Atrocious

Atrocious: Adjective: extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel;: appalling , horrifying.

From “The Yellow Wallpaper”, ” I am sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as i please, save lack of strength.”(Page 2, paragraph 8)

Now i understand that the narrator believed that the nursery was a scary place  to be in.

Blogging for Wedneday, 2/20’s class

If you’ve been asked to blog for Wednesday’s class, that means that you need to complete your post by the end of the weekend. Everyone else needs to comment by 10:00am Wednesday. I’ve come up with several topics, but would love to hear others you’re interested in or want your classmates to attempt to address:

Choose three quotations from “The Yellow Wall-Paper” that convince you that the protagonist is an unreliable narrator and explain why for each.

Choose three quotations from “The Yellow Wall-Paper” that present the married couple’s relationship, and explain what you understand about John as a character, and about the protagonist as a narrator for the way she depicts John.

We might use the words utopia and dystopia to describe the two short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that we read. What do those words mean? Which story is utopian and which is dystopian? Why?

How do the different settings come into play in these two short stories by Gilman? In what ways might we read the settings as similar but the inhabitants of those worlds as different?

Is Malda a reliable narrator in “The Cottagette”? why or why not? Incorporate quotations into your answer to support your argument.

In what ways is “A Rose for Emily” similar to other texts we have read? different? What do you think about those similarities and differences?

The narrator in “A Rose for Emily” is different than others we have encountered. What term would you use to identify the narrator? is it a reliable narrator? Use evidence from the story to show why you say reliable or not.

This might be your first time posting, but it’s no longer new for us to read posts and comment, right? We’re getting really good at it! Let’s keep the good efforts going: when writing a post, remember to include a title that reflects what you’re writing (it shouldn’t be able to apply to everyone’s post and can certainly be longer than one word), choose appropriate categories and tags (or add if you want a tag that isn’t there already), write at least 300 words, proofread, and publish! If there are links or media you want to include, please do. Commenters, please contribute100-150 words, proofread, and leave your reply. If you want to leave additional replies, you don’t need watch the word count, but you should still proofread! You can always go back and edit!

Erroneous

Erroneous: Adjective: containing or characterized error.

From Women and Economics Chapter XIV “Our assumption that only married people and their immediate relatives have any right to live in comfort and health is erroneous.”

I now understand what she meant in saying this which is basically our assumptions about peoples right to live in comfort and good health was wrong.

“The Cottagette” as a feminist text.

“The Cottagette” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, can be looked at as a feminist text because of the year it was written and the tone of the story. By the early 1900’s women were fighting for their equality of rights. In either a relationship or marriage women had to be housewives and do all the household duties while their other halves worked. They stayed home all day either taking care of the children, doing  laundry, cooking, cleaning the typical role of the women was rarely questioned until women started to speak out saying they are able to do more than what society wanted them to do.

The reason why I can consider this a feminist text because Gilman says “Lois likes to do housework, but it spoils her hands for practicing… I always work best in the morning; but of course housework has to be done in the morning to; it is astonishing how much work there is in the littlest kitchen”(page 5, paragraph 5).  Here it clearly says that Lois likes what she has to do on a daily basis and you see this first hand on a woman’s perspective that enjoys what she does.  Also another reason why this can be viewed as a feminist text is when Gilman writes “The Cottagette” I loved unreservedly. It was so little and new and clean, smelling only of its fresh planed boards—they hadn’t even stained”(page 1, paragraph 9). It shows that she appreciates the little things in life.

The Cottagette is a symbol throughout the story which I believe represents all housewives, who have a little place in the house to call their own which is the kitchen. Where they are in control of what takes places in there and it’s what most men don’t interfere with, which is to keep the house in order. Gilman molds Lois, as the inspiration to most women who take pride in what they do.

Blogging on Tuesday for Wednesday’s class

If you were asked to blog by 5:00 on Tuesday so that everyone can comment on your posts by 10:00am Wednesday, what do you plan to blog about? Here are some ideas, but I hope others will reply here with other ideas.

  • In class we looked at a selection from “Women and Economics” about housework. Does the short story “The Cottagette” present a solution to the issues raised in Gilman’s non-fiction “Women and Economics”? Explain your stance.
  • We began discussing the issue of narrator reliability. Consider narrator reliability in “The Cottagette” or “The Yellow Wall-Paper” or compare the two. Include examples by quoting from the text to show what informs your sense of reliability.
  • “The Yellow Wall-Paper” was once believed to have been out of print from 1920 until feminist scholars re-discovered it in the 1970s. Here are two possible topics to consider based on this statement:
  • How do you read “The Yellow Wall-Paper” or “The Cottagette” as a feminist text? What does that mean?
  • According to one examination of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and its publication history, the story did remain in print in between its reprint in 1920 and its feminist re-discovery in the 1970s–in horror story collections. In what ways do you see “The Yellow Wall-Paper” as a horror story? Include specific references to the text to support your claims.
  • What connections do you see among the stories assigned from the start of the semester and either or both of Gilman’s stories? Are there trends you can identify? Or contrasting situations/characters/styles that are worth noting in their difference? Be specific!

These are just a few ideas that you might consider. For your post, choose one of these, or venture off on your own topic, using any of these as a guide to make sure your topic is as focused. Use the texts to guide you, consider that your audience will have read the same materials but might not have thought about them as much as you have or in the same way that you did, and enjoy sharing your ideas. On the nitty-gritty end of things, remember to include a title that reflects what you’re writing (it shouldn’t be able to apply to everyone’s post and can certainly be longer than one word), choose appropriate categories and tags (or add if you want a tag that isn’t there already), write at least 300 words, proofread, and publish! If there are links or media you want to include, please do.

Commenters–get ready! Everyone who isn’t writing a blog post will need to comment by 10:00am Wednesday, so make sure you’re ready to comment on your classmates’ work with 100-150 words of insights and reactions to share with the class.

Querulous

Querulous– Adjective, habitually complaining, fretful,whining.

From ” The Yellow Wallpaper”  I don’t feel as if it was worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and I’m getting dreadfully fretful and querulous”. ( Page 4, paragraph 8)

Now i understand that the main character has been sick for a while and she has been whining trying to make herself feel better.