Point of View Workshop

-The Main Strategy That Will Be Used in Understanding and Responding to Sophocles's Antigone

Objectives: Students will read Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour and be invited   to take an in-depth look from a new perspective at concepts ,and immerse themselves in an idea, an event, a topic, a character in the story  by looking at it through different eyes .

Motivational Activity: In your journal, write about your understanding of point of view. Give an example of a situation that involves(involved) a number of point of view and explain how the various point of view caused different results.

Procedures:

Before Reading

1. What does the title "The Story of an Hour " mean to you? Could you predict what the story might be about?
2. Visit the website about Kate Chopin's works, and read another story by her. What are the main characteristics of Kate Chopin's writing?
3. If you had to write a story about what happened in an hour, would details would you include in your writing that still maintains the fundamental elements of a story?
4. Read the information on the website and in your own words describe  the basic elements in a story.

While Reading

1. In what health condition is Mrs. Mallard?
2. What news was brought to Mrs. Mallard? How was the news broken to her and by whom? Why?
3. How was Mrs. Mallard seen react to the news?
4. How did Mrs. Mallard feel after she went into her own room? List the key words and phrases that describe her feelings.
5. What is the sentence that states very clearly how Mrs. Mallard feels?
6. When she finally came out of the room, what did she look like? Use the original words or phrases in the text to describe her.
7. As Mrs. Mallard was walking downstairs with Josephine, who opened the door?
8. How did the person affect Mrs. Mallard?

After Reading

1. From what point of view is the story told?
2. How different is Josephine's knowledge of Mrs. Mallrd's feeling from the way Mrs. Mallard truly feels?
3. What is your understanding of "She didn't stop to ask if it were not a monstrous joy that held her"?
4. What do imagine makes her feel this way?
5. Based on these statements,"There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have the right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature", what kind of relationship do you imagine she had with her husband?
6. Describe  Mrs. Mallard look, and what does the look indicate her inner feelings? Point out  the original word or phrase used in the text to support your opinion.
7. How did Mrs. Mallard feel toward the love they once shared?
8. What does the description of "goddess of Victory" indicate?
9. Analyze the possible causes of Mrs. Mallard's death.
10. Predict how other characters would react to her death and what would they say in the eulogy written for her.

Use the Point of View strategy to analyze the story.

	Who else could tell the story? ---You could choose any character involved in the story including inanimate objects.
	What kind of story would they tell? ----You could expand an incident or event or retell the story from an original perspective by adding the contents to fill in the space that exists in many stories.
	In what form could the story be told? a. A speech or a sermon b. A first person narration c. A diary entry D. A letter e. A dialogue f. Different types of newspaper articles g. A  dream h. A soliloquy i. An essay j. A poem k. A story

Homework Assignment:

Choose a specific character from the WHO list and from his/her/its point of view, retell or respond to the story.

Enrichment Activities:

1. Students will share their writing in groups . The good stories will be recommended by each group to be published on the class website to be read and responded to using the discussion forum.

2. Read the poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens. Discuss ho the black bird is described from thirteen point of view.

To read sample pov writing by the student