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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the first section, why does the protagonist’s narration suddenly end?

2. Where doesn’t the narrator want to go at the end of the story?

3. Who is the author of The Yellow Wallpaper?

4. Whom does the narrator want to visit?

5. Why won’t John let the narrator go on her desired visit?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some indications that the narrator is, in fact, not getting better?

2. The narrator says that she watches the paper always. What does this increasing obsession suggest about the narrator?

3. What does John’s action after seeing his wife creeping around the room suggest about John?

4. How does the narrator initially describe the wallpaper?

5. At what point does this short story hit its climax?

6. What does the narrator say “exhausts” her?

7. Why does the narrator consider jumping out the window?

8. Why does John threaten to send the narrator to Weir Mitchell?

9. Who does John tell the narrator is the only person who can truly help her out of her sickness?

10. What major life event has the narrator just endured?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator has been prescribed strict rest, which prohibits her from reading or writing. Why does she choose to do so anyway? Why does writing bring her comfort?

Essay Topic 2

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote this story in 1887, after suffering from depression. A doctor had instructed her to rest and not work, which she believed made her condition much worse. She wrote The Yellow Wallpaper as a way to speak out against the common treatment of what was then called "nervous conditions." The extreme rest therapy that John forces on the narrator gives an interesting look at the treatment of mental illness in the late 19th Century. How is postpartum depression viewed today compared to Gilman’s representation in 1887?

Essay Topic 3

As the story progresses, the narrator acts more and more like a child. What actions support this statement? How do others treat her differently as the she changes?

(see the answer keys)

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