Another 2pg response.. sigh

The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Response

The yellow wallpaper is a literary work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman that shows how easily a woman with depression can spiral into madness. But what caused her decent into the mental unstable corners of her mind? Why does she feel the need to tell her story? Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the description and symbolism of the wallpaper to show how marriage can become a cage to a woman if the marriage is more dominated by the male.

In the beginning of the story, Gilman is kind of casual in explaining her frustrations with her husband John. She talks about John quite a bit and what his attitude is like but she kind of brushes it off as though she is trying not to let it get to her. She says, "You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?" (Gilman). This obviously bothers her, yet she knows realistically there is nothing she can do about the fact that he does not believe her. She knows that what he says goes and that is the end of it. In the first couple of pages, the reader gets a feel for John and Charlotte's marriage. She says that she is "forbidden to 'work' until I am well again" (Gilman). Later on she says that if she would simply be allowed to work she would be more likely to recover. But of course, John has said she can not do this, and so here one can really feel tension building. As the pages go on, there are more decisions that John has made to his preference with out listening to her opinion; he decides which room they will stay in. When she explains the room she lets on more to her frustration with John and his decisions, but in the end she blows over them like earlier. By the end of the first section, we as readers can tell that the marriage is unbalanced and this will most likely cause problems later on in the story.

The really unnerving part of the story is the description and characteristics Charlotte gives to the wallpaper. At first, she absolutely hates the wallpaper, however as the story goes on she hates it less and less. When she first tells about the sub-pattern, she is only slightly irritated by the wallpaper. She says, "But in the places where it isn't faded and where the sun is just so I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and sonspicuous front design" (Gilman). This line here sends chills up the reader's spine. She does not go into a lot of detail on the sub-pattern just yet, but that is what makes this line creepy. As readers, we do not understand what exactly she is seeing, but the fact that she is seeing some pattern behind the pattern marks where her quick decent into insanity begins. However, I found it interesting that the "crazier" she got, (crazy being how society would label a person in her state) the more she realized about herself. In this way, the wallpaper served as a symbol. In the first days of viewing the paper she hated it, but she saw nothing behind the pattern, at first. Then, as the days went on she could see deeper and deeper into the wallpaper. What I mean is, as the days went on she could see more of this woman behind the paper and understand better what she wanted. At first she could only barely see the woman, and at this point I believe she blinded to the situation she was in. Like the barely existing woman, she barely understood and realized how wrong and how messed up her marriage was. Then she began to see the woman in behind bars and trying to escape, and when she began to see the woman like this is when she started to realize how trapped she was. Finally she can not take it anymore, she feels the woman's pain because it is her pain and the destroys the paper in a frenzied attempt to let the woman free because that is what she wants, she wants to be freed from her cage. The woman behind the paper represents the narrator, and yes she did kind of lose it at the end, but I do not know if I would call her crazy, I think for the first time she was simply seeing clearly and everything built up and let loose. Really, the "crazier" the narrator got, the better she understood herself, and the clearer the woman in the wall paper became, because she is the woman in the wall. This large symbol goes back and shows how marriage can become a cage, like the woman in the wall was literally in a cage, so was the narrator in her marriage.

