Lexical and Syntactical Analysis

1. An analysis of
The Story of
an Hour
By : Kate Chopin

6. Louise Mallard
died because of a
Heart Disease
of the joy that kills.

7. the end . . .

8. I. Introduction
a. Characters
• Louise Mallard – the woman
who has a heart disease
• Josephine – sister of Louise
• Brently Mallard – husband of
Louise
• Richards– friend of Brently

9. b. Theme
 Freedom / Independence
When Mrs. Mallard hears from Josephine
and Richards of Brently’s death, she reacts
with obvious grief,
However, she begins to realize that she is
now an independent woman, a realization
that enlivens and excites her.
“free, free, free!”
“Free! Body and soul free!”

10. c. Overall Stylistic Device/s
 Irony
*in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical
device, literary technique,that implies a
meaning in opposition to their literal meani
ng. A situation is often said to be ironic (sit
uational irony) if the actions taken have an
effect exactly opposite from what was inte
nded.

11. 1.) When Mrs. Mallard finds out the sudden death of
her husband she cries...because she's happy.--dramatic
irony
2.) Josephine is afraid that Mrs. Mallard would die of
grief in her room alone.(“Louise open the door! I beg;
open the door-you will make yourself ill.”) She does not
know that this is the happiest hour in her life.(“Go away. I
am not making myself ill.”)--situational and dramatic
irony
3.) Ironically, Mrs. Mallard dies at the end of the story
because she is disappointed to find out her husband is
still alive.—situational irony

12. 4.) Mr. Mallard lives and Mrs. Mallard dies. --
situational irony.
5.) Mrs. Mallard dies from the shock of seeing
her husband. The doctors say she died from "the
joy that kills." We know Mrs. Mallard is no
where near full of joy.-- dramatic irony.

13. II. Lexical Devices
a. Epithets
1. “a comfortable, roomy armchair”
2. “The delicious breath of rain”
3. “veiled hints”
4. “a paralyzed inability”
5. “sudden, wild abandonment”
6. “a monstrous joy”
7. “clear and exalted perception”
8. “that bitter moment”

14. II. Lexical Devices
a. Epithets
11. “a fair, calm face”; “a dull stare”
12. “The vacant stare”; “keen and bright”
13. “the kind, tender hands”; “fixed and gray and dead”
14. “powerful will”; “blind persistence”; “a private will”
15. “sudden, wild abandonment”
10. “a feverish triumph”
9. “the strongest impulse of her being!”

15. II. Lexical Devices
b. Simile
1. “She did not hear the story as many women have
heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept
its significance.”
2. “except when a sob came up into her throat and
shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep
continues to sob in its dreams.”

16. II. Lexical Devices
b. Simile
4. “she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of
Victory.”
3. “and she was striving to beat it back with her will–
as powerless as her two white slender hands would
have been”

17. II. Lexical Devices
c. Personification
1. “The delicious breath of rain”
2. “powerful will”;
3. “blind persistence”
4. “a little whispered word escaped her slightly
parte lips”
5. “intelligent thought”

18. II. Lexical Devices
d. Metonymy
1. Springtime : The new, exciting life that Mrs.
Mallard thinks is awaiting her.
2. Patches of Blue Sky: Emergence of her new life.

19. III. Syntactical Devices
a. Detached Construction
1. “And yet she had loved him--sometimes.”
2. “There was something coming to her and she
was waiting fir it, fearfully.”
3. When the doctors came they said she had died of
heart disease– of the joy that kills

20. III. Syntactical Devices
b. Antithesis
1. “There would be no one to live for during those
coming years; she would live for herself.”
2. “A kind intention or a cruel intention”
3. “And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she
had not.”

21. III. Syntactical Devices
c. Asyndeton
1.“But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching
toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color
that filled the air.”
1. “Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days
that would be her own.”
d. Polysyndeton

22. III. Syntactical Devices
e. Uttered Represented Speech
1. “She said it over and over under the breath: “free,
free , free!”
1. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,
in her sister’s arms.
f. Unuttered Represented Speech
2. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical
exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to
reach into her soul.

23. IV. Conclusion
Kate Chopin is a brilliant author, who uses
various stylistic devices, which help to
render the characters and the main
themes vividly and convincingly. The most
vivid ones are repetitions, similes,
metaphors, emphatic constructions,
epithets and so on. This story is definitely
worth reading.

24. IV. Conclusion
In conclusion, Kate Chopin is a brilliant
author, who uses various stylistic devices,
which help to render the characters and
the main themes vividly and convincingly.
The most vivid ones are repetitions,
similes, metaphors, emphatic
constructions, epithets and so on.
This story is definitely worth reading.