General Requirements: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's  "The Yellow Wallpaper" This essay is based on The Yellow Wallpaper. Your essay should be 3-5 pages and be in MLA format (double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt font, and with proper in-text and works cited page documentation). These should be well developed, argument-based essays in which you clearly state your interpretation of the text, and support that assertion with examples from the text. Be sure to make the focus of your essay the literature we’ve read, as opposed to some of the context about literature and history we’ve read. IF you use these context readings as all, keep it to a minimum using only one or two context references in your essay. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER SOURCES besides the Norton Anthology to write your essay. If you use ANY OUTSIDE SOURCES to write the essay, you will earn an F for the assignment. Be sure that the wide majority of your essay is a discussion of this literature, and only refers once or twice to context/background readings.  Developing Your Thesis: Here are some questions related to the major themes that have emerged with the reading so far are. Come up with an answer to ONE of these questions as your thesis: How do the values of the individual compare to the values of the community? How do ideas of American masculinity and femininity affect the meaning of the text? How do cultural identities get defined or explored in the literature? Paper Content Requirements: Audience and Style-Your hypothetical audience for this paper is an academic one, so you can assume that your readers have some familiarity with American Literature and with your texts. You should not assume that your reader is a member of our class; write as though your essay might be read by students and scholars who are simply interested in your subject. You style should be somewhat formal, but you may use “I” whenever it is necessary. Remember, though, that it’s best reserved for instances in your writing where your own identity or personal experience is somehow being integrated into your analysis of the text. Avoid contractions, and refer to author’s by last name after you’ve given their first and last names once. Introduction and Thesis (one paragraph)-Your paper should begin by stating the general topic and themes you'll write about, stating your text (full title and author's full name), a brief summary of the narrative or essay, and some context (when it was written and any relevant historical background). Your thesis should be stated at the end of the Introduction paragraph, and should make an assertion about the way you think the text(s) should be read and what you think they mean overall. It should be argumentative and analytical, not merely observational. Body paragraphs-Here is where you support the way you think the text(s) by closely examining specific characters, scenes and examples from the primary text(s) -- that is, the literature, not the background reading about the literat ...

1. General Requirements:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"
This essay is based on The Yellow Wallpaper. Your essay
should be 3-5 pages and be in MLA format (double-spaced,
Times New Roman, 12 pt font, and with proper in-text and
works cited page documentation). These should be well
developed, argument-based essays in which you clearly state
your interpretation of the text, and support that assertion with
examples from the text. Be sure to make the focus of your essay
the literature we’ve read, as opposed to some of the context
about literature and history we’ve read. IF you use these context
readings as all, keep it to a minimum using only one or two
context references in your essay. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER
SOURCES besides the Norton Anthology to write your essay. If
you use ANY OUTSIDE SOURCES to write the essay, you will
earn an F for the assignment.
Be sure that the wide majority of your essay is a discussion of
this literature, and only refers once or twice to
context/background readings.
Developing Your Thesis:
Here are some questions related to the major themes that have
emerged with the reading so far are. Come up with an answer to
ONE of these questions as your thesis:
How do the values of the individual compare to the values of
the community?
How do ideas of American masculinity and femininity affect the

2. meaning of the text?
How do cultural identities get defined or explored in the
literature?
Paper Content Requirements:
Audience and Style-Your hypothetical audience for this paper is
an academic one, so you can assume that your readers have
some familiarity with American Literature and with your texts.
You should not assume that your reader is a member of our
class; write as though your essay might be read by students and
scholars who are simply interested in your subject. You style
should be somewhat formal, but you may use “I” whenever it is
necessary. Remember, though, that it’s best reserved for
instances in your writing where your own identity or personal
experience is somehow being integrated into your analysis of
the text. Avoid contractions, and refer to author’s by last name
after you’ve given their first and last names once.
Introduction and Thesis (one paragraph)-Your paper should
begin by stating the general topic and themes you'll write about,
stating your text (full title and author's full name), a brief
summary of the narrative or essay, and some context (when it
was written and any relevant historical background). Your
thesis should be stated at the end of the Introduction paragraph,
and should make an assertion about the way you think the
text(s) should be read and what you think they mean overall. It
should be argumentative and analytical, not merely
observational.
Body paragraphs-Here is where you support the way you think
the text(s) by closely examining specific characters, scenes and
examples from the primary text(s) -- that is, the literature, not
the background reading about the literature. Give your
paragraphs clear topic sentences/points of focus. Focus on

3. aspects that you find most interesting, subtle, clever or skillful -
you should NOT go through summarizing or paraphrasing the
surface meaning of the text(s).
In general, literary analysis consists of two basic approaches,
sometimes in combination, and sometimes by using only one or
the other: content-based or method-based. This may be
something to consider as you decide on your topic and
approach. For example, you may look at the ideas and concepts
developed, debated and addressed in a text, and you may choose
to look at the actual structure and language of a piece and how
that way of writing achieves a certain effect. Your own opinion
is vitally important, but remember that academic writing
requires that you defend your opinion by demonstrating a clear
understanding of your material and “evidence.”
Each body paragraph should contain at least one (two is
probably safer) direct quotations from your primary text(s).
Read this to learn more about how to use quotations well:
https://writingcommons.org/avoi d-dropped-quotations
Conclusion-Here, bring your discussion to a close thoughtfully,
rather than by mechanically repeating what you’ve already said.
It can be helpful to emphasize your main points with a small bit
of repetition, but add some reflection on such topics as the
value of analyzing the text(s) this way for contemporary
readers, or the ways that your analysis helps readers understand
the social contexts of the periods they were written in. In other
words, it should answer the question: “So What?”
Format-Your essay should be in MLA format, without block
quotations (nothing longer than 2.5 lines), and without a title
page or subheadings. Please see any MLA format handbook,
online resource, or my MLA format document posted on Moodle
for help with these technical aspects.

4. Grading Criteria
A successful (A) essay will assert a unique and interesting
claim, be logically organized, have clearly focused paragraphs,
offer textual support (at least once) in each body paragraph, and
come to a logical and compelling close. An acceptable essay (B
or C) will still have a clear thesis and body paragraph
development (to meet the page/content requirement), but will
somehow fall short by, for example, not presenting a logical
organization. An insufficient essay (D or F) will not meet the
length/development requirement, and fail to appropriately use
textual support and documentation, and/or be off-topic.