Korb has a master's degree in English literature and creative writing and has written for a wide variety of educational publishers. In the following essay, she discusses constructions of identity in Chopin's short story.

As early as 1923, the scholar and critic, Fred Lewis Pattee, wrote that Kate Chopin "must be rated as genius, taut, vibrant, intense of soul." Despite his whole-hearted endorsement, for the majority of the twentieth century, "Désirée's Baby" was the only piece of writing by which Chopin was known. In fact, until the reprinting of The Awakening in 1972, her reputation rested upon the one story. With the "rediscovery" of the author in the past several decades, however, a host of literary critics have re-examined Chopin's body of work, including "Désirée's Baby." While reviewers and readers of Chopin's day lauded the story, most emphasized Chopin's ability to...