Desiree's Baby

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

CREATIVE WRITING: “Armand’s Response”

In this activity, students will write a creative response from the point of view of Armand outlining his next steps.

Chopin ends her story with the shocking revelation about Armand’s past. In this activity, you will create a response from Armand in which he determines what to do with this newfound information in relation to himself, as well as his family and property. Be sure to maintain Chopin’s character development in your response, while incorporating relevant details from Chopin’s story.

After drafting your creative response, share your story with the class. Reflect on the similarities and differences in characterization among your classmates’ pieces.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity invites students to approach their understanding of Armand’s characterization from the context of a creative writing assignment. Based on the level of the class, the activity works well as either an individual take-home assignment, or in-class group work.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. “Désirée’s Baby” contains several cyclical elements, with repetitions occurring along generational lines.

• How does Armand Aubigny repeat his father’s cycle, and how does he depart from it? (topic sentence)
• How does the fate of Désirée’s baby echo Désirée’s origin?
• What do you think Chopin is trying to achieve by employing these cycles, particularly as they link to the theme The Unnatural and Irreconcilable Rules of Race?

2. Consider the ending of Chopin’s story.

• Why do you think Désirée chooses not to go back home to Valmondé, even when her mother invites her? (topic sentence)
• What do you think happens to her and her child after the story ends?
• How does Chopin’s presentation of Désirée’s world and her choice to be alone link to the larger theme of The Destructiveness of Hatred Versus the Salvation of Love?

3. Though “Désirée’s Baby” does not tell the story of enslaved people, it’s still a story about race-based slavery and segregation.

• In which ways does Chopin’s story speak to the unreliable rules for racial classification? (topic sentence)
• How is this achieved by centering on “passing” characters?
• Overall, how does the concept of passing connect with the theme The Cruelty of Slavery?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Chopin largely conceals Désirée’s baby from the reader, neglecting to describe him directly but rather using the “little quadroon” (Paragraph 19) boy as a mirror. What is the narrative effect of withholding physical descriptions of the child from the reader? How does this deliberate decision connect to a larger message or theme in the piece?

2. In “Désirée’s Baby,” different characters discover and understand that Désirée’s baby has Black ancestry at different times. Analyze how the intervals between these characters’ discovery of the truth creates suspense and tension in the story, and consider what it says about Désirée that she is the last to know. How does Désirée’s discovery link to both the fate of her marriage and the social norms of gendered expectations in the antebellum period?

3. One way to critically read a short story is to examine its beginning and end. What can we learn about the world of “Désirée’s Baby” from its first sentence? What kind of mood and expectations does it set up? Why does the story start at this particular moment in time, and why does it end where it does? How does the ending shed light on the beginning?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. At which of the following locations do two of Désirée’s most formidable moments take place?

A) The orchard

B) The stone pillar

C) The furnace

D) The planting fields

2. Which of the following words best describes Armand’s initial reaction to Désirée’s “obscure origin”?

A) Preoccupied

B) Unabated

C) Trifling

D) Ashamed

3. Which of the following phrases best exemplifies characteristics of the Southern Gothic genre?

A) The description of L’Abri

B) The record of Armand’s conversation with Désirée

C) The initial flashback of the story

D) The ending letter from Armand’s father

4. Which of the following reasons best describes why Madame Valmondé is shocked to see the baby after four weeks?

A) Because his eye color had changed

B) Because his health had deteriorated

C) Because his skin tone had darkened

D) Because his weight was unchanged

5. Which of the following words best describes how Armand broaches the subject of his wife’s racial origins after his son is born?

A) Stoically

B) Ferociously

C) Fearfully

D) Passionately

6. Upon receiving the letter from Madame Valmondé, Désirée “was like a stone image: silent, white, motionless after she placed it there.” Which of the following literary terms is used in this quote?

A) Anaphora

B) Simile

C) Allusion

D) Synecdoche

7. Which of the following phrases best indicates the characters’ statuses as wealthy?

A) The use of Creole in the house

B) The frequent discussion of market shares and trade

C) The upkeep of the plantation exteriors

D) The tradition of bestowing names on their plantation properties

8. Based on the ending of the story, which of the following statements would the Aubigny family most likely agree with?

A) One must be forthright about one’s ancestral origins.

B) It is most important to preserve one’s social status in society.

C) Egalitarianism is the way forward for Southern states.

D) The abolition movement is fundamental to a postbellum America.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Chopin’s setting link to the Southern Gothic subgenre?

2. Consider the author’s style of narration. How does this reveal more about the characters?