Charlotte Perkins Gilman - The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman – “The Yellow Wallpaper”

• Rest Cure: A 19th-century treatment for mental health issues, particularly in women, focusing on complete rest, isolation, and avoidance of intellectual or creative activities.
• Narrator's Treatment: The narrator is treated as fragile, infantilized, and controlled by her husband, John. He dismisses her opinions and patronizes her.
• Forbidden Activity: Writing is forbidden because her husband believes it's too mentally stimulating and will worsen her condition, aligning with the rest cure's emphasis on passivity.
• Narrator's Submission: The narrator internalizes societal norms of obedience to male authority, lacking the autonomy to assert her needs.
• Probable Cause of Breakdown: Postpartum depression, exacerbated by the oppressive rest cure and lack of creative or social outlets.
• Effect of Rest Cure: The rest cure worsens the narrator's condition, leading to isolation, obsession with the wallpaper, and a complete mental breakdown.
• Narrator & Wallpaper Woman Similarities: Both are trapped and struggling to escape. The wallpaper woman symbolizes the narrator's imprisonment by societal expectations.
• Husband's Fainting: The husband faints upon seeing his wife's descent into madness. He is shocked and overwhelmed.
• Feminist Significance: The story critiques patriarchal medical practices and the damaging effects of limiting women's independence and creativity.
• Motivating Event for Writing: Gilman's personal experience with the rest cure, after suffering from postpartum depression and a near mental breakdown.
• Gilman's Writing Goal: To expose the flaws of the rest cure and prevent others from undergoing similar harmful treatments.

Jack London – “To Build a Fire”

• Naturalist Literature: A literary movement emphasizing the power of nature's determinism, human's insignificance against the environment, and how humans are shaped by their environment and biology.
• Inspirations for Naturalism: Darwinism, scientific observation, and social determinism influenced this movement.
• Naturalism in "To Build a Fire": The indifference of nature, human vulnerability, and the fatal consequences of underestimating environmental forces.
• Man's Initial Mistake: Disregarding local advice, underestimating the cold, and overestimating his own abilities.
• Man's Fatal Mistakes: Venturing alone, failing to prepare properly, starting a fire under a snow-laden tree, and ignoring the dangers of the extreme cold.
• Dog's Survival: The dog survives due to its reliance on instinct and adaptation to the environment, contrasting with the man's dependence on human judgment.

William Faulkner – “A Rose for Emily”

• Faulkner's Focus: The American South, particularly Mississippi.
• Faulkner's Themes: Southern traditions, decay, family, race, the clash between the past and present.
• Historical Context: The Civil War and its aftermath, including the decline of the Southern aristocracy.
• Emily as a Symbol: Represents the Old South, clinging to outdated traditions and resisting change.
• Metaphor of Corpse: Symbolizes the South's inability to let go of the past and unhealthy attachment to old values.
• Title Interpretation: The "rose" symbolizes a gesture of pity, love, or remembrance for Emily's tragic life.
• Relationship with the Town: Ambivalent; Townspeople pity but also gossip and judge Emily, showing a mix of respect and disdain.
• Relationship with Homer Baron: Controversial due to Homer's Northern and working-class background, contrasting with Emily's aristocratic status.
• Emily's Motive: Fear of losing and maintaining control over Homer.
• Keeping Homer's Corpse: Emily's inability to let go symbolizes her mental instability and obsession with permanence.
• Award: Nobel Prize in Literature.

Modernist Poets & The Harlem Renaissance

• Modernism Inspirations: Rapid industrialization, WWI, urbanization, and disillusionment with traditional values.
• Modernist Poetry Changes: Abandonment of traditional forms, free verse, fragmented structures, focusing on individual experience and emotion.
• Red Wheelbarrow Significance: The poem symbolizes the beauty and significance of ordinary objects.
• "This Is Just to Say" Feelings: Playfulness and guilt, confessing to stealing plums in casual tone.
• Harlem Renaissance: A cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement celebrating African American culture and advocating for racial equality.
• Rivers in Hughes' Poetry: Symbolizing the deep history and collective memory of African Americans.
• Hughes' Message to White Readers: To highlight the resilience, richness, and humanity of African American history and culture.
• Hughes' Message to Black Readers: To instill pride in shared heritage and strength.

