The MLA and APA Format, and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Essay Example

MLA (Modern Language Association) is mostly used for papers on literature and the arts, while APA (American Psychological Association) is used for some of the humanities (history, philosophy, and the social sciences) and other subjects like psychology, nursing, economics, and business. The formats are also quite different, with MLA having the author’s name (first and last), the title in italics (upper and lower case) and the date of publication at the end of the citation, while APA features the first initial of the author, then last name, the title in lower caps (except for the first letter of the title and any sub-titles), and the date in parenthesis after the author. In-text citation for both formats (MLA–Jones 123; APA–Jones, 2002, p. 6) is similar and is used to cite a source within the text. Of course, formatting is very important because it allows the reader (and the teacher) to know where sources originate. Formatting is especially important in scientific papers written in the APA style, due to using major headings and sub-headings that help the reader to follow the text with more understanding. Both formats can also be used to create an annotated bibliography or a list of sources with each source having its own brief paragraph describing the source’s content and thesis.

The Yellow Wallpaper

In this “big airy room,” the walls are covered with a “smoldering, unclean yellow” wallpaper, “lurid orange” and “sickly sulfur.” This symbolizes the narrator’s state of mind and her unnamed mental condition that appears to be clinical depression. Thus, yellow is a metaphor for depression and sadness.

The narrator’s account cannot be taken seriously because of her mental condition. She has a tendency to embellish what she sees, perhaps even to the point of hallucinations.

The repetition of the word “creep” signifies that the narrator feels uneasy with herself and that her illness creeps within her and arises when least expected. It also signifies that she feels as if the house itself is “creepy” or filled with an unknown force or presence.

The prose style is reminiscent of journal or diary entries placed on separate pages, meaning that one entry is written down and the next on the turned page. As to its appropriateness, it relates the narrator’s thoughts on a daily basis with each entry as a separate observation.

The narrator has obviously been taken over by her mental condition and her obsession with the yellow wallpaper. In fact, she is so obsessed that she crawls over the body of her husband that in her eyes is an obstacle to her “creeping” about the room.