Tragedy, death, adversity and criticism can one or a combination of these circumstances influence the path you take? Enduring the death of loved ones, facing critical abuse and public denunciation as an immoralist, Kate Chopin is considered among the most important women in the nineteenth-century American fiction. (Scarsella)

Katherine (Chopin) O'Flaherty was born of Irish-French descendants. There is some controversy over the actual date of her birth. Kate stated her day of birth as February 8,1851. There was another listed date, July 12, 1850. Most biographers listed Kate year of birth as 1851 as Kate stated, but Toth discover both baptismal date of May 12, 1850, recorded for Kate at St. Louis Cathedral registry and the U.S. Census record of August 1850 that records a seven-month-old baby, "Cath", at the O'Flaherty home. (Toth, 24) Therefore, the actual date of birth is unclear.

Her father, Thomas O'Flaherty, was Irish immigrant who became wealthy. Her mother, Eliza Faris O'Flaherty, was of French-Creole heritage. Eliza, at age 16, became Thomas second wife. From Thomas' first marriage was born George O'Flaherty, Kate's half brother whom she loved with all her heart. Also livi

Kate and her husband had settled in New Orleans for nine years. During this period of time six children were born: Jean, Oscar, George, Frederick, Felix and Leila. Oscar, job as cotton commissioner had started having problems. In 1880 when the business failed, the family moved to Cloutierville, Louisiana. There, Oscar opened a general store and continued to over see plantations. Here in Cloutierville Kate was able to meet a variety of people by helping her husband at the general store. Kate later uses her experiences with the French, Negro, Spanish, and English culture to write about. She gained the reputation of being a regional writer from this experience.

Kate had a special bond with her father. She was always curious and inquisitive about his job. So, at the age of 5, Thomas O'Flaherty decided to take his daughter to work with him one day. This caused the bond to grow even

Her first poem, "If It Might Be," was published in a Chicago periodical. Some scholars interpret the poem as a desire to join her husband in heaven (Koloski). It was her first published story, "A Point at Issue!," that began her career as a writer. Kate had written many poems and short stories, but in 1883, she published what became her best short story, "Desiree's Baby." It is a story about a lady abandoned as a baby and is adopted and raised by a family of loving and caring people. After marring, her husband accuses her of having black decent because the baby was born with dark skin. It was after he orders Desiree to leave that he finds a letter left by his mother explaining that he is the one of mixed race. This piece represents some the culture she learns about different cultures while working in the general store with her husband, Oscar.

After her father's death, she began bonding with the other members of her family. Her mother, Eliza, dealt with death of her husband by focusing on religion. She enrolled Kate in the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart. It is here that Kate discovers literature and the joys of reading (Hoffman). Her great-grandmother taught her to speak French and play the piano. She also delighted Kate with stories that made a vial impression on her. One of which was the story of how her grandmother, had run a ferry service on the Mississippi, and lively stories of women who dared- and seldom remarried. (Howard)

Some common words found in the essay are:
Kate Chopin, Petry Awakening, St Louis, Book Kate, America' Trosky, Frederick Kolbenheyer, Awakening Kate's, Kate Edna, Heart Kate, Louis Society, st louis, kate chopin, duties wife, caused kate, mother eliza, kate st louis, louis society, edna tries, pacific railroad, story awakening, kate writing, st louis society, actual date birth,
Approximate Word count = 2948
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)