Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper - 2376 Words

CHARLOTEE PERKINS GILLMAN THE YELLOW WALLPAPER (1892) The cult of true womanhood defined women as â€Å"ladies†(pure, diligent). When we talk about American woman, we have to specify their religion, sexual orientation, race, social class (it is therefore essentialist to talk about â€Å"women† in general. Depending on the group which they are in, certain coordinates are applicable. The Yellow Wallpaper is about a white, protestant, heterosexual woman at the end of the 19th century in the higher middle class. Gilman wanted to obtain more freedom and in order to do so, she had to rebel against the most important institution oppressing her: MARRIAGE. (1) Nowadays, the typical happy family is outdated and doesn’t exist. Gilman lived at a time†¦show more content†¦If we believe that all women are feminist, this is an example of ESSENTIALISM. Not all women are the same: gender is a cultural construct and women are indoctrinated into behaving in a certain way. The author fights against MARRIAGE. She is a pre-feminist (feminism of difference). For a long time, the story has been considered as autobiographical (= confessional mode), as these sold books. In Protestant society, public confession was and is extremely popular. Confessional literature has always been sold well in the US and this is the reason that Perkins wrote† Why I wrote The Yellow Wallpaper†. Originally, the world â€Å"wallpaper† was hyphenated†wall† covered by â€Å"paper† (important connotations): 1st footnote. In short stories, everything is relevant. At the time of writing, women were considered as side of â€Å"hysteria†: that the womb was irritated/inflamed. People believed that when women behaved in a way that they weren’t expected to, they were sick (hysteria). Women were expected to fulfil some roles. This â€Å"irritation or the womb† made people believe that a woman ´s reproductive system was at threat and might stop working. Because of this, reading was â€Å"dangerous† for women because it excited the mind and therefore the womb. At the time of writing, there was a physician who said that high-class women should have a REST CURE to relax. He forbade any kind of intellectual work(reading and writing), to goShow MoreRelatedThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis1164 Words   |  5 PagesThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis As I started reading this short story, it clearly introduced who the characters are and where it took place. The narrator is a woman; she has no name, remains anonymous throughout the story. She lives with her husband John in a house. This house is isolated from society, since the short story indicates that it is far from village, roads or any means of communication. It also contains locks and gates throughout. The woman is ill and this illness has placed her inRead MoreAnalysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1727 Words   |  7 Pages Analysis of the Short Story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Originally published in January 1892 issue of New England Magazine. Charlotte Perkins Gilman s short story The Yellow Wallpaper was personal to her own struggles with anxiety and depression after the birth of her daughter with her first husband and S. Weir Mitchell s resting cure treatment she received. The Yellow Wallpaper describes, from the patients point of view, the fall into madness of a woman who is creativelyRead MoreThe Yellow-Wallpaper Analysis1393 Words   |  6 PagesThe Yellow Wall-Paper Literary Analysis Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her short story â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† to show how women undergo oppression by gender roles. Gilman does so by taking the reader through the terrors of one woman’s changes in mental state. The narrator in this story becomes so oppressed by her husband that she actually goes insane. The act of oppression is very obvious within the story â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† and shows how it changes one’s life forever. TheRead MoreFeminist Analysis of Yellow Wallpaper1326 Words   |  6 PagesA Woman Trapped: A Feminist Analysis of the Yellow Wallpaper The short story, the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can be analyzed in depth by both the psycho-analytic theory and the feminist theory. On one hand the reader witnesses the mind of a woman who travels the road from sanity to insanity to suicide â€Å"caused† by the wallpaper she grows to despise in her bedroom. On the other hand, the reader gets a vivid picture of a woman’s place in 1911 and how she was treated when dealingRead MoreLiterary Analysis : The Yellow Wallpaper992 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Analysis: The Yellow Wallpaper In the story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman she writes of a woman severely oppressed in her marriage. The women in the story is an open mind individual. John; her husband is a psychologist and thinks that his wife has a mental disorder because of all the free thinking and puts her through the rest cure. Through analysis of the story, we can see that this story displays a creepy tone in order to depict a serious matter at a time when women’sRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Paper1245 Words   |  5 Pagesupholding women’s rights, such as viewing a woman as a respectable, free-willed human being, are the essential truths established in Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† Through the development of the narrator Gilman uses symbolism and imagery to awaken the reader to the reality of what a woman’s life was like in the 1800’s. Analysis of the symbolism throughout