Why Pair the "Story of an Hour" and "A Doll's House"?

I think these two stories have many similarities. First of all, Ibsen and Chopin wrote both of these stories during the Victorian era where piety and women's duty to a man were societal norms. Both of these stories go against that with social realism. In a Doll's House, the people talk about blackmail and forgery committed by a woman. Nora, the protagonist, even considers leaving her family or committing suicide. These would not have been talked about in that day and age. Also, in the Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard is relieved when she finds out her husband has died. This would have been very controversial because women were supposed to love their husbands and want nothing more than marriage. However, her case brings to light the limited freedoms women had being married in the Victorian era. Both of these stories have the theme of social realism which brings to the stage things people would not talk about. Nora and Mrs. Mallard are also very comparable because they both want individual freedoms and not be controlled by men. Mrs. Mallard wants to live here life to the fullest without a husband when she hears of his death, but is shocked and dies due to shock when she hears he is still alive. Nora wants to do things on her own and not rely on Helmer. She hates the fact that she owes Krogstad money. Both these tales detail how very little liberty women had in the Victorian era and they make people think about topics that are not openly discussed. 

Taboo

I believe there are many taboos that exist in our culture these days. Some current taboos, or things one does not simply talk about, are money dealings, racism, smoking, and pornography. For these, many people still talk about them and do them, but they are not that present. People don't talk about each other's dealings with money, especially if it's a little shady. You don't ask someone how much something was or how much they make. It's interesting because money dealings have been taboo for a long time now. A while ago, it was scandalous for women to wear dresses and someone to be acquitted of money laundering. While one has changed, the latter is still true. People can talk about racism openly, it's just taboo to actually be and do racist things. It's also morally wrong, but there were times and places where doing racist things was ok. It's now taboo to smoke in public places, as you don't really see people doing that anymore. Porn is also something most people talk about. Most don't want to acknowledge that many young teenagers and kids watch it, but we know it's there. Taboos can go away over time as people can gain more exposure to them, but some are just morally irresponsible and should remain taboos such as racism. Taboos can be good because it can sometimes be a peer pressure to do the right things. Such as smoking, if society looks down up on it, less and less people are likely to do it. 

Worst Travel Experience

I've had some pretty bad travel experiences in my many years, but the most recent one that comes to mind that was pretty bad was flying back from India in December 2010. It was a really long flight, about 18 hours, from Dubai to Houston. I was sitting in the very last row and we were caught in the middle of a winter storm. It's always the worst being the back during turbulence. The first few hours were all right and the weather wasn't too bad. But then, I checked the little flight tracker on the monitor and saw that we were above the North Pole. Can't be good, I thought to myself. I felt a little turbulence and they passed out the dinner. Not a good choice there. The seatbelt sign went on and the captain told the flight attendants to take their seats. Now, usually it's alright during turbulence and the attendants are up and about. But when the captain asks them to sit down, you know things just got real. I felt the first bump. Whoah! Then it got worse. The plane was dipping down and the meals were flying everywhere. This continued for about half an hour and people were screaming. I looked outside and saw lightning crack and wind. I saw the wind! I felt extremely hot and just wanted it to be over. I thought this was the end. I was too young to die! After a while, after the plane got over mainland, things started to simmer down a little bit. There was less bumps and the plane was flying smoothly. I was still paranoid though that I would feel another huge dip. To this day, that trip has made a little timid of getting on long flights and very uneasy at the thought of turbulence.