Annotated APA Bibliography

Coleman, A. (1997). Futures. Youth Studies Australia, 16. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article, accurately titled as "Futures", discusses the options that await young people as far as choosing a career is concerned. This article primarily focuses on college students and how they should go about choosing a career, as well as listing which careers are the safest and provide the best outcomes for the young workers. This particular article was very short and sweet and to the point. The writer chose to use simply logic to illustrate his point, and interestingly enough chose to begin his article in a way that established credibility for what he was saying. He began right away with the source his information came from. However, I felt like this article was missing a lot and it seemed as though his exact purpose was missing. This especially seemed strange because he was basically providing a list that he found from some other source, so what exactly is the point in writing this article? But despite his struggles, the author was able to come up with some interesting facts that proved to be slightly helpful. From this article I learned that pharmacy and other medical careers have the best employment outcomes, but that this statistic changes a bit ever year and some years other careers fill that spot. This article managed to present some other career choices that I had not even considered, but perhaps would be good back-ups, considering the fact that even though this article presented a fairly long list of careers, most of my former back-ups lacked to be mentioned and were not even able to make the list. I admire this writer for trying to look out for young people, but he needs to try a little harder. He lacked information, as his entire article was not more than 100 words. He also lacked persuasive skills and an accurate purpose. The only thing I got out of this article was a little bit of comfort in knowing that if I choose to pursue pharmacy then I can relax and know that employment of this job will always be needed in our society. I also now realize that if I want the security that pharmacy provides, I will have to look harder for better back-ups.


Emmons, B. F. & Provost, G. P. (1991). Pharmacist endowed to teach school of medicine and community at large. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 65. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

Before reading this article I had a very vague idea on the actual job of a pharmacist. I believed it was very simply the role of administering medicine to those who need it. Of course there is a little more to it than that, however, my point is I did not know how complex and how many options there are for those who pursue this career. This article shows that there are many things a pharmacist must know about and understand that go deeper than simply medicine. A pharmacist must also know about other aspects of healing such as therapy and recovery periods and other such worries. This article showed me that not everyone who wants to be a pharmacist has to be the person standing behind the counter at Walgreens, but rather there are many different they are capable of doing. The article, though it was one of the shortest on this topic, had some good information and took the time to use dates and outline things to make the article easier to understand overall. It also used quotes from a specific pharmacist who felt the need to share their opinion. However, I felt like this article focused too much on one pharmacist and could have spent more time focusing on pharmacists as a group. I think it would have been more interesting, and relevant, to include ideas and examples of other pharmacists in the same position. Still, like some of the other articles this one not only showed me that there is more to the job of a pharmacist then I previously believed, but it allowed me to feel more secure in my decision knowing that there are many things a pharmacist can do. This article also showed me that should I ever get bored with pharmacology then there are other options for me that would not have to include completely changing my title. This article was not quite as helpful as some of the others, but it did manage bring across some valid points and so it was not completely useless.


Filerman, G. & Komaridis, K. (2006). A gap in the pharmacy. Modern Health Care, 36. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article was completely unique of any of the other articles I read. This one took the time to address the fact that there are undefined problems that lie with the role of a pharmacist. It talks about the fact that patient safety has not been a priority in recent years for the pharmacists and that there are problems with this because this really should be one of the first goals of a pharmacist but this has not been addressed as much as other priorities. This article states that this job constantly grows with its responsibilities and this role becomes more difficult with each passing day as medicine is always changing and improving. But the article also talks about how pharmacy is in a way a ghost-like career because it is not talked about much and there is not much information on it which in turn helps cause some of the problems that exist because no one has defined this role and so there is a gap that is present as far as knowing what I am in for. I really liked how this author chose to write though. This article had more passion behind the writing, it seemed like the writer was really frustrated with the lack of information. This I think connected better with me and this article definitely had the greatest impact on me simply because of how it was written. There was not much missing from his argument because his argument was that there is too much missing from this field. Unfortunately, though I liked the writing and it did impact me, this article had a negative effect on me. This article made me question whether or not I really want to consider a career that is not exactly defined and one that could contain many aspects that I know nothing about. This worries me a little because there are many things that I will not know until I get there and experience it first hand and by then I have spent all that time and money on a career that I may not want.


