Methods & Terms
This story utilizes a "First Person Framed Narrative" to tell the story of a man's obsession with a green door.
What is "The Door in the Wall"?
"John is a physician, and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind—) perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster."
Who is The Narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper?
This story is set in 1950s Australia and explores the dreams of a jewish child of European immigrants.
What is "My Greatest Ambition"?
This object symbolizes an escape from the "rigidity of professional success" and a return to childhood wonder.
What is the Green Door?
The primary theme of The Yellow Wallpaper is how this social system oppresses women and harms their mental health.
What is the Patriarchy?
Gilman uses this structural method (the story is told through diary entries) to allow the reader to experience the speaker’s mental decline personally.
What is an epistolary style?
This character in The Son's Veto utters the class-conscious correction: "Has, dear mother—not have!"
Who is Randolph?
This 19th-century era is the setting for The Yellow Wallpaper and The Son's Veto, characterized by rigid class divisions and patriarchal control.
What is the Victorian Era?
This color is used in My Greatest Ambition to symbolize Nu's initial happiness and excitement, specifically via his tie.
What is Corn Yellow?
The tragic ending of The Son's Veto serves as a critique of this "ism," where social standing is valued over human happiness.
What is Classism?
Hardy uses this method when Randolph calls Sam a "clown" and a "disgrace" to highlight his classist prejudice.
What are invectives?
"I had become, like everyone else, a dreamer."
Who is Nu Lurie (The Narrator of My Greatest Ambition)?
Jane’s husband John threatens to send her to this real-life historical figure known for the "rest cure."
Who is Silas Weir Mitchell?
This setting, featuring "bars on the windows" and an "immovable bed," symbolizes how Jane is infantilized and imprisoned by her husband.
What is the Nursery?
This story teaches that following "social responsibility" at the expense of imagination or personal fulfillment leads to lifelong regret.
What is "The Door in the Wall"?
In My Greatest Ambition, Lurie uses this device when describing his "Good Suit" to show Nu is in an "awkward in-between stage" of life.
What is an extended metaphor?
"It was a confession to me... had a clearest conviction that was either unwise or wrong of him."
What is the Narrator's tone in "The Door in the Wall"?
Sophy moves from the idyllic village of Gaymead to this city, which she perceives as "faded to grey" due to her isolation.
What is London?
Sophy's "intricate braid" symbolizes this internal struggle.
What is the attempt to blend her past (working class) with her current social status (vicar's wife)?
Nu’s realization that he is "like everyone else" at the end of the story represents the loss of this childhood trait.
What is innocence (or uniqueness/originality)?
"I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled." This term describes the reversal of grammatical structures used to show Jane and the woman in the wallpaper are one and the same.
What is Chiasmus?
This character is described as a "great scoffer" who does not believe in success unless it involves money and fame.
Who is Nu's Father?
The Door in the Wall takes place during this transitional period between the Victorian era and WWI, where ambition and "career" began to override imagination.
What is the Edwardian Era?
The "yellow smell" is an example of this specific type of imagery that appeals to the sense of smell.
What is olfactory imagery?
Hardy uses the "suburban cemetery" to show that money is the "great equalizer," meaning this happens to everyone regardless of rank.
What is Death?