Tag Archives: fiction

Questions for Thursday’s post

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Choose one of the questions from Tuesday’s assignment that you didn’t respond to, or choose one of the following questions to respond to in your blog post due on Thursday morning (I think these are more interesting!):

Consider these three very different pieces by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: two short stories, “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and “The Cottagette,” and the chapter (XIV) from a non-fiction work, Women and Economics. How do the different narrative styles compare? Or how does the information conveyed in the non-fiction chapter come through in either of the short stories?

In feminist narratologist Susan Sniader Lanser’s groundbreaking study,Ā Fictions of Authority: Women Writers and Narrative Voice, Lanser argues that social pressuresĀ not only constrained the content of the narrative but the narration style itself. Early in her book, Lanser includes a letter that showcases one writer’s solution to the limitations she found in writing negatively about her marriage. When I read this letter and Lanser’s analysis of it, I wonder what techniques Charlotte Perkins Gilman employed to convey a positive message about the narrator’s feelings about her husband while also conveying something much different to a more tuned-in reader. Read the letter on pages 9-11 of Fictions of Authority and write a post considering your reactions to the letter and the ways the letter illuminates the way you read any of the short stories assigned so far this semester.

In the selection from Women and Economics, Gilman makes an argument about housework. What is it? Does the short story “The Cottagette” present a solution to the issues raised in Gilman’s non-fiction Women and Economics? Explain your stance.

Some of you have begun to consider the issue of narrator reliability. Compare narrator reliability in “The Cottagette” and “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” or compare one of these with the reliability of the narrator in “The Story of an Hour.” 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? Use specific references to the text to support your argument.

OR

  • 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!

Homework for 2/4: “The Story of an Hour” and elements of fiction

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“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a great story to discuss for many reasons. It’s especially convenient because it packs so much into just a page and a half. After you read “The Elements of Fiction” and “The Story of an Hour,” re-read “The Story of an Hour” with pen or pencil in hand. Mark it up by identifying different elements of fiction you find in it, as well as anything else that stands out to you. When you take notes on a reading, what techniques do you use? Underlining, circling, bracketing, writing summaries, questions, observations, drawing arrows connecting similar ideas, defining words you didn’t know, among other techniques are great ways to get into a text. Try a combination of these techniques.

When you finish, write a blog post in which you identify a pattern or theme you noticed and noted, and show how it develops from beginning to end. You can judge if you’ve chosen something too big or too small based on how close you come to the goal of approximately 300 words for the post. The word count is indicated at the bottom of the frame of your post as you write it. Adjust accordingly.

Make sure you include a title for your post that reflects what you specifically wrote about–so not the title of the story, or “Homework” or something too general. Then choose the category Kate Chopin, and add any tags you want to your post. You might add a particular element of fiction that you’re writing about, or something else that stands out that you want to identify that will help a reader find your post on our site. If this is confusing, don’t worry about it yet–there’s time to learn this later.

If when you’re done you feel like you’re up for a challenge, try to add an image of your marked up copy of the story. You can take a picture of it, scan it, or use this great app called CamScanner that uses your smartphone’s camera to scan a document. Then on the same page where you’re writing a post, click on the Add Media button near the top. Follow these instructions to help you add the image. It’s not much different than attaching a file to a document. If you add a .jpg, it will appear in the post; if you add a .pdf, it will appear as a link.

If you have questions, please ask them here by leaving a comment on this post. I’m happy to answer questions, and look forward to reading your posts. One last thing: here’s how to write a post: when you’re logged in, a member of our course, and on our site, click the plus (+) at the top of the screen. That will take you to a new post.