...provided by SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY (29 Dec 2014 03:14 GMT) The Pedagogical Possibilities of Covering Gilman’s Wallpaper Karla J. Murphy In his introduction to The Pedagogical Wallpaper, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock notes how the pedagogical diversity of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” prompted him to collect essays for this book. He goes on to explain that “given the ubiquity of the text within various academic settings, I was also struck by the absence of attention to the text within pedagogical contexts. Despite the large (and steadily growing) body of criticism to the story, very little of it explicitly addresses its importance as a tool to facilitate learning or various ways in which to make use of the text in the classroom” (3). As a collection, Weinstock’s The Pedagogical Wallpaper contains informed, detailed, and diverse analysis that attempts to shore up the absence of “pedagogical possibilities” concerning Gilman’s transgressive short story (9). Among the contributors are a MOO space specialist, a Gilman scholar, a queer theorist, an existentialist, a formalist, and several reader/student-response theorists. Because each essayist presents a distinct critical perspective on Gilman’s text, each essay is likewise concerned with “how the narrative teaches and how to teach the narrative” (5). Thus, it seems to me that Weinstock’s The Pedagogical Wallpaper resonates with Pedagogy’s conviction that teaching is central to our work as scholars and educators,...
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...Charlotte Perkins Gilman is one of America’s most well known feminist writers and social reformers. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman uses exaggerated literary elements such as setting, symbolism, and character to illustrate the dangers of the mistreatment and disregard of female intelligence during the early 19th century. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born on July 3, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut. Gilman grew up in Providence, Rhode Island with her mother after having been abandoned by her father. Gilman’s mother refused to show any form of comfort or affection towards her daughter because her mother believed that this made women weak and did not want that for Charlotte. Gilman’s mother however would, on rare occasion, caress her daughter while...
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...Michelle Feldner English 1302 March 28, 2013 Literary Analysis Essay At first glance, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story can be confusing to read. You may think you are reading about a woman who is losing her mind, or as the narrators husband says “there is nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression”(9), but in all actuality it’s about a woman who is suffering from post partum depression. Even though the plot of this story is based around her illness, there is another objective to the story, to deliver a completely unrelated message. Gilman seeks instead to evoke a message of individual expression and successfully does so by recording the progression of the illness, through the state of the wallpaper. In the story it’s apparent that the women allows herself to be inferior to men, particularly her husband, John. John is a physician and he orders her to not do anything, simply to rest. “Personally I disagree with their ideas,” she writes. ”Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?”(12-14) This statement shows her lack of self-confidence and feeling of inferiority. She is very accepting that her thoughts and opinions do not count. She belittles herself throughout the story several more times. Many people, in our society today, go through not being able to speak up for themselves with doctors. Although one knows what makes themselves feel better, but they...
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...Alex Moraga Professor Dreiling English 102 21, June 2014 Opinion Essay Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “ The Yellow Wallpaper” A Woman’s Journey from Subservience to Freedom Are male and female minds created equal? Charlotte Perkins Gilman shows us the ideals towards women, held by society in the late 1800’s. Her story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written in the first person point of view, takes us on a journey through the mind of the narrator. The narrator secretly writes in a diary and as we read through her diary entries, we are able to see that during this time in history, women were seen as weak, meek and humble. They were expected to be subservient to men and unequal to their male counterparts in all aspects. Men are seen as being superior to women and godlike. As we read the diary we are looking into her mind, we see how she thinks and how she is expected to think. We meet her as a subservient woman who obeys and believes in her husband. By the end of the journey she has freed herself mentally and shows us that men can be weak. “The Yellow Wallpaper”, is a story of a woman’s mental journey to freedom. From the very beginning of the story the narrator gives us insight into her mind. In today’s times we would view her ability to wonder and question as creative. During these times, her inquisitive mind was seen as an illness. The narrator and her husband are off to a summer getaway. The summer getaway was really a “cure” prescribed...