F. Scott Fitzgerald – “The Great Gatsby”

• Jazz Age: Post-WWI era of economic prosperity, cultural dynamism, jazz, and loosening social norms.
• Gatsby's Wealth Source: Prohibition created opportunities for illegal bootlegging.
• Gatsby's Self-Made Status: He rises from poverty through hard work, ambition, and illicit activities to achieve wealth and status.
• Fitzgerald's Reference to Franklin: Gatsby meticulously crafts his persona, reflecting Benjamin Franklin's concept of self-improvement.
• Tom & Daisy's Survival: Their wealth and privilege protect them from consequences.
• Daisy's Daughter's Ideal: Sees ignorance and beauty as a way for women to navigate a man-dominated world.
• Valley of Ashes: Represents moral and social decay, highlighting the plight of the poor.
• Gatsby's "Greatness": His relentless optimism, romantic idealism, and pursuit of dreams elevate him despite his flaws.
• Daisy & American Dream Parallels: Both are alluring but unattainable and hollow.
• End of Roaring 20s: Stock market crash of 1929, leading to the Great Depression.
• Fitzgerald's Criticism: Critiques the era's materialism, loss of moral values, and disillusionment with ideals.
• American Dream Diagnosis: A flawed concept, corrupted by greed and unattainable.
• Nick's Different Perspective: More reflective, moral, and capable of critical insight.
• Connection Between Land/Gatsby: Loss of innocence, dreams tainted by ambition/greed.

John Steinbeck – “Of Mice and Men”

• Title Meaning: Fragility of dreams, often going awry.
• Dust Bowl: A series of devastating dust storms in the 1930s harming farms.
• Dispossessed: Farmers and laborers who lost their homes/livelihoods.
• Soledad Meaning: "Solitude" in Spanish, reflecting character loneliness.
• George & Lenny Relationship: Deep, bonded friendship, George as protector, Lenny as companionship.
• Pond's Importance: Symbolizes the cyclical nature of their lives and tragedy.
• Tragic Nature: Foreseeing characters' downfall, ending with a morally devastating choice.
• George's Decision: Killing Lenny to spare him a cruel death.
• Curly's Wife's Tragedy: Isolation, dreams crushed.
• American Dream Critique: Shows how the dream is unattainable for marginalized people.
• Powerlessness: Characters trapped by poverty, disability, societal forces.
• Award: Nobel Prize in Literature.

Ernest Hemingway – “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”

• Hemingway Style: Concise prose, simple language, understatement, “iceberg theory” of deeper meanings beneath the surface.
• Nada Symbolism: Represents emptiness and meaninglessness of life.
• Problem of Characters: Loneliness, depression, anxiety about existence's emptiness.
• Well-Lighted Places Importance: Offer refuge from life's darkness and chaos.
• Lost Generation: Individuals who came of age during/after WWI, disillusioned by war's brutality.
• WWI Impact: Shattered ideals of heroism and progress, showing war's brutality and futility.
• Lost Generation & Characters: Alienation, despair mirroring post-war disillusionment.
• Hemingway's Recognition: Adventurous lifestyle, love of danger, Nobel Prize 1954.

Raymond Carver – “The Cathedral”

• Dirty Realism: Focusing on the mundane, flawed characters, minimalistic style.
• Narrator's Characteristics: Average, disillusioned, insecure, emotionally detached.
• Narrator's Problems: Lack of empathy, prejudice, shallow understanding of life and relationships.
• Relationship with Blind Man: Deep emotional bond, mutual respect, meaningful communication.
• Narrator's Discomfort: Harbors blindness stereotypes, insecurity about wife's connection.
• Drawing Experience Effect: Forces emotional and spiritual connection, broadening perspective.
• Open Ending Impact: Invites readers to interpret narrator transformation.
• Blindness/Seeing Paradox: Blind man deeply sees, narrator physically sees but isn't emotionally connected.
• Optimistic Ending: Narrator gains connection/understanding, suggesting personal growth.

John Updike – “A & P”

• Sammy's Lessons: Impulsive decisions, consequences of defiance, complexities of gender dynamics.
• Teenage State of Mind Accuracy: Catches impulsive behavior, desire for independence, fascination with rebellion and attraction.
• American Life Recording: Portrays daily lives in a small town, highlighting social/cultural norms.
• Open Ending Engagement: Leaves readers to ponder Sammy's future and act's meaning.

Ethnic Literature

• Ethnic Literature: Reflects experiences, traditions, and cultures of specific ethnic groups.
• Typical Themes: Identity, racism, cultural heritage, assimilation, displacement, social inequality.
• Bambara's "The Lesson": Explores economic inequality, racism, and unequal opportunities.
• Authenticity in Bambara's Work: Uses African American Vernacular English (AAVE) for realistic portrayal.
• Perspective on White America: Highlights resentment, awareness of racial inequality and economic disparities.

Explore the themes and treatments depicted in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. This quiz delves into the rest cure, the narrator's struggles against patriarchal control, and the impact of mental health treatment in the 19th century. Test your knowledge on the intricacies of the story and its societal implications.