The yellow wallpaper

Length: 500 words (approximately two pages – multi paragraphs, please!)

Format: Times New Roman 12, one inch margins, double-spaced (Use this font)

Choose either A or B (but not both)

A. Physician’s Report. John serves as a doctor, husband, and caretaker. As a physician he has diagnosed his wife with a “slight hysterical tendency,” but refuses to consider that something different or more serious may be wrong. In the nineteenth century, hysteria wasn’t well understood as a psychological phenomenon and the main treatment was the rest cure used from 1873 – 1925. It involved confining women to their beds. and forbidding them to have social interactions. In this creative response, write a physician’s report from the husband’s (clinical) point of view. In this report, describe what he observes in his wife’s actions and behavior, his thoughts, concerns, beliefs, and explain why he believes that the rest cure will assist his wife and why he believes that the mansion he chooses to rent for three months is the best place to help his wife recover.

Please note: Use your imagination but stay true to Gilman’s plot.

OR

B. I Am Poem. The narrator feels constrained from her physical and creative confinement. That is why she keeps a secret diary hidden from her husband and others. Capture her thoughts, feelings, fears , anguish by writing a poem (in at least 25 lines) from the narrator’s point of view. Pretend that she had written this poem, which was later found by a future tenant of the house. Free feel to incorporate some of the words and phrases she uses in the story in your poem, but of course use your own words as well. Explore how she sees herself, how she views her husband, her confinement, her sister-in-law Jennie, the woman in the wallpaper, etc. This is a poem so use imagery, visual pictures, to illustrate her anguish. Determine whether the tone of your poem will be sad, angry, resigned, regretful, etc. It certainly does not have to rhyme, but flex your creative muscles by using a poetic format to capture some of the narrator’s emotions and thoughts.. Write from the first person point of view. Please note: Use your imagination but stay true to Gilman’s plot. Don’t create a totally different story.

Don’t forget: Five open ended questions to the Discussion board about “The Yellow Wallpaper

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ESSAY QUESTION: Choose three of the eight prompts below

Respond to the following prompts in at least 18 – 24 sentences total (more is welcome for full credit). Use the information that you read in the textbook and the handouts and videos.. Use your own thoughts and ideas. Support your ideas with specific examples and specific quotations from the story. Check carefully for misspellings and grammar errors. For each question, respond in a separate paragraph. Include specific quotations or references to the story to illustrate your points. Write in full sentences – no listing please.

1. Read the following quotation from the story: “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.” (6)

• What does this quotation suggest about the role of women in marriage at the time? What gender assumptions does it establish/reinforce?
• What does it say about Johns attitude toward his wife, especially in terms of her illness?
• Do you consider him a “bad” or uncaring husband? Why or why not?
• Do you think that the restraints that the husband places on her are motivated by love and a sincere effort to effect a cure? Why or why not?
• What specific words does he use to refer to her? While thinking about this issue, consider the symbolism of the nursery.

2. In what ways would you consider the woman in the story an unreliable narrator? Provide two or three reasons for your answers. (6)

• If she is not reliable, how does this affect your reading of the story?
• What words would you use to describe her and her perspective of the situation?
• Is she able to separate fantasy from reality? Why or why not?
• How is her narration similar to/different from that of Montresor in “A Cask of Amontillado”?
• How would “The Yellow Wallpaper” (and your perspective of the story) change if this were narrated by John, the husband?

3. How does the character of the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” compare/contrast with “Miss Emily”? (6)

• How are their situations specifically similar and how are they different?
• What similar obstacles do they face?
• How do they try to overcome them?
• How does the point of view in which the story is told affect your perception of each character?
• Does each achieve some sort of freedom at the end of the story? Why or why not?

4 . Watch the video “

.” and “

.” (6)

• First, explain the issues as discussed in these two videos.
• What is your response to these issues?
• What have you seen or experienced in terms of mental illness treatment and healthcare?
• What surprised you?
• What do you think is the cause of these problems?
• How do these videos help you to understand the situation in “The Yellow Wallpaper” better?
• In terms of health care and mental illness, what has changed and what has remained the same since the time of this story? (6)

5. Read the section about doppelgangers in literature. (6)

• What is a doppelganger and what purpose do they serve in literature?
• How is the woman in the wallpaper a sort of doppelganger?
• Who or what does the woman in the wallpaper represent or symbolize?
• What role does she play in the story?
• How does the narrator perceive her and what is her affect on the narrator?
• How did she affect your reading of the story?
• Did it make it even more confusing for you ? Why or why not?

6. Review the PowerPoint on Gaslighting and Mansplaining.” (6)

• Discuss and explain these terms from your own perspective and experience.
• Then explain specifically how these terms relate to the interaction between the characters in this story.
• How are these terms gender specific and what purpose do they serve?
• How do they help to block communication and understanding between the sexes?

7. Compare and contrast the characters in “The Yellow Wallpaper” with those in “Sweat.” (6)

• How do the characters reinforce gender stereotypes?
• How do they subvert them, if at all?
• What conflicts do they face?
• How do they attempt to overcome them?

8. Many people might notice that this story has many elements that are a part of Gothic fiction. Re-watch the film on “Characteristics of Gothic Literature” describe and explain with specific details three elements of Gothic literature that are apparent in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” (6)