A common use for Storyboard That is to help students create a plot diagram of the events from a story. Not only is this a great way to teach the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and helps students develop greater understanding of literary structures.
Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a work with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. For each cell, have students create a scene that follows the story in sequence using: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
The narrator’s husband, John, has rented a house in the country for the summer while his wife recovers from temporary nervous depression shortly after the birth of their child. The narrator’s husband and brother are both physicians, and they seem to be unconcerned with how the narrator feels and insist that she abstain from most activity until she is well again. The narrator, on the other hand, thinks that change and excitement would do her some good.
The narrator’s husband chooses a room with hideous yellow wallpaper for their bedroom, and the narrator spends a great deal of time in the room. It is an old nursery, and the wallpaper has a strange and unsettling pattern wherever it hasn’t been peeled off. The narrator begins to focus heavily on the wallpaper each day, hating the color and becoming almost angry at the pattern.
As the days wear on, the narrator continues to write secretively behind John’s back, as John believes writing will make the narrator’s nervousness worse. The narrator feels intense guilt at not being more of a help to John, and for her nervousness getting in the way of their lives. She continues to become more isolated as John continues to stress that it is up to the narrator’s own self-will to get better. She fancies that the pattern on the wallpaper begins to move.
The narrator continues to study the wallpaper each day, and begins to notice that the pattern changes as the light in the room changes. She begins to see a woman creeping around behind the wallpaper, and the wallpaper begins to assault her senses even when she is not in the room. The narrator doesn’t really sleep anymore, and intently watches the woman in the wall creeping around the room.
The narrator begins to see the creeping woman wandering around in the arbors and the garden. The narrator grows sure that her husband and Jennie are growing suspicious of her behavior. The day before they are supposed to return home, the narrator begins to strip the wallpaper from the walls to set the creeping woman free. She locks herself in the room and throws the key down onto the front path.
John comes home and begins to bang on the bedroom door, calling for an axe to break it down. The narrator tells him where the key is, and when he finally opens the door, begins crying out at what he finds. The narrator tells him that she’s gotten out of the wallpaper finally in spite of him, and she has pulled off most of the wallpaper so that he can’t put her back. She creeps around the room and over John’s body after he faints.
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Student Instructions
Create a visual plot diagram of "The Yellow Wall-paper".
Enhance your students' literary analysis by incorporating color symbolism into plot diagram activities. Ask students to identify and interpret the significance of colors—like the yellow wallpaper—in the story. This approach helps students connect visual elements to key themes and character emotions, fostering richer class discussions and deeper comprehension.
Project a plot diagram scene and walk the class through identifying important colors and what they might symbolize in that moment. Explain how color choices can reflect mood, character mindset, or underlying themes. Modeling this process makes abstract concepts more concrete for students.
Have students use colored pencils, markers, or digital tools to emphasize key colors in each plot diagram cell. Encourage them to choose colors purposefully and be ready to explain their choices. This active engagement builds critical thinking and attention to literary detail.
Organize students into small groups to share their color interpretations for specific scenes. Prompt them to discuss how color symbolism affects their understanding of the plot and characters. Collaborative analysis helps students compare perspectives and strengthens interpretive skills.
Invite students to present their most compelling color symbolism findings to the class. Highlight connections between visual choices and literary concepts. This reflection reinforces learning and celebrates creative thinking.
A plot diagram for "The Yellow Wall-paper" visually maps out the story's key events using six parts: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. It helps students break down the narrative arc and understand the story's progression.
To teach the plot structure, have students create a six-cell storyboard that illustrates each major part of the plot: exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This visual approach reinforces comprehension and literary analysis skills.
The main events are: Exposition (narrator's arrival and illness), Conflict (obsession with the yellow wallpaper), Rising Action (increasing isolation and fixation), Climax (seeing a woman in the wallpaper), Falling Action (stripping the wallpaper), and Resolution (the narrator's breakdown and John's reaction).
Using a storyboard engages students visually and creatively, making it easier to grasp plot structure and sequence. It also encourages deeper analysis of key moments and character development in the story.
Keep the lesson simple by providing clear instructions, sample cells for each plot element, and allowing students to work individually or in groups. Use templates or digital tools like Storyboard That to save time and enhance student engagement.