When you have finished your third reading, go to
the Writing Assignment on
this story.Plan on reading the story three times before you undertake to write on it.
Your first reading: letting the story show itself.
Of course the obvious task in any first reading is simply finding out what happens. But as you do this, be asking yourself
what you find yourself feeling as you discover what transpires.
Also: It quickly becomes apparent that this story is presented in the form of the protagonist's diary. Since this is a form of first-person narration, we should bring to bear the general battery of questions that arises as soon as we realize we are dealing with this point of view. Here we don't have a dramatic monoloque, but something that is more like a soliloquy and yet not exactly that, either: a diary. How do we need to customize our agenda of curiosity to fit this situation?
In what respects does the author appear to have arranged the story to so as to lead the reader to an understanding of the protagonist's situation that is importantly different from the protagonist's own?
Finally: in even a first reading it is always useful to keep the title concept in mind. What does this story "do with" the yellow wallpaper?
Caution: Do not read further in this Study Guide until
you have completed your first reading.
Your second reading: reflecting on how our attention is shaped by the story.
Let the story sit a while before embarking on a second reading. And before reading further in this memo, jot down a couple or three points that you found mysterious about the explicit events you've been taken through in your initial reading.
In your second reading, you will want of course to be on the lookout for details that seem promising as materials out of which answers to these questions might be fashioned.
Here is something else to be mindful of. You will have notices that the story is divided into 6 short sections by 5 breaks marked by horizontal bars.
What seems to be the main business of each of these sections? What changes do we notice
(a) between the condition of the protagonist at the beginning of a given section and her condition at the end of that section, and
(b) between the condition of the protagonist at the end of a section and her condition at the end of the preceding section?
Within each, can you detect a "mini-plot," with rising action, climax and (perhaps or perhaps not) denoument? Or are some organized on some different principle?
Is there one in particular within which you would locate the climax of the story overall?
What considerations help determine your decision?
Do any of these changes connect with changes in the way the yellow wallpaper "behaves"?
Caution: Do not read further in this Study Guide until you have completed your second reading.
Your third reading: focusing for writing.
Use this reading to clarify your awareness of exactly what we are to understand as the nature and sources of the husband's conduct in responding to his wife's "case."
When you're finished with this reading, see if you can arrive at some evaluation of his way of dealing with what he is confronted with. Is it fair to expect him to handle things any other way? How would you explain your answer?
When you have finished your third reading, go to
the Writing Assignment on
this story.
Suggestions are welcome. Please send your comments to lyman@ksu.edu
Contents copyright © 1998 by Lyman A.
Baker.
This page last updated 25
April 2000.