The paragraphs of "The Locket" by Kate Chopin suggest that women were notified of the deaths of loved ones at war through letters. The mention of Octavie reading a letter that accompanied the locket indicates that letters were a means of communication during that time, especially in the context of loss and mourning associated with the Civil War. While the other options touch on cultural expectations, the emphasis on the letter in the text is a direct reference to how women received news during the war.
The Locket
by Kate Chopin
Octavie wore a plain black dress, severe in its simplicity. A narrow belt held it at the waist and the sleeves were gathered into close fitting wristbands. She had discarded her hoopskirt and appeared not unlike a nun. Beneath the folds of her bodice nestled the old locket. She never displayed it now. It had returned to her sanctified in her eyes; made precious as material things sometimes are by being forever identified with a significant moment of one’s existence.
A hundred times she had read over the letter with which the locket had come back to her. No later than that morning she had again pored over it. As she sat beside the window, smoothing the letter out upon her knee, heavy and spiced odors stole in to her with the songs of birds and the humming of insects in the air.
"The Locket" by Kate Chopin
Question
Use the paragraphs to answer the question.
What do these paragraphs reveal about a cultural experience during the Civil War?
(1 point)
Responses
Unmarried women were expected to dress like nuns.
Unmarried women were expected to dress like nuns.
Being overly concerned with material things was considered unbecoming for a woman.
Being overly concerned with material things was considered unbecoming for a woman.
Being overly emotional, even during times of war, was not proper for a woman in polite society.
Being overly emotional, even during times of war, was not proper for a woman in polite society.
Women were notified of the deaths of loved ones at war through letters.
Women were notified of the deaths of loved ones at war through letters.
1 answer