Read the excerpt from "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'"The little book is valued by alienists and as a good specimen of one kind of literature. It has, to my knowledge, saved one woman from a similar fate—so terrifying her family that they let her out into normal activity and she recovered.What does Gilman indicate is the impact of her work?
Read the excerpt from "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'"Then, using the remnants of intelligence that remained, and helped by a wise friend, I cast the noted specialist’s advice to the winds and went to work again—work, the normal life of every human being; work, in which is joy and growth and service, without which one is a pauper and a parasite—ultimately recovering some measure of power.Which social attitude of Gilman’s era does this excerpt demonstrate?
Which of the narrator’s statements in "The Yellow Wallpaper" suggests that she does not think women are too frail to be intellectual?
In "The Yellow Wallpaper," which description of John indicates that the narrator does not trust him?
Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."I don’t like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! but John would not hear of it.He said there was only one window and not room for two beds, and no near room for him if he took another.He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction.Which statement describes a gothic element in this excerpt that reflects a social attitude of Gilman’s time?
Read the excerpt from "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'"Being naturally moved to rejoicing by this narrow escape, I wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, with its embellishments and additions, to carry out the ideal (I never had hallucinations or objections to my mural decorations) and sent a copy to the physician who so nearly drove me mad. He never acknowledged it.What was Gilman’s most likely reason for sending a copy of her story to her former physician?
Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no REASON to suffer, and that satisfies him.Of course it is only nervousness. It does weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way!I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able,—to dress and entertain, and order things.How does the narrator’s viewpoint reveal a social attitude of Gilman’s time?
Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candle light, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be.What does the narrator’s description of the wallpaper reveal about the context of the story?
Why did Gilman most likely choose an unreliable narrator to tell the story of "The Yellow Wallpaper"?
Which excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper" contradicts the narrator’s belief that she is improving?
Did you find these answers helpful?