
Immerse your students in the unsettling and symbolic world of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper with this set of imaginative, student-led creative activities. Designed to develop analytical thinking alongside creative interpretation, these tasks help learners explore symbolism, unreliable narration, and mental health themes, while reflecting on the text’s social and historical context.
Perfect for KS4 or A-Level English Literature, these activities work particularly well within units on Gothic fiction, feminist literature, or 19th-century societal expectations. They encourage students to consider the fine line between freedom and confinement, reason and madness, and how narrative perspective shapes a reader’s understanding.
Students can choose from a range of activities, including:
★ Filming a first-person video diary from the narrator’s perspective
★ Recording a podcast debating the narrator’s reliability and mental state
★ Designing a symbolic wallpaper pattern with hidden meaning
★ Creating a graphic novel version of the story focusing on mood and tone
★ Writing a short stage play depicting the narrator’s psychological descent
★ Designing set and costume ideas to reflect themes of control, beauty, and fear
★ Mapping the narrator’s mind through fragmented visuals and key quotations
★ Writing a sensationalised newspaper article about the events in the house
★ Curating a soundscape to represent tension, obsession, and disintegration
Why use this resource?
✔ Encourages close reading and symbolic interpretation
✔ Provides discussion-rich alternatives to essay-based analysis
✔ Supports a range of learning styles and abilities
✔ Perfect for exploring Gothic conventions, feminist criticism, and social context
Download today to help your students engage with one of the most psychologically complex short stories in literature—combining creative expression with critical analysis.
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