Charlotte Perkins Gilman's

The Yellow Wallpaper

Introduction

A diary has been found in the ruins of a colonial estate. It contains some most private entries that explain the events preceeding, during, and following the publication of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, The Yellow Wallpaper.

The Task

You will be working with a partner. You must create the discovered diary and it's various entries using the information that you will gather from the following websites and resources. (You may include pictures, artifacts, etc-use you imagination) You may divide the resources between you and your partner. You may use the following questions to guide you in your research:

• What were some of the important events in Charlotte's life prior to,during, and following the creation of The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Who were the men who inspired The Yellow Wallpaper? How did they influence Charlotte's work? (Dr. Silas Weir and her husband, Charles Walter Stetson)
• Why did Charlotte write The Yellow Wallpaper?
• What kind of emotions and conflict was Charlotte dealing with at the time? How was her life situation portrayed in her work?

Ideas for entries:

• Meetings with her Doctor
• Discussions with her husband
• Letters she attempted to write to friends

(Use your imagination)

The Process

1. Divide the resources between you and your partner.

2. Look for answers to the above questions and take notes on any information that you may be able to use to create diary entries.

3. You will need to keep a notebook of your notes to discuss with your partner.

4. After finding sufficient information regarding Gilman and her reasons for writing The Yellow Wallpaper, discuss how you will incorporate your notes into diary entries.

5. Reread The Yellow Wallpaper and decide if you will include artifacts or drawings to enhance you diary. (If so, what will they be or depict?)

6. Carefully handwrite each entry and bind it together in a book (or write it in a notebook - the more authentic looking the better)

7. We will be sharing these with the class. You will be evaluated by your peers and by your instructor.

The Resources

Online

http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/index.html

http://gilman.thefreelibrary.com

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/enam312/cpghp.html

http://www.cortland.edu/gilman/AboutCPG.htm

http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/gilman1.html

http://www.bauerart.com/stetson.html

http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/959.html

Books

• Approaches to Teaching Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Herland, by C. Davis and Denise Knight.
• Yellow Wallpaper: A Critical Edition and Documentary Casebook (Pennsylvania State Series in the History of the Book) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Julie Bates Dock (Editor)
• The Pedagogical Wallpaper: Teaching Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "the Yellow Wall-Paper" by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock

Learning Advice

 You need to keep track of all your notes and information in order to create your journal entries. You may want to keep a notebook. Your notes should consist of :

• important literary cues and symbols within the short story itself (use these as catalysts for your entries)
• important happenings in Gilman's life
• important facts about the people that were involved in her life and story and how she felt about them
• Information that helps you deduce what kind of person she was (in order to write from her perspective - in character)

Conclusion

Now that you have done your research and created a Gilman's journal you may notice that your understanding of her short story may be different from the first time we read it in class.