• First, be sure you have read the essay by D. H. Lawrence, “Give Her a Pattern” in Canvas Files; this essay was reviewed in the first ConferZoom session.
• Second, review “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin; this short story was reviewed in the second ConferZoom session. Be sure you know which circumstance(s) really caused Louise’s heart to fail upon seeing her husband alive; it certainly wasn’t “the joy that kills.”
• Finally, be sure you have read Q’s “Once Aboard the Lugger”; this short story was reviewed in the third ConferZoom session. As we see from the story, Nance accepts the pattern imposed upon her of being a wife, and perhaps, a mother; how she becomes a wife is another matter, for she not only reverses the usual gender roles of courtship—the man makes the first touch, initiates the affection, offers the kiss, states the proposal of marriage—but she pursues a man above her class status to do so.
At what point in the story does she make a decision to do all the above, and what motivates her to do it? After seeing Samuel preach his sermon and wondering what he would be like as a husband, she remembers she is a Ruan girl, not one of Troy, and she is prepared to forget all about him and take the ferry from Troy back home to dinner in Ruan. What changes her mind? This is an important detail that should be included in the essay.
For Essay One, consider the following information as part of your introductory paragraph for the essay:
D. H. Lawrence proposes, in his essay “Give Her a Pattern,” that men impose upon women patterns of behavior and customs, and men expect women to adhere to these patterns, the most general and persistent pattern being the expectation that every woman will become a wife and mother. This has been, and certainly was during the last two centuries, the role expected of every woman. You have read the short stories “The Story of an Hour” and “Once Aboard the Lugger.” Ask yourself, what patterns are Louise and Nance following? Are the patterns only the roles they are expected to follow, or does society place additional expectations upon them in regard to class or behavior?
Here’s the prompt:
Discuss how these women characters handle the patterns they follow in an essay due as a first draft for Monday, June 28 at 7:00 a.m. Do not write a comparison and contrast essay comparing and contrasting Nance to Louise. Discuss each character separately from the other character. I suggest you discuss Louise first, then Nance. Then write your concluding paragraph in which you address again the idea of patterns and how they relate to the characters in the short stories.
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