The Story of an Hour

How does Mrs. Mallard receive word of her husband's death?

• Telegram

• Telephone

• A very sad postcard

• She read about it in the newspaper

What is Mrs. Mallard's initial reaction to her husband's death?

• She was happy because she was "free, free, free"

• She collapsed on the ground

• She wept at once, sobbing uncontrollably

• She felt nothing

At the very end of the story, we learn that ________ is still alive.

• Benjamin Mallard

• Brently Mallard

• Bently Mallard

• Bryan Mallard

What is the name of the author of this short story?

• Kate Chopin

• Kate Porkchops

• Katherine Anne Porter

• Katy Choe

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.

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.

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.

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.

Which sentence most strongly suggests that Mrs. Mallard was hesitant to say what was on her mind?

• When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips.

• The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes.

• Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

• She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death;

What ultimately kills our protagonist?

• a heart condition

• "A joy that kills"

• seeing her "dead" husband

• All of the above