MASTERCLASS
ONE HUNDRED
Helen Walters celebrates a centenary of masterclasses by revisiting the first author she picked to write about, and reflecting on what she’s learned about the craft of writing short stories
According to my records, this is the one hundredth of these masterclasses that I’ve written for Writing Magazine. So, I thought I’d revisit the writer I chose for my first masterclass, and have written about many times since, Kate Chopin. For this month I have chosen her story, ‘A Pair Of Silk Stockings’. As always, you’ll get the most out of this masterclass if you read the story for yourself: https://www.katechopin. org/pdfs/Kate%20Chopin%2C%20 A%20Pair%20of%20Silk%20 Stockings.pdf
Let’s start by looking at the very first sentence. It’s only thirteen words, but it tells us so much. Mrs Sommers, our main character, is referred to as little. Whilst this may be purely a physical description, it also suggests that she may also be, or consider herself to be, insignificant. We also learn that fifteen dollars is a lot of money to her, and that she has come across it in an unexpected way.
This first sentence signals to us what we should expect from the story in terms of content and theme. A woman, who may be perceived as insignificant, finds herself unexpectedly in possession of a significant amount of money. Like a lot of Kate Chopin’s work, this story shines a light on the experience of women and their place in society in the late nineteenth century.