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...(when you are crazy enough) even become indistinguishable. As for the anonymous protagonist (the wife) of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” her continuous visions of a woman ensnared...
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...Rachael Paige 6/14/15 Introduction to Literature Writing Assignment 1 “The Yellow Wallpaper” Analysis After reading the short story again, my views of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman have stayed mostly consistent with a few deviations from my original reaction. I’ve read the story with a more focused desire on understanding it much more in depth than the first time. I tried to pick up on some more literary details like the tools Gilman uses to tell the story; theme, irony and the symbolism. I’ve also looked into the character John, the narrator’s husband, once more to better understand him. “The Yellow Wallpaper” was a short story that showcased the troubles of women in marriage, the evils of depression, and the importance of independence. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses theme and symbolism in great volumes to portray her ideas. First, to break down the meaning of the title and essentially the room the narrator is “caged” into, the author uses great symbolism and imagery. The yellow of the wallpaper is very dingy and gross, the color yellow even symbolizes decay, rotting, violence, and approach of death. Choosing this color not only characterizes the way the wallpaper already appears, but foreshadows the way the narrator feels by the end of the story. The walls of the room are barriers both physically and emotionally for the narrator; walls are typically symbols of barriers between people or barriers that shut out the world. Together...
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...The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, highlights the repressed position of most married women during the 19th century. The narrator struggles both at the hands of her family members and internally. Her husband John, a physician, makes an effort to alleviate his wife’s mental state by moving their family into an old style home located in a remote area and isolating her as much as possible. He determines that it is unhealthy for her to entertain, interact with their baby, even to write which she seems to enjoy a great deal. When approaching “The Yellow Wallpaper” one has to keep in mind the importance of the title itself. John decides on their bedroom in the new home and it is covered in yellow wallpaper that the narrator takes great issue with. Using reader response, it is evident that Gilman uses imagery and symbolism to merge the protagonist’s life with that of the “woman” behind the yellow wallpaper. Before an analysis is presented the reader must first understand the marital expectations and male to female dynamic during the time period to which Gilman is writing. Married women faced oppression at the hands of society as well as their husbands. The 1800’s were a time when the wife was to be seen and not heard. It was a general societal expectation that wives if financially secure could have no real issues of their own. This was also because they were not expected to think on their own. They were expected to only reflect the...
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...“The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story is set in the late nineteenth century in America. It is a first person point of view of what disconnection and insanity can lead to. Many people believe this is a semi-autobiography of Gilman’s mental illness and treatment approach. In the story, Gilman takes the readers into the psyche of a young wife and mother, Jane, whom is powerless in her insecurities which no one truly understands or makes the attempt to try and understand. Her husband, John, has moved her to the country to recover from her illness. John is a physician who is trying to treat Jane for being “nervous”. Although his intentions are good, he goes about it in the wrong way. Dismissing any wishes she may have and not allowing her to express her feelings and or opinions. For example, Jane wants to be in a different room. The narrator states, “I don’t like our room a bit. I wanted the one downstairs that opened onto the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hanging! But John would not hear of it.” (pg. 346) Making an assumption from what Jane reveals, she is not able to care for her newborn child and has now fallen in to an extremely emotionally unstable state. "It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous." (pg. 346-47. Gilman) Her husband, John, and the other people in her life, don't think she should do anything...
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...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
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...critical theory today critical theory today A Us e r - F r i e n d l y G u i d e S E C O N D E D I T I O N L O I S T Y S O N New York London Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2006 by Lois Tyson Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Printed in the United States of America on acid‑free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number‑10: 0‑415‑97410‑0 (Softcover) 0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97410‑3 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Tyson, Lois, 1950‑ Critical theory today : a user‑friendly guide / Lois Tyson.‑‑ 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0‑415‑97409‑7 (hb) ‑‑ ISBN 0‑415‑97410‑0 (pb) 1. Criticism...
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