Literary Text Evidence Quick Check

Question

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Feature

The Story of an Hour
by Kate Chopin

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. . . .

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her. . . .

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which detail can be inferred from this passage that is not explicitly stated?

(1 point)
Responses

Mrs. Mallard has had difficulty controlling her emotions in the past.
Mrs. Mallard has had difficulty controlling her emotions in the past.

Mrs. Mallard had hoped to spend many good years with her husband.
Mrs. Mallard had hoped to spend many good years with her husband.

Mrs. Mallard’s heart problems were caused by stress from her marriage.
Mrs. Mallard’s heart problems were caused by stress from her marriage.

Mrs. Mallard was not happy in her marriage to her husband.
Mrs. Mallard was not happy in her marriage to her husband.

Answer 1

The most supported inference from the passage is:

Mrs. Mallard was not happy in her marriage to her husband.

This inference is drawn from the context of her reaction to her husband's death. While she does experience grief, the passage highlights her feelings about the future and the sense of freedom she anticipates, which suggests a complex emotional state regarding her marriage. The text emphasizes her welcoming of a future that "would belong to her absolutely," implying a desire for independence rather than depicting a purely sorrowful reaction to her husband's death.