The Rest Cure: Gender in Medicine and Literature

Students will examine both primary and secondary sources, fiction and non-fiction, in order to understand how a writer can use literature as social criticism. In Class 1, students examine a letter protesting the publication of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” as “Perilous Stuff.” They scan in class and reread closely “The Yellow Wall-Paper” to complete reading guide homework. In Class 2, students build on their comprehension of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” with further readings of the online materials, The Literature of Prescription exhibition and four digitized primary source readings. Students are assigned as homework to draft a short essay on a topic they have selected. In Class 3, students engage in a writing workshop where they provide and receive feedback and revise draft essays.

Weblink address (URL): 
The Rest Cure: Gender in Medicine and Literature

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

students will be able to:

  • understand how authors may use their literary works for social criticism.
  • read and comprehend the main ideas in the primary-source writings from the late nineteenth century.
  • synthesize their reading and discussion into a coherent, well-constructed response to a given writing prompt.
  • compose a written essay that demonstrates logical thinking and the development of ideas for academic, creative, and personal purposes, and that conveys the author’s message using an engaging introduction (with a clear thesis as appropriate), well-constructed paragraphs, transition sentences, and powerful conclusion.
  • edit for style, tone, word choice, and sentence variety; then proofread to check sentence structure, mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization), layout, and font; and prepare selected pieces for publication.
  • identify and evaluate the primary focus, logic, style, and structure of a text or speech and the ways in which these elements support or confound meaning or purpose.
  • recognize literary and persuasive strategies as ways in which communication can be influenced through imagery, irony, satire, parody, propaganda, overstatement/understatement, omission, and multiple points of view.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Applying
Extension suggestions: 

Students may choose one topic below and compose additional 4-5 page essay.

  • Read Gilman’s diary pages and her two poems, “To the Young Wife” and “The Mother’s Charge.” Compare/contrast the social criticism in her three literary works.
  • Compare/contrast the portrayal of women in “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” How does each writer show one of the elements of the Modern period in the female character(s) in each?
  • Compare/contrast the use of setting or imagery in “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and Willa Cather’s “A Wagner Matinee” as a means for social criticism.

Helpful Hints

other materials and set-ups:

  • Overhead projectors, flip charts with markers, or smart board
  • Copies of dictionary
  • Print-outs of the following online primary source documents (optionally, have computers with an Internet connection with links The Literature of Prescription online exhibition and the four online documents):
    • “Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’”
    • American Nervousness: page 334 – first paragraph on page 338
    • Wear and Tear, or Hints for Overworked: second paragraph on page 33, and second paragraph on page 37 – page 40
    • Fat and Blood: And How to Make Them, IV Rest: third paragraph on page 37 – first paragraph on page 41

References

Contributors: 
Tonya Malone
Originator: 
Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation