LESSON 2

THE SHORT STORY,

PART 2
In Lesson 2, you’ll read four more short stories, and you’ll learn about character
and point of view.

ASSIGNMENT 1

PAUL’S CASE
Read this section in your study guide.

ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES
When you complete Assignment 1 of Lesson 2, you’ll be able to

1.1 Define the terms foreshadowing and archetype

1.2 Distinguish between individuated and representative characters
1.3 Recognize character archetypes

BACKGROUND: WILLA CATHER

Willa Cather (1873–1947) once remarked that she lived “in a world split in two.” She
meant that she felt a real difference between American life in the nineteenth century and
in the twentieth century. This split is evident in her writing. Many of her characters feel
torn between the comfortable, old-fashioned, traditional world they grew up in and the
brave new world outside their hometowns. You’ll see this type of struggle in “Paul’s
Case.” Like Jewett, Cather is very much a regional writer. Most of her writing is set in
Nebraska and the American Southwest.

Now, read “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather in Great American Short Stories. When
you’ve finished reading the story, return to this study guide and read the story
analysis.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-1

Lesson 2
ANALYSIS OF “PAUL’S CASE”
The short story “Paul’s Case” is a character study. In a character study, the developing
traits and characteristics of an individual are the focus of the story. Paul, the protagonist, is
an individuated character—that is, he has his own personality and history, and he’s de-
picted realistically. At the same time, he’s a representative character—that is, he illus-
trates many of the traits associated with a particular type of person.

Cather’s character, Paul, is the classic example of the young person who yearns for
something more from life than his or her current surroundings can provide. Paul isn’t an
artist himself, but he responds to art and beauty in a way that his father and most of his
fellow townspeople don’t. In fact, as you’ll see, he will lie, cheat, and steal in order to
enjoy whatever beauty he can find.

When an author creates a character that’s similar to characters used in other stories, and
who has a great deal in common with people you know in everyday life, the author is
writing about an archetype.

An archetype appears repeatedly throughout history. It's a prototype—an original idea

that has come to be used over and over again. Its frequent usage has allowed for readers
to quickly obtain deeper meaning of a concept, person, or object. Archetypes occur fre-
quently in fairy tales. The wicked witch, the evil stepmother, the big bad wolf, and the ugly
duckling are all examples of archetypes. Marjorie, in “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” is an ar-
chetype. She’s the beautiful but cold woman, gorgeous to look at but heartless. Her type
appears in many books, plays, and movies. This type of character is sometimes called a
femme fatale.

Paul represents the archetype of the sensitive and misunderstood youth. Cather first
introduces him as a rebel. The symbolic red carnation he wears does two things. It
establishes that he’s extremely concerned with his appearance, and also a rebel, since
the faculty finds the flower inappropriate for a boy who is pleading to be allowed back into
school. It seems as though he’s not taking the proceedings as seriously as he should be.

Now look at the carnation in the context of other details. The carnation, the opal pin, and
the “neatly tied four-in-hand” (a style of necktie) also indicate that Paul wants to be
perceived as fashionable. But his clothing—frayed, outgrown, and worn—shows that he
doesn’t have the financial means required to truly live his dream.

In presenting these details in the first paragraph, Cather is hinting at future developments
in the story—a technique known as foreshadowing—to introduce the two major conflicts
here. One is a person-against-person conflict—Paul against society, especially older au-
thority figures (teachers, father). The second conflict is between Paul’s reality (who and
what he really is) and his fantasy life (his ideal image, how he thinks he should be living).
The story sets these opposing forces in action right up to the climax.

One of the reasons Paul has been expelled is that he upset his English teacher. Note,
however, that this teacher mentions she had him summarizing a paragraph—a rather dull
task. She doesn’t seem to be trying to inspire her students with poetry or good literature.
She represents the dreary routine of Paul’s education. Therefore, he has to go some-
where else to enjoy the art he loves.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-2

Lesson 2
The real reason Paul has been expelled, of course, isn’t for anything so specific. It’s
because of an overall attitude—“the contempt which they all knew he felt for them” (page
193). This contempt, or intense dislike, extends beyond the school faculty—Paul holds
his father, his home, his surroundings, his fellow townspeople, and even his own future there
in the same contempt.

