Using “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, write an essay in which you interpret the two stories in light of concerns related to gender and feminism. You may focus primarily on the female characters, or you may include the male characters in your discussion. Your approach can be either a positive or negative view of gender roles and/or stereotypes. Do not just identify stereotypes within the stories. Instead, show how an understanding of the dynamics of gender inform the actions and attitudes of the characters to reveal significance and meaning. .
The first paragraph of your paper should identify the stories you are writing about and their authors. The first mention of the author should be by full name (c.f., William Faulkner) and all subsequent references by last name only (c.f., Faulkner). The first paragraph should establish clearly the point you are making both about the meaning of each story individually as well as how you are looking at them as a pair. For instance, if you were writing an essay on “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro and “The Third Thing That Killed My Father Off” by Raymond Carver in terms of the relation of the meaning of the stories to gender issues, you might have an introduction something like this: Of the many difficulties people face growing up, certainly the acceptance of our own sexuality and its consequences upon our relationships with members of both sexes account for many of the major conflicts in our lives. Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” describes the ambiguous feelings a young girl has as she leaves childhood to become a young woman. In Raymond Carver’s “The Third Thing That Killed My Father Off,” a young man is exposed to the complicated relations between men and women, and the painful consequences that can occur when these relationships come in conflict. Both stories reveal the difficulties inherent in what it means to be a man, a woman, a girl, a boy.
Do not include in your paper references to how you personally feel or what you think. Instead, focus on what the stories mean. For instance, sentences that begin “As I read throughout the story, . . . “ or “In my opinion, . . . “ or “I think that maybe she is trying to stay with her father, but she sort of wants to be a woman, or I could be wrong about that” are too informal and personal for your analysis. If you argue that “The narrator is afraid of becoming trapped in the kitchen like her mother is trapped, and she sees her mother as an enemy to be resisted.” the reader understands that this is your opinion or your own perspective on the story without your having to draw attention to that fact.