the story reveals that the author was no t only testifying to the social status of the women in society but specifically giving insightRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1496 Words   |  6 PagesCharlotte Perkins Gillam uses her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper as a weapon to help break down the walls surrounding women, society has put up. This story depicts the life of a young woman struggling with postpartum depression, whose serious illness is overlooked, by her physician husband, because of her gender. Gillman s writing expresses the feelings of isolation, disregarded, and unworthiness the main character Jane feels regularly. This analysis will dive into the daily struggles women faceRead MoreFeminist Analysis : The Yellow Wallpaper 2184 Words   |  9 PagesJoe Purcaro English 155 Literary Analysis 04/17/2016 Feminism in the Yellow Wallpaper Everyone experiences life, whether it be happy times, bad times; it’s one big circle every human being goes through. In the story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper, which is a feminist story that portrays the terror of the rest cure which is a period spent in inactivity or leisure with the intention of improving one s physical or mental health. Women especially, as it opposes manyRead MoreCritical Analysis : The Yellow Wallpaper993 Words   |  4 PagesCritical Analysis: â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† â€Å"Not many women got to live out the daydream of women—to have a room, even a section of a room, that only gets messed up when she messes it up herself.† –Maxine Hong Kingston: The Woman Warrior During the late 19th century women, as history demonstrates, were to remain confined to their societal expectations and roles. Women were thought of as the weaker sex, emotional, and fully dependent on their male counterparts, child-like. She was to be a piousRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1915 Words   |  8 PagesWhen â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is viewed within the scopes of New Historical, Feminist, Psychoanalytical, Ethical and Reader response criticisms, the reader should first be imparted with the understanding of who Charlotte Perkins Gilman was, what she stood for, the time period in which the story was written, and how aspects of her cultural and historical background related to it. Second, how the circumstances imposed upon women’s freedom of thought. Third, the reader shall ascertain how Freud’s Psychoanalytical

Critical evaluation of a research article Free Essays

Introduction This work presents a critical evaluation of the research article entitled, ‘How traumatic is breast cancerPost-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and risk factors for severe PTSS at 3 and 15 months after surgery in a nationwide cohort of Danish women treated for primary breast cancer’, written by O’Connor et al. and published in 2011 in the British Journal of Cancer, volume 104, pages 419-426. The evaluation provides a description of the aims, findings and arguments put forward in the article, a critical appraisal of the issues, theories and concepts included in the article and an assessment of the sources of information used in the article. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical evaluation of a research article or any similar topic only for you Order Now The title of the article – How traumatic is breast cancerPost-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and risk factors for severe PTSS at 3 and 15 months after surgery in a nationwide cohort of Danish women treated for primary breast cancer – is an accurate representation of what is included in the article, as the article, indeed, talks about PTSS and risk factors for severe PTSS in Danish women treated for primary breast cancer. The title is a very accurate description of what is included in the article. The aim of the article is clear: as noted in the abstract for the article, the stated aim of O’Connor et al. (2011; 419) was to, â€Å"†¦explore the prevalence of and risk factors for cancer-related PTSS in a nationwide inception cohort of women treated for primary breast cancer†. The clarity of the aim, coupled with the clear and accurately descriptive title, allows the reader of the article to orient themselves as to what the authors will be discussing in the body of the article. It is easy for the reader to feel that the authors ha a clear idea of what their research was, where it fits in the body of research and literature in this subject and, on this basis, how they would carry their research out. The objectives of the article are made not made so clear by the authors, but it can be understood, from the very clear stated aim, that the objective of the article was to determine what the prevalence and risk factors are for PTSS in primary breast cancer survivors in Denmark. In terms of the rationale for the study, the authors make clear, in the first sentence of the abstract, that the literature in this area, whilst extensive, is not concurrent, in that there are variations, across the reports in the research, as to the prevalence of PTSS in women living with and recovering from breast cancer. The rationale of the O’Connor et al. (2011) study was, therefore, to add to the literature in this area with a definitive study of PTSS, and its risk factors, in a sample of Danish women. A search of PubMed, for example, using the search terms ‘breast cancer PTSS’ returns five results: the O’Connor et al. (2011) article; an article by Andersen et al. (2008) looking at the search for sense in breast cancer survivors with low quality of life; an article by Morrill et al. (2008) looking at the interaction of post-traumatic