Cather points out some interesting physical characteristics. Paul’s pupils are “abnormally
large, as though he were addicted to belladonna, but there was a glassy glitter about
them which that drug does not produce” (page 192). His teacher, too, notes that “there’s
something sort of haunted” about his smile. “There is something wrong about the fellow”
(page 193).

Paul has found a brief escape from his boring life. The symphony hall where he works as
a part-time usher allows him a glimpse of a different world. Paul goes to work early so he
can stroll through the symphony’s art gallery (page 194). Then, when the performance
begins, he feels a “sudden zest of life; the lights danced before his eyes and the concert
hall blazed into unimaginable splendour” (page 195). And after each performance, he
crashes hard and feels “irritable and wretched . . . restless” (page 195).

After one particular performance, Paul gazes into a fancy hotel and imagines the types
of riches inside. The scene of luxury, described in detail on page 196, is immediately
followed by a description of Paul’s miserable home. In this passage, the conflict between
the ideal—Paul’s fantasy life in a luxury hotel—and the real—the poverty of his own life—
is quite clear.

The next day Paul listens to a conversation between his father and a man his father con-
siders a role model. The man talks about the importance of work (he’s a clerk) and of
leading a respectable life in a respectable job. Paul rebels at the thought of such a dreary
occupation being the focal point of one’s existence (page 199).

Paul’s second means of escape is hanging out with a theatre company. Unfortunately,
Paul’s perceptions of the romantic, exotic theatre are also inaccurate. When news of his
ultimate expulsion from the school reaches the theatre troupe, they agree with the faculty
that Paul is a “bad case.” Rather than leading the glamorous lives he imagines them to
have, “they were hardworking women, most of them supporting indolent husbands or
brothers, and they laughed rather bitterly at having stirred the boy to such fervid and florid
inventions” (page 201). Paul romanticizes everything in a desperate attempt to make life
seem better than it is.

A great novelist, Henry James, once declared that it’s the role of a writer to show, not tell.
In other words, writers show readers what’s going on, and readers draw their own conclusions.
Cather does this very well. For example, rather than saying that Paul was rebellious and
romantic, she shows us the carnation. She breaks with this rule on page 200, however,
when she speculates on the reasons for Paul’s love of art. She directly contrasts Paul’s
experience of life with the “smartly-clad men and women” on the stage and “these starry
apple orchards that bloomed perennially under the lime-light” (the stage lights). Paul’s life
outside the theatre consists of “Sabbath-school picnics, petty economies (tight budgets),
wholesome advice as to how to succeed in life, and the unescapable odours of cooking”
(page 200).

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-3

Lesson 2
Unescapable, that is, as long as Paul remains at home. Cather moves the story into high
gear on page 201. Paul is taken out of school and put to work, he loses his job at
Carnegie Hall, and he’s forbidden to hang out at the theatre.

Paul’s next move is a desperate one, but there’s logic in his actions. Paul loves music. It’s
his reason for being. Now that he no longer works at Carnegie Hall, he’s deprived of
music, and life becomes pointless. A person confronting true purposelessness is a person
who will do anything to find a point and purpose. So Paul, as we later learn, embezzles
$1,000 from his employer, goes to New York City, and lives his dream.

In some stories, living the dream might turn out to be false and hollow. But Paul’s experience
in New York City is everything he had hoped it would be and then some. Even the reader
senses that this is the life Paul should have had, since he appreciates everything and has
an eye for detail. Note the care with which he selects his new clothes and his request for
flowers in his room (page 202). For a week, he enjoys exactly the life he had always
dreamed of.

