Pick out at least five phrases from "The Story of an Hour" which you think are especially important to the story.

The first line that pops into my head right now is the
very ending line, the one where the doctor proclaims that Louise Mallard had died "of
joy that kills."  That line is loaded with meaning and irony.  First of all, there is
the fact that the doctor, and everyone else, just assumed that Louise had been so happy
to see her husband that she had died of a heart attack from the joy of it.  As we know
from earlier in the story, that is not true; in fact, she was dismayed and dealing with
her new-found freedom being torn away from her.  Secondly, it is interesting how her
sister had been so careful to tell her the news of her husband's death, because she was
worried that it would shock her.  It didn't as much as the opposite, news of her
husband.  That was the shock that did in her heart.

Another
sentence that is important:

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There would be no powerful will bending hers in
that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a
private will upon a
fellow-creature.

That line
relays Chopin's, and Louise's, view of marriage, that it was someone forcing their will
upon another person.  That explains Louise's reaction to her husband's death.  Another
important phrase is when Louise declares, "Free!  Body and soul free!"  This reveals her
joy at being released from marriage.  I also like the description of her face as having
"repression and even a certain strength."  That tells us a lot about her, that she feels
repressed, and is a strong woman.  One last line is the ever-important intro. to her
heart problem, "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart problem" that is at
the very beginning of the story.

I hope that those help a
bit; good luck!