Personal Reflection

Dear Mrs. Donnelly,
           The Yellow Wallpaper was a difficult story for me because of the strange type of talk. It was also difficult because you kept putting new and confusing concepts into my head. But I must admit I did like the story, you made it fun and exciting. My favorite part of this entire story was writing this and trying to remember every single concept you had talked about. This was one of the most fun projects I've done all year. I had a great time laughing and joking around with you Mrs. Donnelly and I really don't want it to come to an end. But hopefully you'll come to our graduation. This project made me look at things differently, that not all of school has to be boring. And sometimes it can be really fun. Thank you.

From,

Molly Feldner

Society: Societal or Historical Connection

In this story Gilman is trying to prove the position of womens rights in The Yellow Wallpaper. Gilman talked about how John had talked to her like she were a child because in her mind he thought she couldn't take care of herself. He thought she was too weak because in the 1800s that's how women were looked at. The men treated the women as if they were children and couldn't handle themselves. Today women are more then capable of handling themselves and sometimes the men. Even today women aren't treated equally to men. Men get payed more then women for doing the exact same job. Women are still working hard to be equal with men but it is so much better now then it was when Gilman was alive.

http://www.hrw.org/topic/womens-rights
explains womens rights

http://www.globalissues.org/article/166/womens-rights
talks about womens rights



Connection: a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else

Meaning Behind The Yellow Wallpaper: Symbolism

The Yellow Wallpaper is a strangely confusing story. It speaks of a woman in the 1800s in the United States and how she went mentally insane because her husband kept her in a room for three months. This story is a reflection of Charlotte P. Gilman's life told in diaries of a woman named Jane. Gilman renamed herself to talk about men in a bad way. Such as in the story when she said "Now why should the man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!" (Pg. 11) usually fainting is girly thing and for her to say this shows that men aren't always stronger then women and women can be just as powerful as men the point Gilman's trying to get across is to show everyone how women are being treated in hopes of possibly making a change. This story is a way for her to get all of her feelings and emotion out to the world. She had a strong belief in women having as many rights as men because she knew that everyone was equal. Gilman stood by what she said and never backed out on her thoughts.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/liselle.htm

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/symbolism-yellow-wallpaper-387309

Symbolism: the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Crazy Jane?: Protagonist

The protagonist in the story of The Yellow Wallpaper was the woman behind the wallpaper. It's the woman behind the wallpaper because when Gilman wrote "'I've got out at last,' said I, 'in spite of you (referring to John) and JANE. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!'". Then I reread and reread until I understood what was going on. When I realized I also noticed that the story had said "There is a very funny mark on this wall, low down, near the mopboard."  And Gilman also mentions that this women shakes the bars. This leads me to believe that the women behind the wallpaper was watching Jane from behind the headboard. When I had discussed this with my class one of my classmates said "Well, what if she is in a sanitarium." and I used that as a connection of a woman watching her friend go insane while slowly becoming crazy herself. She and Jane had ripped the paper off together and locked the door. The woman behind the wallpaper was actually people behind a thin sheet of paper with glass behind it watching Jane. That can also explain as to why Jane saw more then one person at a time "inside" the paper, because multiple people were standing there watching and recording her. But there was one main woman who was always there and that's who "wrote" the story she could have been the only one avalible to a pen or pencil. Realistically Jane would've never gotten the chance to have those oprotunities. They would have thought she would've hurt herself, plus John didn't even want her to write in the first place so how would Jane have gotten anything to write with? The woman behind the wallpaper was the protagonist not Jane.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Wallpaper





Protagonist: the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

Is Gilman Crazy?: Theme

In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Gilman supposedly has a disease that makes her crazy. Her husband, John, tells her she needs to get away from human contact. So he locks her in this old nursery with bared widows and tattered wallpaper so she can become less crazy. John misjudged on what to do with Gilman as a result she thought the problem was becoming worse. She was trying to tell him that she needed to talk to people but he wouldn't listen. She eventually starts to realize that men have most of the control. All that Gilman gets to do is sit around and wait for something to happen that she can help with. This story focuses on the little rights women have in that time era.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/yellowwallpaper/themes.html

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-yellow-wallpaper/study-guide/major-themes/



Theme: the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic.

Meet Charlotte P. Gilman: Gilman's Background

Gilman was a very strong and independent women. Charlotte Gilman was born July 3rd, 1860. Mrs. Gilman had a lack of love. Her mother, father, and daughter never truly loved her. Gilman was highly educated and loved to write. So when her husband, John, told her she couldn't write because she was suffering from hysteria she couldn't help herself. She kept a secret journal, which today is know as the "Yellow Wallpaper". Gilman died August 17th, 1935 she committed suicide. At that time she was 75 years old. A 75 year old women in 1935 committed suicide because she went insane from her husband and all of the doctors telling her to stay away from human contact.



http://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-perkins-gilman-9311669

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap6/gilman.html

Background: Born, July 3rd, 1860. Died, August 17th, 1935. Was well educated.