And so, for a week, Paul actually relaxes. This is a new situation. Cather is explicit on
this point. “Until now,” she states, “he could not remember a time when he had not been
dreading something. Even when he was a little boy, it was always there—behind him, or
before, or on either side. There had always been the shadowed corner, the dark place
into which he dared not look, but from which something always seemed to be watching
him—and Paul had done things that were not pretty to watch, he knew” (page 203). New
York proves to be an antidote to that.

There’s a hint from the author that may be interpreted as Paul having enjoyed a homo-
sexual relationship with a boy from Yale. If interpreted in this way, it gives readers some
understanding of his unwillingness to face the thing in the dark corner.

When Paul realizes that everything is coming to an end, he remembers what lies before
him—“the grey monotony stretched before him in hopeless, unrelieved years; Sabbath-
school, Young People’s Meeting, the yellow-papered room, the damp dishtowels; it all
rushed back upon him with a sickening vividness” (page 206).

Paul contemplates the revolver he purchased on his first day in the city—his means of
snapping the thread that binds him to all this. Suddenly, he’s finally able to look into the
dark corner, and he does so calmly—“It was bad enough, what he saw there; but some-
how not so bad as his long fear of it had been.” He had “looked into that dark corner at
last, and knew” (page 207).

Paul had “lived the sort of life he was meant to live” (page 207). He had lived it briefly—
but longer, maybe, than some do. To go back to the world he knew before would be to
live unnaturally, to forget what he glimpsed in that dark corner (his own homosexuality?).
At the end of the story, the reader is left to ponder a question: Is death any worse than an
unnatural life, a life that might just as well have been lived by somebody else? Cather
doesn’t answer this question for her readers. Her purpose is to place it before readers,
allow them to interact with Paul, and leave the answer open to their interpretation.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-4

Lesson 2
 ASSIGNMENT 1

SELF-CHECK
Match the terms below with their definitions.

1. Archetype a. The dropping of hints about what will

happen later

2. Character study b. A person in a story who has his or her

own personality and history and is
depicted realistically

3. Foreshadowing c. A character who is similar to characters

developed by other authors

4. Individuated character d. A story that’s as much about different

sides of a person as it is about events
that happen outside the person

5. Motif e. An image or idea that occurs again and

again throughout a story

Click here to check your answers.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-5

Lesson 2
ASSIGNMENT 2

THE PRIVATE HISTORY OF A

CAMPAIGN THAT FAILED
Read this section in your study guide.

ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES
When you complete Assignment 2 of Lesson 2, you’ll be able to

2.1 Define the styles of tragicomedy and satire

2.2 Define the role and use of rhetoric

BACKGROUND: MARK TWAIN

Mark Twain (1835–1910) is the nom de plume (French for “pen name”) of the Missouri
writer Samuel Clemens. He took his pen name from one of the calls used by bargemen
on the Mississippi River, who had to sound off as they “marked” the water’s depth.

Twain was a humorist who specialized in satire, a genre that uses humor to point out the
flaws and follies of individuals and societies. Hypocrisy, or pretense, is a favorite target of
satirists, who delight in pointing out the gap between the real and the ideal.

Twain is most famous for two of his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but he wrote many other books and stories, as well as
speeches. He wasn’t afraid to deal with controversial issues. Twain was fiercely opposed
to the Mexican-American War and to slavery, both controversial topics in his day.
He obviously had mixed feelings about the Civil War, as you’ll see in the story you’re
about to read.

“The Private History of a Campaign That Failed” is Twain’s half-satirical memoir of some-
one serving in a Missouri militia (army) at the outbreak of the Civil War. Because of its loca-
tion, some Missouri people supported the Union (North) and some supported the
Confederacy (South). This situation was very confusing for everyone. Some individuals
switched sides more than once, not out of conviction, but because it suited their business
or personal needs. Missouri was one of those states that truly found brother fighting
against brother and father against son.

