1
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Survival Unit, Block A and C
Sweiss, 2014
On Demand Writing Prompt # 1 (pages 1-4), Monday, February 3
Question: Summarize the text (pages 1-5) of “The Yellow Wallpaper” and identify a THEME beginning to emerge thus far in the text.
Perception: Through My Eyes
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” an unnamed female protagonist is placed in a “house” of some sort to help
her with a “temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency” (p. 648). Her
husband a doctor, along with her physician of a brother, both deem it best that she is
isolated from her child and anything “stimulating,” and therefore she is placed in an old
“atrocious nursery” (p. 649), though she internally wishes to be outside, in the fresh air and
by the beautiful flowers. The nursery’s wallpaper captures her attention; the color of the
wallpaper is “repellant, almost revolting, a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by
the slow-turning sunlight” The woman can’t get over the flamboyant pattern of the yellow
wallpaper and it seems to occupy her thoughts throughout her “rest” period, ironically
preventing her from getting her “rest,” so to speak.
Clearly, the narrator’s experiences mirror the author’s personal struggles. Charlotte Perkins Gilman also
experienced bouts of depression and her doctor Weir Mitchel believed the
“rest cure” would be most beneficial, though she personally disagreed. As a
woman in a patriarchal, male-dominated society, Gilman was simply
following the norms of women should behave, as spelled out in the Cult of
Domesticity. Women were expected to be pious, pure, domestic, and
submissive. Submissive is perhaps the best word to describe the woman in
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” as she nods and smiles to everything her husband
asks. She wants to change rooms, but her husbands prefers not; she wants
to socialize, but her husband prefers not; and most strikingly, she feels the need to hider her writing, her personal
thoughts, from her husband.
One of the emerging themes in the text is “entrapment.” The woman is
“trapped” both physically and emotionally.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
2
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Survival Unit, Block A and C
Sweiss, 2014
On Demand Writing Prompt # 2 (pages 4-5), Tuesday, February 4
Question: How does the character of John contribute or develop the theme or themes of the text “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
3
4
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Survival Unit, Block A and C
Sweiss, 2014
On Demand Writing Prompt # 3(pages 6-8) Thursday, February 6
Question: Write a poem (minimum of ten lines) that addresses the exact theme evident in “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
5
6
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Survival Unit, Block A and C
Sweiss, 2014
On Demand Writing Prompt # 4(pages 8-9), February 7
Question: Analyze the woman’s actions in the final scene of “The Yellow Wallpaper.” How do her actions develop the theme or
themes of the text? Cite the text in your analysis.
7