Extension
Activities
Extension Activity #1: The following extension activity could be used with advanced upper level high school students, especially those who are already reading the two texts mentioned: Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea (they are both part of many high schools reading lists)
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is about a “madwoman in the attic,” as she is sometimes described (see Gilbert and Gubar). Relate this position of women to the first Mrs. Rochester in Jane Eyre, a woman who is locked up and seen as “a problem.” A further text that provides a different reading of the first Mrs. Rochester is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, which tells the tale of Antoinette’s life before Thornfield Hall.
Extension Activity #2: The following extension activity could be used with advanced upper level high school students.
Ask students to read the following poem, “Emily Writes Such a Good Letter,” by the poet Stevie Smith:
Smith, Stevie, 1902-1971 : Emily writes such a good letter [from The Collected Poems of Stevie Smith: Edited with a Preface by James MacGibbon (1975) , Penguin Books ]
1 Mabel was married last week
2 So now only Tom left
3 The doctor didn't like Arthur's cough
4 I have been in bed since Easter
5 A touch of the old trouble
6 I am downstairs today
7 As I write this
8 I can hear Arthur roaming overhead
9 He loves to roam
10 Thank heavens he has plenty of space to roam in
11 We have seven bedrooms
12 And an annexe
13 Which leaves a flat for the chauffeur and his wife
14 We have much to be thankful for
15 The new vicar came yesterday
16 People say he brings a breath of fresh air
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17 He leaves me cold
18 I do not think he is a gentleman
19 Yes, I remember Maurice very well
20 Fancy getting married at his age
21 She must be a fool
22 You knew May had moved?
23 Since Edward died she has been much alone
24 It was cancer
25 No, I know nothing of Maud
26 I never wish to hear her name again
27 In my opinion Maud
28 Is an evil woman
29 Our char has left
30 And a good riddance too
31 Wages are very high in Tonbridge
32 Write and tell me how you are, dear,
33 And the girls,
34 Phoebe and Rose
35 They must be a great comfort to you
36 Phoebe and Rose.
© Copyright material reproduced under licence from Penguin Books Limited (accessed via University of Miami Literature Online Database)
After a few minutes to read the poem, you could ask the students to form groups (say of 3) to discuss the poem, keeping in mind the observations that have already been made about gender and communication. Ask them to focus on the types of communication we see in the poem and how they might relate to gender. Consider the following passage, in particular:
- Who’s the speaker of the poem?
- Who is the speaker of the title?
- Who is she writing to?
- What silences do you find in the poem? For example, what do you think “the old trouble” (5) might be? Why does Arthur love to roam (9)?
The groups could make a few notes on this and then report back to the class as a whole. Expect that the class will make at least some of the following observations:
- The speaker is probably female (it’s most likely Emily, although it’s possible that Emily is the recipient of the letter). Is it just the subject matter that leads them to conclude this, or do they see letter-writing as a “feminine” method of communication? Or something else?
- The writer is probably writing to a female friend. Get the class to talk about why this is the conclusion they reached (for example, some of the subject matter concerns domestic matters; the speaker uses “dear,” a typically female term of endearment; “she” hears Arthur “roaming overhead”).
- There are certain silences in the poem, particularly concerning the writer’s health, (her husband) Arthur, and Maud – to name just a few.
Students will begin to make some connections between the gender of the speaker/writer, the subject matter and the method of communicating.
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