The genre of “The Private History of a Campaign That Failed” is tragicomedy—a combination
of both tragedy and comedy. A tragicomedy tries to make people laugh, but it’s also not
afraid to show the grim, depressing aspects of a situation. It takes a very talented writer
to blend tragedy and comedy into one work.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-6

Lesson 2
In many ways, tragicomedy can be the most honest approach to a subject. For example,
many accounts written by those who served in the Civil War talked only about the glory of
battle and the hard work and discipline that went into forming an army. Twain asserts that
there were moments of glory, but mostly the conflict involved a lot of foolishness on the
part of men who had no idea what they were doing or who they were doing it for.

In this satire, Twain mocks the fact that he and his fellow militia members are totally
unprepared to serve as soldiers. Twain keeps the tone of gentle mockery throughout
most of the piece, but one striking incident makes it clear that, ultimately, war is no
laughing matter.

Now read “The Private History of a Campaign That Failed” by Mark Twain in Great
American Short Stories. When you’ve finished reading the story, return to this
study guide and read the story analysis.

ANALYSIS OF “THE PRIVATE HISTORY OF A CAMPAIGN

THAT FAILED”
Twain’s opening paragraph makes it clear that this story is very different from the war
stories that most readers at that time were accustomed to. At the time Twain wrote, most
war memoirs were filled with boasts of heroism in great battles. Twain, on the other hand,
says that the people who did nothing “ought at least be allowed to state why they didn’t
do anything, and also to explain the process by which they didn’t do anything” (page 68).
This type of language tells readers right away that this will be a somewhat comic account
of his experiences.

In the second paragraph, Twain writes, “Out West there was a good deal of confusion in
men’s minds during the first months of the great trouble [the Civil War]—a good deal of
unsettledness, of leaning first this way, then that, then the other way. It was hard for us to
get our bearings” (page 68). He illustrates this condition with an anecdote (brief story)
describing his pilot-mate’s shifting of loyalties.

Personal anecdotes can make history come to life. In this case, the anecdote paints a
vivid picture of what it must have been like for ordinary people living in a divided state like
Missouri during the Civil War. Twain satirizes his pilot-mate by describing the twisted logic
he uses in condemning Twain. Notice in the second paragraph how the mate’s reasoning
changes depending on the situation:

l When the mate was for the Union, he said that Twain’s “loyalty was smirched, to
his eye, because [his] father had owned slaves.”

l When the mate became a rebel, he said Twain came from “bad stock—of a father
who had been willing to set slaves free.”

l When the mate returned to the Union side, he called Twain a “rebel, and the son of
a man who owned slaves.”

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-7

Lesson 2
Can you see how the man’s opinion of Twain was determined by the side he was on at
the moment? But at the same time, Twain is sympathetic—he understands how difficult
these times were for his fellow citizens.

These first two paragraphs also suggest something larger about the Civil War and war in
general. They explain that people involved in wars often aren’t very enthusiastic about
one cause or another. In fact, they might not have much of an idea about what either
cause is really all about in the first place. This confusion is one of Twain’s themes
throughout the piece. But he’s not really satirizing the confused young men themselves.
What he satirizes is hypocrisy—their desire to make their little adventure appear more
glorious than it was.

That’s why he explains Dunlap’s efforts to change his name. By attempting to get people
to pronounce it with a French accent, Dunlap tries to use his name to appear more
sophisticated than he really is. But Twain just uses Dunlap as an example. Here’s what
he says about him: “The young fellow who proposed this title was perhaps a fair sample
of the kind of stuff we were made of. He was young, ignorant, good-natured, well-meaning,
trivial, full of romance, and given to reading chivalric novels and singing forlorn love-
ditties” (page 69).

Dunlap is actually something of a symbol for the entire company. Just as he attempts to
be something he isn’t—to be more noble and sophisticated than the country bumpkin he
is—so, too, will these militiamen attempt to make their escapade into something grander
than it is.

This type of exaggeration, Twain suggests, is just plain human nature—everyone does
this kind of thing. But when it comes to war and matters of life and death, such talk can
have disastrous consequences. Politicians and the media can use exaggeration to get
people to fight, kill, and die in wars they really don’t understand. Twain attacks that
angrily in another piece he wrote called “The War Prayer,” a short parable you can find in
your library or online.

