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Katherine (Kate) Chopin by Marilee Neal

Katherine (Kate) Chopin was born February 8, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri to Thomas O’Flaherty and Eliza Faris. Because Thomas O’Flaherty was an outstanding citizen, in 1855 he was chosen to take part in the first crossing of the Gasconade Bridge by train. In a horrible and unexpected accident, the bridge collapsed and 30 people died, including Thomas O’Flaherty. Many people who have researched and studied Chopin believe that her father’s unforeseen death may have contributed to her literary career. Kate Chopin graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 1868. She spent the following two years as a social debutante, in which time she met Oscar Chopin, a cotton trader from Louisiana. They had six children together and were happy until Oscar died suddenly in 1882. After his death, Chopin was responsible for taking care of her children as a single mother. From that point on, she was forced to be an independent, strong woman and a role model for her children. The idea that a woman could be strong and self-sufficient was not a common one at the time and it influenced her writing. Many of the characters in her works were women that were responsible for raising their children. Chopin started writing the year her husband died and drew from her experiences as inspiration for her writing. From the death of her husband, she wrote about loss of a loved one and human relationships. She also often wrote about unconventional subjects that were not ‘proper’ at that time such as adultery and defiant women. Through her writing, she wanted to show that women could be strong-willed and self-reliant. She also wanted to inspire other women not to rely on a man for everything. Chopin grew up during the Civil War. She experienced violence and constant fear. The impact of the war on Chopin was visible through her short stories, in which a common theme is young men sacrificing themselves to war and family members mourning (Larabee 62). People of that time period could relate to Chopin’s work because the emotions that she felt, they were feeling also. Although this was true, Chopin’s work was often not well received because of the themes that many people found to be controversial. She was known for writing sexually explicit descriptions and even was recognized for creating the genre of ‘sex fiction’. An example of a work that was not well received is the one she is most known for today, __The Awakening__. It was condemned by most who read it at that time. When it was published, the //St. Louis Post-Dispatch// commented that the book “should be labeled ‘poison’” (Rosenblum). The response from __The Awakening__ was so negative that it nearly ended Chopin’s literary career. Chopin only wrote a handful of short stories after the publishing of __The Awakening__, and publishing companies were not eager to publish her works. Chopin died in 1904 from a cerebral hemorrhage while at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Although she was not well recognized at that time, she is now known as one of America’s leading nineteenth century writers.

Annotated Bibliography Eble, Kenneth. “A Forgotten Novel.” __Kate Chopin__. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 7-16. This source contains a short biography of Chopin’s life followed by a literary criticism of Chopin’s most famous work, __The Awakening__. The author discusses how the book was neglected when it was first published and is still neglected today. He says that most people do not realize what a brilliant work it is. This book was helpful to me because it gave me more insight on __The Awakening__. The content available to me through this source was very detailed and helpful. Therefore, I would recommend this source to anyone studying Chopin. Heuston, Sean. “Chopin’s The Awakening.” __The Explicator__ 64.4 (Summer 2006): 220(4). __Student__ __Resource Center__ __– Gold__. Gale. Fuquay Varina High School/WCPS/. 20 May 2008 [|http://www.galenet.com/servlet/srcx

This source is a critical essay of Chopin’s most talked-about work, __The Awakening__. The author disagrees with most critics in that he believes the main character of __The Awakening__, Edna, did not commit suicide and might not even have died at the end of the novel. This information is valuable to me because it gave me a new perspective on Chopin’s most famous work. This essay is very in depth and gives a lot of information on this subject. I would recommend this source to anyone studying Kate Chopin’s __The Awakening__ that would like a new perspective. Larrabee, Denise. “Kate Chopin.” __American Writers Retrospective Supplement II__. Ed. Jay Parini. New York: Carles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 57-74. This article about Kate Chopin starts with a short biography of Chopin’s life and then analyzes some of her most famous works. This information was very useful to me because it is very thorough in the details of her famous works and it gave information that I could not find anywhere else about her personal life. I would recommend this source to another student researching Chopin because it sheds light on details of her life not easily found elsewhere. Rosenblum, Joseph. "Kate Chopin." Magill's Literary Annual 1991 1990. Literary Reference Center. [|http://search.ebscohost.com.

"Kate Chopin" by Joseph Rosenblum goes through Kate Chopin’s life and describes the events and people in her life that influenced her writing. This information was very useful to me in giving insight into Kate Chopin’s life and shedding light on her inspirations for writing. This literary biography is very thorough and covers many aspects of Kate Chopin’s life. I would recommend it to another student researching Chopin because it reveals information about Chopin’s life that can not be easily found anywhere else.