Outline for S/R Paper

My summary and response paper would be answering the first prompt where I basically draw the connection between the doctors in Sigmund Freud’s first lecture and the ones that are present in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. In my response, I will discuss how the doctors in Freud’s first lecture basically lacked sympathy for the hysterical patients because they believe that organic diseases were more important and hysteria was basically outside of their scope of medicine. In comparison to these doctors, Breuer displayed sympathy for his young female patient by prescribing her the talking cure (catharsis). In reference to Breuer’s patient, I will talk about how she exhibited symptoms of hysteria, isolated paralysis, sight and speech disturbances, nausea, memory loss, and disorientation. I will then add that it was a talking cure—chimney sweeping— that allowed the patient to converse about the traumatic event being repressed in her mind, leading to her hysteria. By being able to talk about it, it shows that Breuer was listening to her and acknowledging her illness.
I will then proceed to say that “The Yellow Wallpaper” does illustrate Freud’s criticism of most doctors; they are not empathizing with hysterical patients and trying to understand them. I will introduce John— the narrator’s husband— and how he is his wife’s physician and ends up prescribing her the resting cure. In comparison to the talking cure, the rest cure is when the wife has to refrain from any work and stay in isolation to basically rest her mind and body, proving it is not as effective as the talking cure. The wife is not even allowed to write, so she has to secretly write in a diary which is essentially chimney wiping as Freud mentions in his lecture. But she wasn’t talking to another human being so it was basically considered the dead paper. John does love his wife, but lacks sympathy for her and has complete control over her— infantilizes his wife. I will then add-on that John’s role as a physician started to take away from his role as a husband and how men were the dominant ones during this time period. John is similar to the doctors in Freud’s first lecture because hysteria was outside of their scope of medicine and they lack sympathy. John persists to try to fix his wife, leading to her insanity.

S/R Draft Body Paragraph

The relationship between the narrator and her husband John is quite complex considering the fact that he is her lover and physician at the same time. John believes that he is prescribing the best cure possible based on his knowledge, but he was actually hurting her due to his ego as a man. John refuses to admit that his prescribed treatment was not helping his wife. The resting cure, where the narrator stays in isolation in the nursery to rest her mind and not work, was a treatment the wife disagreed with. She was forbidden to work and states, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (Gilman 648). This shows that the narrator’s input/ idea as to what would benefit her in her treatment as a patient is completely dismissed. It appears that only the words of John, a man with the physician title, matter considering the fact that he doesn’t believe his wife is sick. Although the narrator acknowledges that her husband loves her by saying, “He is very careful and loving,” she adds that he “hardly lets me stir without special direction”, which highlights John is domineering (Gilman 648). The diction in the narrator’s words highlight that John enjoys being in control of his wife. The fact that his wife— a grown woman— requires special direction shows he likes to guide her as if she was a lost child. Because the wife is not permitted to work or have human interaction, she takes the risk to write in private despite knowing if she was caught, she would be met with “heavy opposition” (Gilman 648). By taking this risk, it ignites more fear in the narrator; she is already fearful of what John would do if he was to discover her not completing his prescribed treatment.

Exploratory Essay Draft

Thesis: Carmen Maria Machado’s diction in “ Eight Bites” illustrates the Freudian concepts of wishful impulse and wishful fulfillment as the narrator forces her body into the preconceived notion that being skinny is physical perfection.
In the short story “ Eight bites,” the narrator’s identity seems to be established within her family as her mother, her sisters, and her daughter play a role in the woman she becomes. This meme is a perfect representation of the story because it shows the conflict when it comes to women’s body image as the narrator struggles with the external image she presents to the world. She does not want others to see her as a fat woman but rather as normal like her mom and her sisters who have undergone gastric bypass surgery. However, her daughter has the same body type as her and appreciates her curves while expressing her differ in opinion on the narrator’s idea of irreversible surgery. When describing her current body, she says she didn’t get her body from her mom because her mom “ always looked normal, not hearty or curvy or Rubenesque or Midwestern or voluptuous, just normal” (Machado, 3). By using the word normal, there is an emphasis placed on non-voluptuous bodies being acceptable as the standard by society, while implying that voluptuous bodies are the opposite. This leads to the development of the narrator’s wishful impulse, which is to drop all excessive weight. When she satisfies this desire, it is when she experiences what appears to be hallucinations due to the repression of her unconscious desire— wishful fulfillment.
***Who always looked normal, not hearty or curvy or Rubenesque or Midwestern or voluptuous, just normal.
***Freudian concepts of repression and repressed wishful impulses as the narrator struggles with body shaming and an eating disorder.
*** Illustrates Freud’s concepts of a wishful impulse demonstrating how the narrator fails to love herself due to her body size and her compulsive eating habits
In the short story “Eight Bites”, published in 2017, the essayist Carmen Maria Machado asserts that society’s standard of beauty is a woman with a thin frame by addressing the narrator’s relationship with her body, family members, and food. By supplying the reader with information about the narrator’s decision to undergo gastric bypass surgery and the surgery’s impact on her self-perception, Machado builds her claims about the falsehood of the preconceived notion of being skinny equating to physical perfection with the illustration of the Freudian concepts: wishful impulse and wishful fulfillment. Machado wishes to convey to readers the importance of body acceptance in order to eliminate the mindset of conforming to societal expectations.
The author’s audience likely consists of women suffering from body insecurities— primarily women thinking of weight loss options— as is evident through her references to eight bites of food and the sought of satisfaction post-surgery; she addresses readers with a tone that is intimate and insightful.