growth and PTSS on the presence of depression in breast cancer survivors; an article by Tjemsland et al. (1998) looking at PTSS in breast cancer survivors one year after surgery; and the fifth and final article which is not relevant to the topic. It is clear, therefore, that the rationale for the study is valid: there are, indeed, few published articles looking at the specific research topic proposed by O’Connor et al. (2011). In terms of the sample and data collection, as O’Connor et al. (2011) note, the sample for the research was 4917 women from Denmark, aged between 18 and 70, all of whom had been diagnosed with, and were recovering from, primary breast cancer and who had undergone surgery for their breast cancer during a very specific time period, namely October 2001 and March 2004. In terms of the inclusion criteria for the sample, it was important that all women included had no history of other cancers and that the women could read and write in Danish (to ensure that they fully understood, and could respond to, the questionnaire used to collect the data). It is important to note that all women selected for inclusion in the O’Connor et al. (2011) research were breast cancer free at the time of the data collection. The women’s medical histories were checked and only women treated via the same treatment modality, namely the standardised guidelines as set out in the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, were included in the sample used in the research. This was to ensure that the women had all received the same treatment, at the same time, to ensure that any potential bias was reduced. Bias could have been introduced, for example, if the women selected for study had been in recovery for longer or if the women had all received different treatment modalities or if the women was still living with breast cancer: by selecting women on the basis of a certain date for the surgery, and a certain treatment modality, and by applying the strict inclusion criteria, the researchers minimised the potential effects of bias, ensuring as high a possible validity and reliability for the results found (Gerrish and Lacey, 2010). As Roberts et al. (2006) note, â€Å"†¦reliability and viability are ways of demonstrating and communicating the rigour of research processes and the trustworthiness of research findings†. For research to be helpful, the research process and the results reported need to be as clear and transparent as possible: misleading information will cause the reader to doubt the research process and, therefore, the validity of the results reported. As Roberts et al. (2006) suggest, the trustworthiness of a research article depends on many factors including the research question posed, the initial research question, the ways in which the data is collected, the ways in which the data is analysed and the conclusions that are drawn from the findings presented (see, also, Cormack, 2000). At the moment, on the basis of the research question posed and the data collection methods, the O’Connor et al. (2011) seems to be trustworthy and, therefore, reliable. Reliability, in this context , can be understood as the degree to which a particular set up can, â€Å"†¦produce similar results in different circumstances, assuming nothing else has changed† (Roberts et al., 2006). Regarding the data collection method, O’Connor et al. (2011) utilised a mailed-out questionnaire to obtain data from the sample of women regarding their post-traumatic stress symptoms, as measured using the IES, which is utilised widely in the literature as a measure of PTSS, given the strong correlations in interviews between IES scores and clinical diagnoses of PTSS. Additional covariates were gathered from the women via the questionnaire, including demographic and socioeconomic variables such as age, marital status, number of children, income, educational level, social status and net wealth, amongst other variables (O’Conner et al, 2011). These variables were collected in order to test, statistically, the relationships between the degree of PTSS found in the patients and all of the variables, to see if there were any pervasive links between the presence of PTSS and any particular variable. It could be, for example, that a patient’s age predisposes them to be m ore likely to experience PTSS following surgery for breast cancer, or that the person’s educational attainment affects their likelihood of experiencing PTSS. It was important, therefore, that O’Connor et al. (2011) controlled for all potentially confounding variables, in order to be sure that any relationship found between the presence of PTSS and the most probable risk factors were actually true and not simply an artefact of the data collection method (Black, 1999). In terms of the data analysis, the data analysis was conducted using non-parametric tests, namely Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis (O’Connor et al., 2011). Comparisons between the independent variables and the PTSS score, as measured via the IES, were conducted using chi-squared tests. Adjusted analyses were conducted using logistic regressions with PTSS being the dependent variable (O’Connor et al., 2011). The results found were reported as adjusted odds ratios (O’Connor et al., 2011). It can be seen, therefore, that the statistical tests used were appropriate for the type of data collected: the use of non-parametric tests, for example, was appropriate, given the fact that the variances were found to differ markedly amongst respondents (Bryman and Cramer, 1990). The use of the chi-squared test in this case is also appropriate, as discussed in Siegel (1957), given the fact that all participants were independent and that frequency data was