ENGLISH 30-1: SHORT STORIES, POETRY, AND VISUALS UNIT The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman

Transcription

1 ENGLISH 30-1: SHORT STORIES, POETRY, AND VISUALS UNIT The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman GUIDING QUESTION: What idea(s) do(es) the text creator(s) develop regarding the significance of an individual s attempt to live unconstrained by convention or circumstance

2 Part 1: Visual Analysis Examine the visual Freedom and Captivity. 1. Individually, consider what this visual says to you. Jot down your impressions and the details that contribute to your interpretation. 2. Share your impressions with a partner. Both of you should be prepared to share your impressions with the class as a whole. image for story of an hour.jpg

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4 Part 2: Poetry Analysis Read and analyze the poem The Wall by Forugh Farrokhzad The Wall With the cold moments of the past fleeting by, Your wild eyes contained in your silent demeanor build a wall around me And I flee from you to a pathless path. Until I see valleys on the moons dirt Until I wash my body in the water fountains of light In a colorful fog of a warm summer morning I ll fill my skirt with lilies from the fields And hear the roar of roosters from the village rooftops I m fleeing from you to the very skirts of the valley Where I ll press my feet to the ground Until they sip dewdrops of grass I m fleeing from you to a deserted beach Where on the lost boulders beneath dark clouds I ll learn the twisting dance of the ocean s hurricane In a far off sunset, like wild doves I ll see fields, mountains, and the sky beneath my feet. And in the midst of dry bushes I ll hear the blissful music of field birds. I m fleeing from you until I open the path To the city of desires And in that city The castle of dreams will have a heavy golden lock But your eyes with their silent scream Will blur my vision Like your dark secrets that Build a wall around me. At last one day I ll flee from the illusion of conceiving doubt And I ll radiate like a perfume from the colorful flower of dreams And I ll diffuse into the wavy hair of night s zephyr And travel to the very beaches of the Sun In a silent world, within an eternity of calmness. I ll gently rock on a bed of golden-colored clouds That extends hand like rays toward the serene sky As if playing a song. It is there where I am happy and free And I weave memories of this world Because your bewitching eyes Find my eyes And blur my vision Like your dark secrets That build a wall around me. - Forugh Farrokhzad Translation by Pari Kooshesh January 2003

5 Questions: 1. Examine the poem to find 2 examples of each of the following devices: a.alliteration b.consonance c.assonance d.euphony e.cacophony f.simile g.imagery h.personification i.metaphor 2. Find and explain the effect/meaning of one example of the following: a.irony b.hyperbole 3. Find 3 images of freedom and 3 images of restriction. What effect is created through the use of these contrasting images?

6 Questions: 1. Examine the poem to find 2 examples of each of the following devices: a.alliteration b.consonance c.assonance d.euphony e.cacophony f.simile g.imagery h.personification i.metaphor 2. Find and explain the effect/meaning of one example of the following: a.irony b.hyperbole 3. Find 3 images of freedom and 3 images of restriction. What effect is created through the use of these contrasting images?

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8 Part 3: Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman Pre-Reading 1.Terminology: a.stream-of-consciousness b.symbolism c.paradox d.irony 2.Discussion: a.at what point does interest become obsession? Obsession becomes neuroses? b.what potential issues can arise from seclusion and idleness? c.what is subjugation? Is it possible in a marriage? How? d.post-partum Depression, the rest cure, During Reading 3.Motif Tracking: As we read, identify images of repression and/or freedom within the text

9 Picky Details: 1. What is the full name of the author? 2. What is the name of the husband? 3. What is in the sub-pattern of the wallpaper? 4. What type of room is the narrator staying in? 5. Also describe the room the narrator wanted to stay in. 6. What is unusual about the windows and the bed in the room? 7. List two demeaning names the narrator calls his wife. 8. Why does the woman tire from writing? 9. What is the word used to describe the woman's movement at the end of the story? March 29, 2012

10 Interpretation: 1. At the beginning, the narrator refers to her husband John and herself as ordinary people. What makes the setting and the people at the beginning seem ordinary? How is the narrator ordinary? When do you notice the first hints of something extraordinary? 2. What and how do you learn about the narrator s illness? What and how do you learn about the treatment proposed by the husband-doctor? 3. Why is it significant to the story that the woman is nameless? What is the author suggesting about women in general by not giving the main character a name? 4. How does the wallpaper change from day to night? 5. Why is it significant that the woman comes out of the paper at night? 6. What eventually happens to the relationship between the woman in the wall and the narrator as the story progresses? 7. How does the narrator use namelessness against the man at the end?

11 Attention to Detail: 17.List five instances which show the manner in which John, the narrator's husband, subjugates her or minimizes her wishes and desires. For each quote or event you choose, explain its significance in demonstrating the husband's attempt to overpower his wife. March 29, 2012

12 18. Aside from the wallpaper, the design of the house, the narrator's placement in it, its furnishings, the narrator's comments regarding the house, and the surrounding area of the house offer the reader a parallel view into the narrator's psychological degeneration and the limitations being placed on her freedom as an independent, thoughtful, self-sufficient individual. List five details regarding the structure of the house and its surrounding area which you see as parallels to the narrator's emotions and ideas. Present your information in a column chart, where the left side lists the detail and the right side explains what the detail mirrors in the character's life. March 29, 2012

13 19. It is evident that the wallpaper acts as a key symbol in this piece of literature. Like the house, it acts as a parallel for the narrator s psychological state. List five details regarding the evolving description of the wallpaper, and for each, provide an explanation of what the description mirrors in the narrator's psychological state. Present your information in a column chart, where the left side lists the detail and the right side explains what the detail mirrors in the character's life. March 29, 2012

14 Post Reading 1.Analyze story as a class: a.character analysis: Narrator, John, Jennie b.point of View: Consider the writer s decision regarding narrative point of view. Why do you think she chose this p.o.v. over other possibilities? Note the use of the journal. c.ironies: verbal, situational, dramatic d.revisit pre-reading discussion topics and terminology 2.Students will complete factual questions and interpretation questions independently. Their responses will undergo a homework check. Students will then participate in a seminar-type discussion in groups where their participation will be evaluated. 3.After the seminar, students will write a personal reflection on the guiding question.