Name: ___________________________________
Date: _____________
“A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin pp.570-574
Fill in the blanks on side 1. Side 2 requires you to analyze the short story.
1. Kate Chopin was born in ______ died in _______.
2. Chopin’s mother was a “Creole.” What is a Creole? ___________________________________________
3. Who provided Kate with stories of old St. Louis that sparked her imagination?______________________
4. Oscar Chopin dies of _____________ when Kate Chopin was ___ years old with ____ children to raise.
5. What was the cultural background of many of Kate Chopin’s characters?__________________________
6. What was Chopin’s reoccurring theme? _____________________________________________________
7. What did Victorians look for in literature? ___________________________________________________
8. What group is credited with reviving Chopin’s work and her credibility as a writer?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
A Pair of Silk Stockings
1. What is the amount of Mrs. Sommer’s windfall? __________________
2. What is a “porte-monnale?” ___________________________________________________________
3. What are some of the practical ways she could spend the money?
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. How does Mrs. Sommer’s see the future? __________________________________________________
5. Mrs. Sommer’s takes pride in which of her abilities? _________________________________________
6. Why does Mrs. Sommer’s feel ill? ___________________________
7. The silk stockings have been reduced from _____ to _____.
8. Mrs. Sommer’s is so pleased with how her legs look in the silk stockings that she feels the need to buy
____________________________________________________________________________________
9. What 3 items does Mrs. Sommer’s purchase next? _________________________________________
10. In her life before marriage, what had Mrs. Sommer’s been accustomed to”? ____________________
11. When the play is over, so is Mrs. Sommer’s _________.
12. What is Mrs. Sommer’s wish when she riding home in the cable car?
____________________________________________________________________________________
1. Write 5 adjectives to describe “Little Miss Summers.”
2. For each adjective you select, support the accuracy of that label by jotting 2 examples
from the story that confirm your assertions.
3. The story is full of ironies. List 3 ironies.
4. Write 2 themes of the story completing this sentence: 1) In her short story “A Pair of Silk
Stockings,” Kate Chopin reveals_____________________________________________.
2) In her short story “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” Kate Chopin
reveals_____________________________________________.
5. What do you think of Mrs. Summers? Explain your opinion.
6. Explain the title.
7. Why does Chopin repeatedly call Mrs. Summers “Little Mrs. Summers”?