collected from the partic ipants via the questionnaire. Overall, then, the selection and use of the statistical tests to analyse the data were appropriate, giving confidence that the data analysis was conducted appropriately and that the results found from the analyses are reliable. Regarding the interpretation of the results and the main findings of the article, around 20% of the women surveyed exhibited PTSS at 3 months after surgery, reducing to around 14% at 15 months following the surgery (O’Connor et al., 2011). Regarding the predictors of PTSS in women surviving breast cancer, the presence of severe PTSS was related to older age at 3 months post-surgery. Being a mother of small children also increased a woman’s chances of developing PTSS following their surgery. The data analysis also found that several socioeconomic variables were also strong predictors of PTSS: education, occupational status, personal income and household net wealth (O’Connor et al., 2011). Higher educational attainment was strongly related to a reduced chance of developing PTSS. It is clear, then, that there are various factors that are related to a woman’s chance of developing PTSS following surgery for primary breast cancer. In terms of whether the article makes any contribution to the field of health psychology, it is clear from the article that there are various factors that are related to a woman’s chance of developing PTSS following surgery for primary breast cancer. Given the strong link between these factors and the development of PTSS, there is an argument to be made that women patients with breast cancer who have such risk factors should be offered counselling pre- and post-surgery in order to be able to help to mitigate the risk factors and help these women to avoid developing PTSS. Regarding the conclusion of the article, in terms of whether the conclusions drawn are justified, as has been discussed in the critique of the article, the authors took every precaution possible to ensure that the sample selection and data collection were designed in such a way that the risk of bias was minimised, this increasing the reliability and validity of the findings, and conclusions, presented in the article. This means that the conclusions drawn are not only justified, in terms of the aim of the article, but also that the conclusions from the article can be considered robust and, therefore, trustworthy. The significance of the article, in terms of the contribution it makes to knowledge in this area is great. As O’Connor et al. (2011) themselves note, this is the first article to look at the prevalence of, and risk factors for, PTSS in breast cancer survivors. Additionally, given the large sample size of the article and the rigour of the data collection and data analys is, the results obtained can be argued to be very robust (Creswell, 2008) and, therefore, of high reliability. Regarding the extent to which people who have experienced breast cancer might be helped by the findings of the article, as O’Connor et al. (2011) note, breast cancer and surviving breast cancer is a highly traumatic experience for women. Knowing what factors cause women to experience greater levels of trauma post-surgery is very useful as this knowledge can be used to target those women at greater risk of suffering PTSS and, equipped with this knowledge, delivering counselling to these women to ensure that their risk of developing PTSS is lessened. As O’Connor et al. (2011) suggest, to have this knowledge is akin to being forewarned: pre-emptive measures can be taken to mitigate the potential negative effects of the risk factors and to reduce the chance of women at risk of developing PTSS. In general terms, then, the article – if its findings were transmitted through the general media – would be helpful to women as women could, if they were at risk of deve loping PTSS following surgery, seek help themselves from their medical team. As PTSS has been linked to depression and other psychiatric problems in breast cancer survivors (Morrill et al., 2008), any preventative measures that could be offered to such women would help save them from further trauma and help them to live with a better quality of life (Andersen et al., 2008). References Andersen, M.R. et al. (2008). Frequent search for sense by long-term breast cancer survivors associated with reduced HRQOL. Womens Health 47, 19-37. Black, T.R. (1999). Doing quantitative research in the social sciences. Sage. Bryman, A. and Cramer, D. (1990). Quantitative data analysis for social scientists. Taylor Francis. Cormack, D. (2000). The research process in nursing. Blackwell. Creswell, J.W. (2008). Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Sage. Gerrish, K. and Lacey, A. (2010). The research process in nursing. Wiley. Morrill, E.F. et al. (2008). The interaction of post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress symptoms in predicting depressive symptoms and quality of life. Psychooncology 17, 948-953. Roberts, P. et al. (2006). Reliability and validity in research. Nursing Standard 20, 41-45. Siegel, S. (1957). Nonparametric statistics. The American Statistician 11, 13-19. Tjemsland, L. et al. (1998). Posttraumatic distress symptoms in operable breast cancer III: status one year after surgery. Breast Cancer 47, 141-151. How to cite Critical evaluation of a research article, Essays

Night and Fog vs Triumph of the Will free essay sample