The tone of the rest of the piece is somewhat mock heroic. Twain uses language ordinarily
used to describe acts of courage, bravery, and heroism to describe acts and behavior
that are just the opposite. This technique highlights the difference between reality and
rhetoric—language used to have a certain effect on readers and listeners. A good example
of this occurs on page 71:

Now we approached a log farm-house where, according to report, there was a

guard of five Union soldiers. . . We were equal to the occasion. In our response
there was no hesitation, no indecision. . .

This is the type of language used in war memoirs. Maybe you’ve read something like that
before. It’s usually followed by something like this: “And so we bravely attacked.” But
Twain does exactly the opposite and defies his readers’ expectations. Instead, he writes:
“We said that if Lyman wanted to meddle with those soldiers, he could go ahead and do
it; but if he waited for us to follow him, he would wait a long time” (page 71).

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-8

Lesson 2
Twain’s memoir frequently draws attention to the difference between rhetoric and reality.
Right after the episode at the farmhouse, the company meets Colonel Ralls. Ralls makes
a speech “full of gunpowder and glory, full of that adjective-piling, mixed metaphor and
windy declamation” that ultimately only confuses his audience. “This mixed us consider-
ably, and we could not make out just what service we were embarked in” (page 72).

Twain also develops this theme of confusion through the names they assign to various
places. When the troop is humiliated by a farmer’s dogs, Twain writes, “Peterson Dunlap
afterwards made up a fine name for this engagement, and also for the night march that
preceded it, but both have long ago faded out of my memory” (page 76). When the
company is forced to spend a night camping out in the rain, Dunlap names the spot
“Camp Desolation” (page 77)—as though the company had sustained tremendous
losses instead of a simple soaking.

The memoir turns suddenly very serious on pages 79–82, when Twain—along with the
others—kills a man who “was not in uniform, and was not armed” (page 81)—a man who
may not even have been an enemy. Twain hears the dying man mumbling about his wife
and child, and he thinks, “This thing that I have done does not end with him; it falls upon
them, too, and they never did me any harm, any more than he” (page 80).

That sums up Twain’s theme. By describing, in a few brief pages, the adventures of one
small band of men who accomplish nothing but killing one unarmed man, he calls the
entire war into question.

What, then, is the conflict in this story? It’s not really person against self, since Twain’s
persona (the identity he creates for himself in this story) doesn’t much question his own
cowardice or lack of enthusiasm for killing. The theme is actually person against person.
It’s a man questioning his society and especially the use of language in that society.
Language, Twain suggests, has a great influence on shaping people’s attitudes. War is
made noble by using certain language to describe it and people’s roles in it. By explaining
how real people act in real circumstances and by showing the difference between rhetoric
and reality, Twain makes his readers question all the traditional, adventurous versions of
war they’ve read and will read.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-9

Lesson 2
 ASSIGNMENT 2

SELF-CHECK
Match the term with the definition.

1. Satire a. brief story

2. Tragicomedy b. pen name

3. Anecdote c. style showing the sadness and humor of

a situation

4. Rhetoric d. specific language used to have a certain

effect on readers

5. Nom de plume e. the use of humor to point out the flaws

and follies of characters
Click here to check your answers.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-10

Lesson 2
ASSIGNMENT 3

YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN

Read this section in your study guide.

ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES
When you complete Assignment 3 of Lesson 2, you’ll be able to

3.1 Distinguish between the literal, supernatural, and psychological levels

of stories
3.2 Define the use of allegory in literature.

BACKGROUND: NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, a seacoast town
a few miles north of Boston. Salem is the town where a number of so-called witches were
tried and executed in 1692 by the Puritans who settled there. The Puritans were an
English religious sect who wanted to purify the Church of England in the late 1500s and
1600s. A very stern, religious group, the Puritans objected to many elements in the
Church of England, because these elements weren’t based on biblical principles. The
Puritans who immigrated to America were called Pilgrims. They were convinced that
their approach to religion was the only true one.

