INSTRUCTIONS
Using Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s The Yellow Wallpaper or W.E.B. Dubois’ The Comet, in conjunction with Dubois’ concept of Double Consciousness, please write a 750-1000 word scholarly/expository essay addressing one of the following inquiries:
Inquiry I: If the Duboisian concept of Double Consciousness is comprised of “always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity,” of living in “a world that yields [ ] no true self-consciousness,” where and how, then, is this manifest in Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s The Yellow Wallpaper?
Inquiry II: (Again) If the Duboisan concept of Double Consciousness is defined as a state of being wherein one is “born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,” and as “a peculiar sensation… [and a] sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity,” as living in a world wherein “one ever feels [their] twoness” a world where in a person is defined as both “an American, a Negro,” in possession of “two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder” – where and how is this manifest in Dubois’ short story, The Comet?
Inquiry III: Does the application of W.E.B. Dubois’ concept of Double Consciousness beyond the scope of its original application negate either its poignancy or the state of being it was originally intended to describe?
Requirements: Your work should include the following:
A minimum of two and a maximum of four citations from your primary text(s);
A decisive and definitive answer to the assignment’s primary query;
Your work should adhere to all MLA citation and reference protocols, including proper in-text citation and works cited guidelines. If you are unsure of how to properly cite the texts you are working with, please use the following link for reference: Purdue OWL
Formatting:
Length: 750-1000 words;
Title: Your essay must have a title;
Font: Times New Roman;
Spacing: Double;
Margins: One inch on all sides;
File Type: MS Word or PDF.
If you would like, you can use this quote :
‘After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,—a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.’
This is directly from DuBois, W.E.B. Of Our Spiritual Strivings | The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
I’ve attached both sources/articles in pdf format which are required for this essay.