â€Å"Triumph of the Will† and â€Å"Night and Fog,† portray Hitler’s vision for Germany, and the findings of Allied liberators of concentration camps in the beginning of World War II. A comparison of the films present two very different views of what Hitler deemed necessary for Germany. They each displayed propaganda in a way they’re eye-catching simply because of the raw footage. It took everything that we knew about pre WWII and corrected it, so that we knew the truth about how the people of Germany felt, and what they saw in those exact moments.The task of viewing these films was quite difficult, and although both films seem to be a highly emotional and factual, I believe that â€Å"Night and Fog† was a more superior piece of propaganda. I will support my response by explaining the differences in how the films were portrayed, the images presented, and the tools used to catch the viewer’s undivided attention. Alain Resnaiss Nuit et Bruillard (Night and Fog) combine horrific and peaceful images, poetic narration, and mournful music that viewers develop an sympathetic attitude. Overall, this film is very traumatizing.There are some images in this film that will be burned into my mind for as long as I live. I have seen many holocaust films, but no one was as near as dramatic and realistic as Night and Fog. This is what I believe makes a good piece of propaganda. Our minds are murky and dull. We tend to only remember the important situations in our lives. Yet we shut out the importance of our own history and pretend it never happened. It is very sad to know that human beings were treated and slaughtered just because of an act of superiority. Riefenstahl created the propaganda film in Triumph of the Will. When editing this film, Hitler is portrayed as a very powerful leader that everyone in Germany was so thankful to have. It seems like he was liked by all, but also portrayed a mysterious side. Hitler descends from the clouds as if a savior from heaven. The film shows transfixed German crowds saluting him and screaming with joy, then a quick shot of Hitler, then again, back and forth. If Hitler is not on the screen, he is always an assumed to be present. The object of the masss gaze, the erotic object of the mesmerized, ecstatic women in the crowds.By making it seem as though even the statues and cats stopped to gaze at his wonders. It’s hard to believe than one person is loved by so many; it is almost as if it were to be too good to be true, and it was. It’s hard to see any realism in this film, like it was scripted instead. As said previously, a convincing piece of propaganda shows the viewer hope, but also reality, and in the film, it looks anything but realistic. In Night and Fog it was an appropriate design the way the switched from color to black and white. I got two different meanings from this. ) We live today in our present environment in a world filled with color. We dont go through hunger, torture and our dignities arent taken from us. The black and white represents to me other people around the world which still today are going through similar times as these victims in this film went through. 2) The theme in on which the comparison is about the past and the present was very clear. The same pathways which were filled with the blood of the victims were now all buried under the ground. The color represented the present and the black and white represented the past.By declaring that in Triumph of the Will everything is genuine and that not a single scene is staged, Riefenstahl becomes not just a propagandist, but a liar. The Party Convention was staged in that sense the entire film was staged just as the entire convention was staged. Riefenstahl may claim that she simply filmed things that actually occurred, but this also is dishonest. â€Å"Night and Fog† presents facts and images to tell the story of the camps and how they were run like an efficient factory whose motives are torture and death.Instead of speaking for the victims and survivors of the camps, the film allows viewers to have their own responses by asking questions and studying the record. The narration is delivered in a harsh, dry tone filled with skepticism and irony. The viewers are constantly told that words cannot describe what happened. They remind the viewer that there is no description or picture that can reveal the true horror of the Holocaust. Besides the narrated parts, nothing was staged in the pictures and images shown. There was no sugar coating to make it appear better than it was. This allows a better piece of propaganda because you know it’s real and it was one of the most horrific acts in history. Another ironic element is the lovely music. There is a flute playing in a very high pitch, upbeat sound, while the horrid images are in the background. This was the most confusing part of Night and Fog for me. It was hard to decipher what they were trying to portray. It was very eerie and gave a sickening feeling. I came to a conclusion that the music showed how the people expected the camps to be, but the pictures showed the reality. The only music in the Triumph at Will was the clapping of many hands, welcoming drums, and joyful cries of the unexpecting German population. Since this film was all footage, and no narration, music was not needed to set the mood. Resnais filmed color footage of the empty, overgrown concentration camps with historical black and white images really captured by attention and made me completely believe everything that was said and occurred in the Holocaust because of the actual footage, the faces of millions who have died, and the insane pictures of the pain and suffering that they went through.It is very hard to believe Triumph at Will and how one man can do so much. In a way, it appear â€Å"corny† because of him coming out of the clouds and become the savior of Germany. So in conclusion, when it comes to convincing propaganda, Hitler’s journey into Germany does not compare to the incomprehensible suffering of the heaps of corpses, silenced forever.