Story of an Hour

In paragraph 3, the author uses a metaphor to emphasize -

"When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone."

• A the imagery of the setting

• B how much Mrs. Mallard will miss her husband

• C how quickly Mrs. Mallard got over her husband’s death

• D the intensity of Mrs. Mallard’s pain

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble...

• Simile

• Oxymoron

• Hyperbole

• Foreshadowing

Which of these best helps the reader imagine the setting?

• In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

• There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair.

• Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission.

• She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs.

Read this quotation from paragraph 8. The quotation suggests that the selection explores the theme of -

• the difficulty of accepting aging

• the agony of a loved one’s death

• loneliness as a destructive force

• emptiness of a false dream

How do Mrs. Mallard's feelings evolve throughout the story?

• She is initially elated with joy that her husband survives the crash, then becomes distraught when she realized she misses her opportunity to be on her own, and finally is overcome with shock that Josephine and Mr. Richards are having an affair.

• At first, she weeps wildly, then calms down and is hopeful of her future independence, and finally is so shocked at her husband's return that she dies.

• She first cries when she sees her husband on the news, then screams when she realizes she will have to provide for herself, and finally accepts that she will need to marry Mr. Richards in order to survive.

• All answers can be supported with text evidence.

What becomes clear when Mrs. Mallard says, "Free, free, free!"?

• Mrs. Mallard is thinking of her expenses.

• Mrs. Mallard is happy to be free of her husband.

• Mrs. Mallard is going insane from grief.

• Mrs. Mallard just likes to repeat herself.

Why does Mrs. Mallard want to be alone after hearing the news of her husband’s death?

• She wishes to spare her sister and her husband's friend from the sight of her grieving.

• She feels that any details of his death would be too much for her weak heart.

• She wants to be away from any items in the house that would remind her of her husband.

• She does not want anyone with her as she processes her feelings about her husband.

Answer explanation

Mrs. Mallard comes to realize how she feels about her husband and her marriage, which she wished to do alone.

Which of the following details best demonstrates Mrs. Mallard's feelings toward her newfound freedom?

• There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.

• What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

• She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms.

• Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

Based on the final line, the reader can conclude that Louise died from -

• the joy of seeing her husband alive

• the sudden loss of her newfound freedom

• her preexisting heart condition

• sadness of the loss of her husband

What word does Mrs. Mallard repeat once she is alone, after sobbing over the death of her husband?