Humphrys, P. & O'Brien, G. E. (1986). The Consequences of Job Satisfaction. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 59. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article worried me a little bit. It talked about job satisfaction and what usually leads to satisfaction in one’s career. The writer said that there are studies that have shown a direct relation between job satisfaction and how much a person uses the skills they learned. The article stated that pharmacists have a very high skill level needed to complete their job and they also need a large variety of skills, however, pharmacists do not always use all the skills they learn and skills differ in training as compared to doing the actual job. Another interesting thing I found in this article is the fact that hospital pharmacists are usually more satisfied with their jobs as compared to regular pharmacists. This was interesting to me because it posed another option in the field of pharmacology. I could work as a hospital pharmacist, which has the potential to not only be more enjoyable, but to be more effective in helping people. This article used a lot of information that they received from other sources which provided accurate credibility towards what they were saying. This article was very helpful and was filled with information on the job of a pharmacist and their satisfaction level. I liked that they used studies and information from other places to back up their point, but I am not yet convinced on this career of a pharmacist. Some articles like these make me hesitate and other ones make me feel like this is the career for me. I guess I will just have to keep searching. But I will definitely keep the information from this article in mind while making the decision. Job satisfaction seems like a big deal and I am not sure I want to jump into a career that others do not find satisfying. Plus, I really would like to find a career that I can develop different skills in and actually use them, and if a pharmacist is not the place where I can use my skills then I need to look elsewhere.


Humphrys, P. & O'Brien, G. E. (1986). The relationship between skill utilization, professional orientation and job satisfaction for pharmacists. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 59. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article, by far, had the most information present; however, most of this information was not exactly helpful. This article mostly covered changes in pharmacy which does not help me much when I do not know what it was like to begin with. Still, the article was very detailed explaining how pharmacy used to be around the World Wars but not so much in what they did, it was more about how happy they were back then. This article does however give the best description of what a pharmacist does than any of the other articles. It talks about the fact that pharmacists (for the most part) do not prescribe the actual drugs, however, they need to have the knowledge to do so if they needed. It also said that the primary role for the pharmacist is to distribute the prescribed drug. But the article also says that pharmacists are often undermined by drug companies, which is not good or fair, but it happens. The article states that a pharmacist will not necessarily use all the skills they learn, which seems like a waste to me. What was the point of everything they went to school for if they do not use some of the information they learned? However, since medicine is always changing, it is simply natural that some skills would become obsolete as time goes on and things improve. Unlike some of the other articles, this one used many other sources and made sure to back up what they were saying, which made me feel like this writer had more credibility than the other writers of the articles I collected. I do not know if this article helped to sway my decision in any particular way. I am still on the fence about whether this is the career for me, and while this article did have an abundance of information in few pages, I do not know if the information was relevant in changing my mind. I will say that this article did seem to undermine the role of a pharmacist and made it seem less important than other articles did and this concerned me.


Nold, E. G. & Sander, D. (2004). Role of the director of pharmacy: The first six months. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 61. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article was perhaps the most helpful. This article was most helpful because it was written from the first-person point of view of an actual pharmacist. This article outlined many helpful key points in the beginning stages of the job. The article begins talking about the practice of pharmacy. The writer explains changes that have recently taken place and how important the role of a pharmacist is in society. One thing that really surprised me with this article is the fact that he shows there is room for promotion and expansion for a pharmacist. This was important, because this worried me about the job because pharmacist seems like a job where all people who are employed as such do the same thing, where as I am the type of person who would like to be in charge somewhere and would like to move up the "food-chain" so to speak. Now knowing this makes me feel more comfortable considering this job, because if there is no room to move up in a career what is the point? It would be awfully dull to do the same thing every day. It was very encouraging to find out that there can be variety in this field. This article was impressively clear in how to go about moving to a higher position as well as discussing some of the struggles of adjusting to a new role. This author also makes it clear that a pharmacist should know their skill level and what they can handle so they can choose how and where to work in a way that will work best for them and benefit others in the best way possible. The only thing I felt was missing from this article was that he did not really explain the job or the actual role of a regular pharmacist compared to a director of pharmacy. The main goal of his article was to talk about transitioning and how to get accustomed to a promotion in this field. Still, I found this article to be very helpful and definitely gave me an encouraging push to continue the on the road to pharmacy.


