdrop when Edna and Robert walk to the water
(Ch. 10)?
Chapters XII – XVII (12 – 17)
1. Characterization: How is Edna and Robert’s relationship changing? What does Edna do that she has never
done before (what phrases are repeated in Ch. 12)? What is Robert’s reaction? How does Edna feel as she and
Robert sail to the Cheniere Caminada? What is the significance of the plans Robert says he has for the future
(Ch. 12 and 15)? While at Madame Antoine’s house, what are Edna’s thoughts about Leonce and her children?
Why did Robert decide to leave suddenly and what is Edna’s reaction to this news (Ch. 15)? How does
Edna spend much of her time after Robert leaves? Why is this significant?
2. Motif: What does Edna do at Madame Antoine’s house? Explain the allusion when Edna remarks that they
have spent the entire day together and Robert responds, “All but the hundred years when you were sleeping”
(Ch. 14). To what motif do these contribute and how?
(Motif: a recurring symbolic element or dominant central idea which enhances your understanding of theme.
You learned this in your study of archetypes.)
3. Symbolism: How is the song that Edna hums after parting from Robert (after their day in Cheniere
Caminada) significant? What is symbolic about Robert leaving at the same time that the summer is ending?
What is the setting change in Ch. 17, and how is it symbolic? What is significant about what Edna does after
Leonce leaves (including taking off her wedding ring and then putting it back on)?
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Chapters XVIII – XXIV (18 – 24)
1. Characterization: How does Edna spend most her time in this section of the book? What is Leonce’s
reaction? Although she is haunted by memories of Grand Isle, how does Edna manage to “enjoy” her life?
When Edna visits Mademoiselle Reisz, what does she learn about Robert (Ch. 20)? Why does this depress her?
What change in Edna has occurred that Victor notices? How does the letter from Robert in Ch. 21 contrast with
all of the letters in the previous chapter?
2. Symbolism: What is the significance of the song Edna sings while she paints? What is significant about the
description of Mademoiselle Reisz’s apartment (Ch. 21)? What is significant about the view of the river and the
ships from Mademoiselle’s apartment? What is significant about the story Doctor Mandelet tells after dinner
(Ch. 23)? What excuse does Edna offer for not attending her sister’s wedding, and why is this important? What
does the country (Pontellier’s country boyhood, Edna’s memory of “swimming” in the meadow, the
summer at Grand Isle) represent? By contrast, what does the city represent? Why does Chopin have Edna read a
volume of Emerson on her first night alone?
3. Conflict: What does Leonce’s conversation with Dr. Mandelet reveal about himself as a character? What is
the doctor’s apparent reaction? (i.e. What does he suspect, but never say, to Leonce?) How does Adele
Ratignolle treat Edna’s father? What is Edna’s reaction? Of what two vices is Edna’s father the apparent
victim? Describe Edna’s emotional state associated with Leonce’s departure for New York. Why does she
behave in this manner? How does Edna feel about being alone?
Chapters XXV – XXX (25 – 30)
1. Theme: How does Alcee Arobin feel about his past encounters with Edna? What is different now? Describe
Edna’s behavior after her evening with Alcee. How does the relationship develop? What thoughts does Edna
have about Robert and Leonce? How well does Arobin’s strategy to intensify his relationship with Edna work?
2. Characterization: What does Mademoiselle’s initial reaction to Edna’s move indicate about the society in
which the two women live? What does this tell us about Mademoiselle’s opinion of Edna? What is Chopin
suggesting about Mademoiselle Reisz by the comment she makes about the type of man she would love (Ch.
26)? At less than one page, Ch. 28 is the shortest chapter in the book. What does this chapter reveal about
Edna’s feelings about her affair with Arobin and how it affects Leonce and Robert?
3. Motif: Explain how the bird motif resurfaces in Ch. 27. What does it possibly foreshadow?
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4. Imagery: Some critics have likened Edna’s grand dinner party to the Last Supper as recounted in the four
Gospels in the Judeo-Christian bible. In what ways is it similar? How might this be symbolic in regards to
Edna’s awakening? What does the following quotation indicate about the evening “The voices of Edna’s
disbanding guests jarred like a discordant note upon the quiet harmony of the night.”? What might this
foreshadow?
(This is in no way a requirement to read the Bible; however, American Lit has an abundance of religious overtones, references, and allusions
which you must be able to identify from a literary standpoint due to the history of our Nation’s founding.)
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Chapters XXXI – XXXIX (31 – 39)
1. Irony: Explain the irony when Edna states, “I feel as if I had been wound up to a certain pitch—to tight—and
something inside of me had snapped.” Is it incongruous that, considering the novel’s title, Edna seems to spend
a great deal of time sleeping? Why is this? How is Edna’s fall in social standing (a married woman living alone
in a smaller and much less grand house) ironic in the context of her awakening? What is Edna’s frame of mind
as she returns home in Ch. 38? What is ironic about what she finds? What does Robert mean in this situation?
2. Setting: Why did Edna move to the pigeon house? Why is this move so significant? How does she feel in her
new home? How does Edna’s move seem to affect her children and her relationship with them? What essential
change occurs in Edna’s frame of mind in Ch. 35? Why is the setting for the last chapter the most appropriate
one?
3. Conflict: Why is Edna upset when she sees Robert at Mademoiselle Reisz’s apartment? What excuse does he
give for not writing to her? Later, during dinner at the pigeon house, what does Edna learn is the reason for
Robert’s return? How does she feel about it (his return and the reason for it)? How does Ch. 33 contribute to the
unraveling of Edna’s awakening?
4. Characterization: What incidents show that Leonce is concerned more with appearances than the actual
state of things (Ch. 32)? In what ways is Alcee Arobin manipulating Edna? What does Arobin’s claim that he
“adores” Edna establish about him and about Edna? What does it suggest about Robert?
5. Theme: Robert is clearly linked to Edna’s awakening. Is he solely responsible for her changed behavior and
her awakening self or are there others (provide specific examples from the text)? To what theme does the
childbirth episode contribute? How? What does Madame Ratignolle mean when she begs Edna to “think of the
children”? (revisit Ch. 16 when Edna tells Madame Ratignolle “she would never sacrifice herself for her
children, or for any one” and “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for
my children; but I wouldn’t give myself.”) In Ch. 39 the reader learns what Edna thought during that last
sleepless night following her return from Adele Ratignolle’s. What realization does she come to about herself,
Leonce, her children, and Robert? How does the return to the ocean in the last chapter parallel Edna’s first
incidents in the book? What thoughts does she have now (at the end)? Explain how Edna’s decision supports the
awakening theme and also disproves it. (Please think deeply about this question in particular before you
respond.)
6. Symbolism: How is the garden in the suburbs used as a symbol in Ch. 36? What does Edna mean when she
says that Leonce cannot free her? How is Edna’s removal of her clothes as she walks down to the beach
symbolic? (Think about what she is truly removing.)