Critical Research Analysis Draft

A quest to the imagination

In the short story “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo” by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, the protagonist is a middle-aged man working as a debt collector in Tokyo, Japan. His name is Katagiri and he lives a life where he is unnoticed by the people around him. This leads to an internal battle within himself; he questions his worth in society, followed by a proposition from a Frog about a journey to save Tokyo. Haruki Murakami’s personification of the frog and the worm in “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo” illustrates the Freudian concepts of the super-ego, ego, and the Id as Katagari embarks on a journey to learn how to come to terms with his place within a society; a Japanese society where people fit and work for the system and the idea of individuality is not celebrated.
For instance, Katagiri is a single older Japanese man, who has been looked down upon by others despite the various sacrifices he has made. Katagiri has no wife or kids and after the death of his parents, he became the parental figure for his sister and brother. In a conversation between Frog and Katagiri, Frog states “ They have shown you no respect and acted with the most callous disregard for your loving kindness. In my opinion, their behavior is unconscionable. I almost wish I could beat them to a pulp on your behalf ” (Murakami). This illustrates that Katagiri has not been given recognition for his actions towards his siblings. Despite being a creation of the imagination, when compared to Frog, Katagiri lacks the courage and self-esteem to confront his siblings, which justifies Frog being a personification of his super-ego— what he aspires to be.
According to Sigmund Freud, “The Dissection of the Psychical Personality” highlights that “The super-ego applies the strictest moral standard to the helpless ego which is at its mercy; in general it represents the claims of morality, and we realize all at once that our moral sense of guilt is the expression of the tension between the ego and the super-ego” (Freud 3). This shows the super-ego is coming to the aid of Katagiri— who represents the ego. Katagiri continuously views himself as a worthless man with no recognition. As stated before, the super-ego is what he aspires to be because Frog has hero-like qualities that would gain admiration, which he lacks. Katagiri believes that his place in society doesn’t allow him to be a hero, so he remains in the same position, while Frog is trying to help him realize he doesn’t need recognition to embrace his individuality. This reinforces the expression of the tension between the super-ego and the ego as Frog tries to raise Katagiri’s self-esteem, while Katagiri is hesitant on accepting that he can be like Frog. Additionally, this also reinforces Murakami’s view on society not celebrating individuality since Katagiri is withholding his potential.

***This reinforces both the expression of the tension between the super-ego and the ego, and Murakami’s view on society as Katagiri is withholding his potential to only continue working hard with no recognition. and how Katagiri shouldn’t let society determine how he lives his life.
Katagiri’s sense of self is expressed through him being bitter and feeling unappreciated. In Japanese society, the social norms revolve around the family. An individual is supposed to be loyal to their family. It is a collectivist society, where family comes first. Katagiri goes against social norms because his family is not loyal to him and he is not respected (Welch,1). The anger exists within him and is displaced into the form of the Frog. The Frog battles with the worm, which represents the loneliness and bitterness that could eventually destroy him. Although the battle was a draw, the Frog ends up sacrificing himself for the greater good and dies with worms coming out of him. Katagiri realizes that the world does not have to know about his accomplishments, the only thing that matters is how Katagiri views himself.
The worm in the story serves as a reminder to Katagiri; he is reminded that he is not respected or important to society, so he shouldn’t try to change that. Because the worm is negative, it is a representation of Katagiri’s Id, which Freud justifies as a dark place in our mind that is inaccessible to our personality. For instance, the worm’s eyes have atrophied and its “brain has turned to jelly as he sleeps” proving that the worm is slowly decaying.
Post the Kobe earthquake in 1995, Japan was in a devastating condition as crime increased and the economy fell. According to “The Kobe Earthquake, Ten Years Later,” it states, “The earthquake disrupted the lives of residents and affected the economy in innumerable ways. It damaged 85 percent of the region’s schools, many hospitals, and other public facilities. Extensive damage to rail, road, and port facilities took up to seven months to repair” (Olchansky). This reinforces Murakami’s critique of society as everyone in the country was unified due to their struggle. There was no celebration for individuality because Japan was at a crucial time where Society believed that the country’s needs were far superior to individual needs. Japan needed to be restored.

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