Hawthorne was fascinated by his region’s Puritan past, possibly because one of his
ancestors was a judge who sentenced the Salem witches to death. Many of Hawthorne’s
works explore the hypocrisy he saw in the Puritans’ behavior. He suggests in his novels
and short stories that many people who pretend to be strictly religious really aren’t so
pure on the inside. While they may go to church and appear to be holy, they’re just as
sinful as everyone else.

ALLEGORY
An allegory is a story in which objects and characters stand for something other than
themselves. In a sense, an allegory is symbolism extended throughout an entire piece of
literature. You’ve already read or heard allegories, possibly without even knowing it. For
example, Aesop’s Fables are allegories. In “The Tortoise and the Hare,” the tortoise rep-
resents the concept of hard work and determination. The hare, on the other hand, repre-
sents the characteristics of pride and overconfidence.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-11

Lesson 2
 “Young Goodman Brown” is a good example of an allegory. When reading allegories,
pay careful attention to the symbolic meanings of things, events, and characters. As you
read “Young Goodman Brown,” watch for the possible symbolic meaning of each character,
particularly their names and behavior. Look for other symbols as well, such as the devil’s
staff and Faith’s pink ribbons.

ABOUT THE STORY

“Young Goodman Brown” is a tale of the supernatural. There might be elements of magic
in it, or perhaps it’s all a dream. It’s up to critical readers to draw their own conclusions.

But whether real or imagined, the events in the story do lead to certain conclusions about
the theme. As you read, try to determine what the central conflicts are, and then see if
you can discover Hawthorne’s theme.

Now read “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne in Great American

Short Stories. When you’ve finished reading the story, return to this study guide
and read the story analysis.

ANALYSIS OF “YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN”

The setting of “Young Goodman Brown” is different than in other stories. It takes place
on three levels. The literal level takes place in the very real town of Salem, Massachu-
setts, where a man named Brown finds himself taking a walk in the woods one night.
The supernatural level addresses the devil and other spirits that supposedly haunt those
woods. The psychological level exists only inside Brown’s [Link] reader determines
how much of the story actually takes place there.

The plot of “Young Goodman Brown” is complex. As a reader, you might want to map it
out to help you determine what in the story is real and what’s imaginary. As you map each
event, mark it to determine if what’s happening is literal, supernatural, or psychological.
For example, the first event is when Brown leaves his wife to walk in the woods. That’s a
literal event. Meeting an old man with a “curious staff” is a supernatural event.

INTERPRETING THE STORY

Some event has transformed Goodman Brown. Events of this sort, as you’ve already
learned, are called epiphanies. In the story, Hawthorne himself asks, “Had Goodman
Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting?”
(page 11). Readers can debate how much of the story actually happened and how much
was in Brown’s imagination.

Brown was raised in a Puritan culture that emphasized the outward signs of holiness—
dressing soberly; refraining from drinking, gambling, and seducing women or men pub-
licly; and attending church. This type of behavior can be called religious fanaticism, which
means taking beliefs to extremes. This fanaticism sometimes made people commit terrible
atrocities in the name of their religion.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-12

Lesson 2
Additionally, since Puritans believed that all human beings are sinners, their society
was based somewhat on hypocrisy. On page 10, the devil lists their crimes: the religious
elders have seduced young women, young men have killed their fathers for their inheritances,
and young women have had abortions and committed infanticide in secret, so that no one
would know of their secret affairs.

The devil’s conclusion is that people like Brown and his wife, Faith, have thought of their
leaders as “holier than yourselves” (page 10). He says that they’ve looked at their own
sins and contrasted them with the elders’ “lives of righteousness and prayerful aspirations
heavenward” (page 10). That was all illusion, the devil says; Brown needs to see that
everyone is corrupt.

On an allegorical level, then, this is the experience of every young person who ultimately
discovers that people aren’t always what they seem. While Hawthorne has chosen to use
religious hypocrisy as the basis for his story, the theme is a universal one. He could have
easily used politics as his target; the message would remain the same: people aren't always
what we believe them to be. Sooner or later, everyone discovers that people say one thing
and do another, that no matter how moral people appear to be, they all have secret selves.

