Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin

'storm of grief had spent itself'- metaphor suggests the strength of her emotion. 'spent' indicates moving on from one phase to the next.

'new spring life'- pathetic fallacy to link new spring life with new possibilities in her life.

'child...continues to sob in it's dream'- simile of child represents a new start in life. 'dreams' represent transition from grief to dreams of the future.

'what was it?'- the rhetorical question prepares the reader to expect the unexpected.

'air'- imagery and pathetic fallacy are used to represent her feelings as external forces.

'whispered word'- onomatopoeia and alliteration draw attention to the word that will be said.

'free, free, free!'- repetition of the single word indicates excitement or disbelief.

'a heart trouble'- article 'a' here creates ambiguity around the cause of the heart trouble. Can be understood to mean heart disease, but also a troubled emotional state. Additonal meaning emerges as story goes on.

'she would have no one follow her'-  'would have' suggests that others tried to follow but she insisted on being alone. This suggests her independent nature. Significant as later we find out how she likes life better on her own.

'open window'- suggests the possibilities of life. Her facing an open window suggests she is ready to explore them. Chair is comfortable, roomy= positive.

'blind perspective with which men and women'- here she suggests blindness in marrying for tradition. Suggests marriage is not good for men or women.

'elixir'- mythical potion gives eternal life and youth- ironic as she dies within the hour.

'joy that kills'- ironic that the doctors think that she was overjoyed to see him return, when reader knows she was actually devastated. Dramatic irony.

• Louise Mallard's heart trouble begins the story, is mentioned in the middle, and is the cause of her end

• The story takes place in an hour

• story is made up of many short paragraphs

• There is a lot drama within this hour- with huge swings of emotion expressed through concise sentences.