1.3: The Yellow Wallpaper--Assignment

Close Reading Essay (500 words)

120 Total Points

Rationale:

When writing any piece of text, authors make choices about what words they use, what tone they take, and oftentimes, what patterns of language they use, in order to convey meaning. Close reading allows a reader to make connections between those choices and the overall purpose of a text, giving the reader a deeper understanding of a piece of writing.

 

Analyzing writing on the level of word choice, style, and other features, is an essential skill when doing a rhetorical analysis, so see this paper as a stepping-stone to our next paper. Attend closely to every word and phrase, paying particular attention as well to the way the language is used and the tone the author is using to convey this message.

 

Your completion of this assignment will demonstrate your achievement of the following ENG 101 SLOs:

 

101

Process 

1.      Engage in a recursive process of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading 

2.      Engage in a reflective process of evaluating their own drafts and those of others 

Purpose and Audience 

3.      Employ a voice, style, and tone appropriate to the topic selected and the rhetorical situation 

4.      Direct an argument or explanation to the designated audience 

Organization and Development 

5.      Establish a clear framework of essay and paragraph organization appropriate to the writing task and the thesis 

6.      Employ rhetorical strategies consistent with the purpose of the writing task 

7.      Integrate students’ own ideas with those of others, using an appropriate documentation style (i.e., MLA or APA)

8.      Incorporate reasoning and explanations appropriate to the thesis and its supporting claims 

Mechanics 

9.      Revise work to enhance coherence and clarity while communicating with relevant discourse communities 

Critical Thinking / Reading 

10.  Summarize, analyze, and evaluate the arguments, counterarguments, and evidence in the writing of others 

 

Assignment: 

For this paper, you will choose from a set of passages from the short story “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman to close read. This means, you will take one particular passage (options provided below) and close read it carefully, analyzing the passage on a word, sentence, and paragraph level. You will look closely at such features as style of the sentences (long? Short? One-word? Stream of consciousness?), tone, and language use. You will also explain how the close reading tells the reader something about the essay as a whole. How does this passage illuminate Gilman’s purpose? What is the reader supposed to understand about the narrator or story of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” through these methods? The answer to this question will be your thesis statement.

As you conduct your close reading, consider the thematic elements of women's social situation at the beginning of the 20th century as well as the examination of mental illness in the story. How does the writing style of the narrator reflect her frustrations around her position as patient to her physician husband? How does her identity as a woman impact her treatment and the behaviors of other characters? How is the narrator's mental illness reflected in the imagery presented in the passages as well as the writing style of the author?

Close Reading Passage Options:

 

·         Pg 1, “A colonial mansion…” to “And what can one do?”

·         Pg 2, “So I take phosphates or phosphites…” to “so I will let it alone and talk about the house.”

·         Pg 3, “Then he took me in his arms…” to “So I try.”

·         Pg 4, “I’m getting really fond of the room…” to “…or anything else that I have ever heard of.”

·         Pg 3, “I wish I could get well faster…” to “…I could always hop into that chair and be safe.”

  

Audience:

The audience for this close reading is a person who is not familiar with “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” which means you will need to provide all essential information about the text, including a short summary of the story and information about your passage.

 

Purpose:

The goal of this close reading is to identify and analyze types of stylistic choices the author makes to convey or emphasize the purpose of their writing. The thesis statement will identify the stylistic choices in the particular passage, while the body paragraphs will develop an analysis of the techniques using examples (quotes) from the passage and interpretation (provided by the student).

 

Writing Process Assignments and Point Values:

 

Annotations-10 pts

Rough Draft (500 words)-10 pts

Final Draft (500-750 words)-100 pts

 

Final Draft Rubric:

 

 

	A-Range Paper	B-Range Paper	C-Range Paper	D-F Range Paper	No Credit
Content Development (60 pts)   Score/Comments:	Introduces title, author, and passage in first half of intro para.   Thesis statement is clear, detailed, and provides specific features of the text to be analyzed (types of word choice, tone, etc).   Each body para. explicitly contributes to the development of the thesis through identification of features and analysis.	Introduces title, author, and passage in first half of intro para.   Thesis statement is clear and provides specific features of the text to be analyzed (types of word choice, tone, etc) but may lack detail.   Most body para. explicitly contribute to the development of the thesis through identification of features and analysis.	May improperly introduce title, author, and/or passage in the intro para.   Thesis statement is present but may include only generic close reading categories rather than specific features of the text to be analyzed.   Some body para. explicitly contribute to development of thesis through identification of features and analysis.	May fail to introduce title, author, and/or passage in the intro para.   Thesis statement fails to identify or provide points of analysis.   Most body paragraphs do not contribute materially to development of thesis.   Includes hardly any moments of analysis/explanation of argument.	Submitted assignment is not a close reading, or close reads an inappropriate document.
Integration of Quotations and Examples (Q & E’s) (20 pts)   Score/Comments:	Each body para. includes appropriate Q & E’s.   Q & E’s are properly integrated (introduced, then analyzed)	Most body para. include appropriate Q & E’s..   Q & E’s are properly integrated (introduced, then analyzed).	Body para. often omit Q & E’s, or include irrelevant materials.   Q and E’s appear without proper introduction and/or analysis.	Most body para. omit Q & E’s, or include irrelevant materials.   Q & E’s appear without proper introduction and/or analysis.	Document entirely omits Q and E’s.
Organization (15 pts)   Score/Comments:	Clear introduction, unique body para., clear conclusion.   Body para. include a topic sentence and focus on one idea/concept at a time.	Clear introduction, unique body para., clear conclusion.   Body para. typically include a topic sentence and focus on one idea/concept at a time.	Sentences throughout occasionally appear out of place or are extraneous to argument.   Some body para. include topic sentences.	Several sentences appear out of place or are extraneous to argument.   Unclear organizational pattern.	No detectable organization pattern.
Spelling/ Grammar /MLA Format (5 pts)   Score/Comments:	Almost entirely free of spelling/grammar errors.   Correct formatting.	Some minor spelling/grammar errors.   Minor formatting issues.	Several spelling/grammar errors throughout.   Generally incorrect formatting.	Several spelling/grammar errors throughout, inhibiting comprehension.   Incorrect formatting.	No attempt at MLA formatting detected.