Literary Conflict in “The Yellow Wall-paper”

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Activity Overview

Storyboarding is an excellent way to focus on types of literary conflicts.

Having students create storyboards that show the cause and effect of different types of conflicts strengthens analytical thinking about literary concepts. Have your students choose an example of each literary conflict and depict them using the storyboard creator. In the storyboard, an example of each conflict should be visually represented, along with an explanation of the scene, and how it fits the particular category of conflict.


Examples of Literary Conflict in “The Yellow Wall-paper”



MAN vs. SELF

The narrator feels incredibly guilty that her illness is such a concern to her husband. John tells her that only she can make herself better, especially by getting lots of rest. She feels like she is failing him because she seems to be getting worse, not better.


MAN vs. MAN

As the narrator’s madness worsens, she begins to see herself as battling Jennie and John, hiding the secret creeping woman from them. She becomes fiercely protective of the wallpaper, and swears that no one else will touch it but her.


MAN vs. SOCIETY

The narrator is going against the norms of conventional medicine at the time by going against John’s orders and diagnosis to rest and not think about her illness. Instead, the narrator thinks about her nervous condition constantly, feels guilty over it, and writes in secret against her husband’s wishes.



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Template and Class Instructions

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Student Instructions

Create a storyboard that shows at least three forms of literary conflict in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.


  1. Identify conflicts in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
  2. Categorize each conflict as Character vs. Character, Character vs. Self, Character vs. Society, Character vs. Nature, or Character vs. Technology.
  3. Illustrate conflicts in the cells, using characters from the story.
  4. Write a short description of the conflict below the cell.



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