When Brown discovers the “truth” about his fellow townspeople, his faith in humanity (and
perhaps his religious faith) is shaken. He can opt to question his faith and change his beliefs.
Brown doesn’t take this option, though. In the end, he keeps his faith but is wary of believing
in what he sees and finds himself unable to forgive others for failing to live up to the moral
codes they strive to enforce.

Brown falls victim to despair—the belief that there’s no real goodness in the world. Despair
is the death of optimism. Hawthorne has chosen to point out the hypocrisy that exists
within religious fanaticism, but this premise is a universal one. Most people have lives
that they hide from others, and many people fail to practice what they preach. He’s
attempting to show that once a person discovers the truth about people, it’s easy to de-
spair. Finally, he indicates the psychological consequences of despair.

Read the story again after reading the analysis. If you find it confusing, you’re in
good company. Professional literary critics have been arguing about just what
happens and what it all means for almost 200 years.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-13

Lesson 2
 ASSIGNMENT 3

SELF-CHECK
1. An allegory is a story in which objects and characters stand for _______.

2. An allegory is like an extended use of _______.

3. Explain the difference between the literal, supernatural, and psychological lev-
els in a story.

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

4. What’s the allegory in “Young Goodman Brown”?

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

5. How did Hawthorne’s religious background affect the story “Young Goodman
Brown”?

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Click here to check your answers.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-14

Lesson 2
ASSIGNMENT 4

A PAIR OF SILK STOCKINGS

Read this section in your study guide.

ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES
When you complete Assignment 4 of Lesson 2, you’ll be able to

4.1 Recognize the use of character studies

BACKGROUND: KATE CHOPIN

Kate Chopin (1850–1904) is most famous for her novel The Awakening. Published in
1899, the novel tells the story of a woman’s growing sense of independence from the
expectations of society. It was almost universally condemned for being immoral when it
was first published. The criticism Chopin received was so harsh that she rarely wrote
after that. The novel, which is tame by today’s standards, is now considered a master-
piece, and most readers believe that Chopin was ahead of her time.

Now read “A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin in Great American Short Stories.
When you’ve finished reading the story, return to this study guide and read the
story analysis.

ANALYSIS OF “A PAIR OF SILK STOCKINGS”

There’s a world of difference between “Young Goodman Brown” and Kate Chopin’s “A
Pair of Silk Stockings.” “Young Goodman Brown” is about as highly dramatic a story as
you’ll find—images and emotions are feverishly intense. Chopin’s story, on the other
hand, is consciously low-key and quiet.

But both stories are character studies. Their plots aren’t as important as what they reveal
about a character’s psychology. Consider the plot in “A Pair of Silk Stockings”:

1. Mrs. Sommers has $15 to spend.

2. She thinks about what she should do with it.

3. She buys a pair of silk stockings.

4. She puts the stockings on.

5. She buys a pair of gloves.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-15

Lesson 2
 6. She buys two magazines.

7. She has lunch by herself.

8. She goes to a play by herself.

9. She speaks briefly to a woman next to her about the play.

10. She takes a trolley home.

That’s not much of a plot. However, if you’re becoming a critical reader, you’ll read this
story slowly, focusing on the details. In doing this, you’ll discover that it’s Chopin’s
descriptions of things that make up the gist of the story.

Reread the story very slowly and watch for some of these descriptions. For example, on
page 153, Chopin describes the feel of the silk stockings. As you read this passage, you
can practically feel the silk. In a similar fashion, you can feel the fine kid gloves and smell
the lunch of oysters, chops, and watercress. Mrs. Sommers’s afternoon isn’t especially
extravagant—it doesn’t compare to Paul’s extremely extravagant week in New York
City—but as a reader, you can experience for yourself how luxurious it all feels to her.

Note that Chopin appeals to every sense—touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing. With
her $15, Mrs. Sommers is able to gratify all of her sensory appetites.