Ngo, C., & Sansgiry, S. S. (2004). Job satisfaction of pharmacists at a large medical center. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 61. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article was very helpful because it explained how satisfying the job of a pharmacist can be. This article, like some of the others, described how medication and pharmacy are constantly changing, and this shows that pharmacy never will never be a dull career. There is always something new to learn about and there will always be something new to do or work on. One thing that I specifically liked about this article is that it used statistics instead of just asking the reader to accept what is being said. According to the statistics, pharmacists are generally satisfied with their career choice. This was interesting to me and gave me yet another reason to accept pharmacy as an actual career choice. Even though everyone is different, the fact that most pharmacists enjoy there job is encouraging to someone considering this job. Who would not want to be happy in their career choice? This article, though it was very well written and very persuasive, (especially with the statistics) spent way too much time discussing what the meaning of satisfaction really is and how it is applicable to the article. To me, this beginning seemed like a waste of time and an uneccesary use of space. This beginning was rather wordy and would probably automatically lose many interested readers simply because the beginning is confusing and pointless. Either way, this article was helpful and I found the statistics to be very interesting. Pharmacy seems to be a rather satisfying job and that is definitely a plus.


Thompson, C.A. (1996). International pharmacists group gets 2020 vision. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 65. Retrieved November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article by far was the least helpful. When I was looking for articles I did not realize that this article would have so little valid information. This article talked about a group of 119 pharmacists from around the world that set up a plan that the FIP (International Pharmaceutical Federation) gets to be involved in medical decisions and they get to be a part of deciding if a new medicine is suitable on a “global level”. This article was basically just a description of a group of important pharmacists that made a movement, and while it was interesting to read about it really did not offer any help towards my career path. All this article did was make me worry that there are too many problems in the world of pharmacy and people try to give them as small a role as possible which led this group to work to get what they wanted, to get their recognition and their opinions asked for. I am not sure I want to enter a career that has so many problems. Had I read through this article thoroughly before choosing it, I would have realized that it would lack so much in helping me decide anything. It really only pertained to one group of people. There were so many unanswered questions left by this article and so really, all it managed to do was confuse me.

Traynor, K. (1990). Pharmacist helps autoworkers manage diabetes on the job. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 65. Retrived November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article, though informative, did not offer much help to better understanding the career of a pharmacist. The article focuses more on people managing diabetes in a work place than a pharmacist. It lacked explaining what a pharmacist does or why they are qualified to help people in this situation. However, I did like that this article clearly showed how pharmacist can help people who need medical attention. This is important to me because this is one of the main reasons I am considering this career and therefore this article was beneficial in some way in that it explained just one of the many ways a pharmacist can help other people.


Young, D. (2003). Patient safety is primary job for Missouri pharmacist. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 60. Retrived November 11, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

This article greatly encouraged me and renewed my faith in the health care system. Recently there have been many patients, particularly older citizens, that have had problems because they see more than one doctor or more than one pharmacist and these people do not bother to check and make sure their patient is not on other medications. Therefore, these multiple doctors/pharmacists prescribe medications that may interfere harmfully with other medications that they are not aware the patient is consuming. However, this story is about a pharmacist who is trying to fix this flaw. She points out that some pharmacists are now more concerned with patient safety then anything else their job entails. I was very inspired by this one pharmacist who is attempting to take a stand and is succeeding in making waves. This story showed me how important patient safety is in the equation of medical exchanges and also showed me how I can help people through this field and since this is my ultimate goal, this article proved helpful. I never realized how vital a pharmacist can be in certain situations and how encouraging they can be to people. Learning about this lady made me feel more like this is the career for me and that I would fit it well. Though, I would have liked to see more overall information on this subject and I think some statistics would have helped this writer's argument. I think including statistics on how many patients suffer because of problems on the doctor's or the pharmacist's account would have added depth and greater meaning to the article and the writer's overall point. Like I said, this article restored my faith in the medical field. This article truly shows that people out there really care and are making a difference, and I could easily be one of those people in the future.