Week 5
Discussion Questions for “A White Heron,” “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” “The Storm,”
“On Being Brought from Africa to America” etc., “Indian Names” etc., “Nearer Home”
etc., and “Learning to Read” etc. Use textual evidence to support your analyses.
1. What does feminist theory reveal about any of the stories or poems you’ve read
for tonight?
2. What does Marxist theory reveal about any of the stories or poems you’ve read
for tonight?
3. What does queer theory reveal about any of the stories or poems you’ve read for
tonight?
4. Strictly speaking, each of these texts was produced before the time period
associated with postmodernism (i.e., the latter half of twentieth century), but do
any of the stories or poems demonstrate characteristics of postmodernism? If so,
what does postmodern theory reveal about the text(s)?
For next week, select one of these questions to develop further into a one- to twopage essay. Follow MLA style and use plenty of textual evidence, citing as needed.
Also, consider contributing to the 19th – 20th century blog on Blackboard.