Of course, gratification comes at a price. She should have, perhaps, bought her children
new clothes—something she also enjoys doing. Thinking about that “excited her and
made her restless and wakeful with anticipation” (page 152). Ordinarily she would have
done just that. We learn that Mrs. Sommers is an expert seamstress, a great bargain
hunter, and a shopper who can be both patient and fierce when it comes to bargains.
And ordinarily, Mrs. Sommers would have followed her usual patterns and not acted
“hastily, to do anything she might afterward regret” (page 152).

But she finds herself unconsciously and even accidentally touching a pair of silk stockings.
And she gives in to a whim—but not instantly. Instead, she thinks about it and considers
the price.

The stockings obviously mean more to her than simply feeling the pleasures of silk
against her legs. As Chopin hints, Mrs. Sommers had known “better days” (page 152)
before her marriage. The stockings are important because of what they represent.
They’re for her and her alone, and they represent her own selfish needs, needs that
may have lain dormant since she married and had children, needs that have been
forgotten in her devotion to her husband and children.

Mrs. Sommers clearly has something in common with the character Paul in “Paul’s
Case.” She doesn’t hate her regular existence the way Paul does. In fact, she seems to
enjoy motherhood. She doesn’t look down on others the way he does, and she doesn’t
spend all of her time fantasizing about a glamorous existence. But, like him, she wants to
experience the finer things in life, and she uses a few afternoon hours and $15 to find a
momentary respite from the grinding routines to which she’s accustomed. The stockings,
the oysters, the box of candy—these are symbols of another life, a life she gave up when
she married.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-16

Lesson 2
In a strange way, Paul reconciles his past and his future by eliminating both when he
hurls himself underneath a train. Mrs. Sommers does nothing of the sort. She’s one of
the countless millions of ordinary people who live suspended between what actually is
and what they desire. The last line of the story sums up her condition perfectly in her wish
“that the cable car would never stop anywhere, but go on and on forever” (page 156).

“A Pair of Silk Stockings” is realism at its finest. Nothing out of the ordinary or magical
occurs. There are no demons, suicides, romantic lovers, or knights on white horses—
just a regular woman enjoying herself for one afternoon.

Stories like “A Pair of Silk Stockings” remind us that every face we meet in our daily
public life has a story behind it. The man we see on the train, the women we bump into
shopping—all have their private, hidden lives. Each has a story. In simply showing things
as they are, writers like Kate Chopin are able to show us that there’s so much more going
on than meets the eye.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-17

Lesson 2
 ASSIGNMENT 4

SELF-CHECK
1. Define the term character study.

______________________________________________________________

2. What primary element do “Young Goodman Brown” and “A Pair of Silk Stock-
ings” share?
a. A common theme
b. A foundation on religious fanaticism
c. A fast and action-packed plot
d. A focus on a character’s development

3. The stockings in Chopin’s story are a __________ of better times.

Click here to check your answers.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-18

Lesson 2
 LITERATURE

KEY POINTS
AND RESOURCES
To prepare for your examination, please review these key points:

l Characters who have their own personality and history and are depicted realistically
are individuated characters.

l A motif is an image or idea, such as light, that occurs repeatedly in the story.

l An archetype (ugly duckling or wicked witch, for example) appears repeatedly

throughout history.

l Foreshadowing gives hints of what’s to come in the story.

l A nom de plume, or pen name, is a name used by an author. Samuel Clemens

wrote under the pen name Mark Twain.

l An anecdote helps the reader imagine life in another time or setting.

l Rhetoric is language chosen to have a certain effect on the reader.

l Tragicomedy tries to make people laugh while also showing the true grimness of
the situation.

l Satire uses humor to point out the flaws of people and societies.

l In an allegory, symbolism is extended throughout the story.

Use the following links to learn more about the topics in this study unit:

“Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather

([Link]

“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

([Link]

“A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin

([Link]

Review the content for Lesson 2. Then, complete the multiple-choice examination
before moving on to the next lesson.

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 LITERATURE PAGE 2-19

Key Points and Resources