Name____________________________________
Ms. Wu
AP Literature
22 August 2014
“The Yellow Wallpaper” Socratic Seminar Preparation #3:
Language and Meaning of Work
Directions: Please answer the following questions for Socratic Seminar. Paper copy + Turnitin by 8:05
am. Need both to meet proficiency for the seminar. For all questions, cite specific evidence to support
your points. Please write in paragraph form. Typed, double-spaced, MLA formatting.
Part I. Language: Diction and Tone
1. What tone is set throughout the story with the repetition and use of the word "creep"? Why
must the woman in the wallpaper “creep” by daylight and why must it be “humiliating” (654) for
her to do so? What does the creeping in daylight symbolize? How does her feeling of humiliation
perpetuate the assumptions about women at the time? Why does Gilman choose the word
“creep” instead of “running” or “walking” or “breaking through”? What greater meaning does
this “creeping” take on in light of the story’s greater feminist concerns? Cite specific evidence to
support your points.
2. In addition to “creep,” what other important words and phrases used in the short story develop
Gilman’s characters and themes significantly? Analyze at least two specific words or phrases.
What connotations do these words and phrases have? Collectively what tone do they set for the
story and why is Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s word choice effective? Cite specific evidence to
support your points.
Part II. Meaning of the Work
3. To what extent is the story’s end satisfying, hopeful, or triumphant? Has the narrator achieved
freedom? When she says, “I’ve got out at last in spite of you and Jane? And I’ve pulled off most
of the paper, so you can’t put me back!”, what exactly has she gotten out of? And why “in spite of
you and Jane?” Is she free? Who is Jane? Is she Jane and/or no longer Jane? How has Jane
limited her freedom? Why can’t she be put back in? Is she right about this?
4. What specific stance or message does the story’s closing image (the end) with John’s fainted body
on the ground and the narrator creeping over “that man” make about the major themes of the
story? Going beyond Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s stated purpose for writing the short story, how
does the end convey the meaning of the work as a whole? What enduring messages about
humanity does the end convey? To what extent are these messages paradoxical, ironic, or even
problematic? Why? Cite specific evidence to support your points.
5. Generate 2 additional critical questions you want to ask your seminar group.