Diagnosis

Let's see if we can diagnose Esther. Below are links to websites about depression and personality disorders. Read about the disorders and take a look at the symptoms. Then, try to figure out which, if any, category Esther belongs in. To make this process more efficient, we will divide into groups. Everyone will look at depression. When we get to personality disorders, group 1 will look at Cluster A, group 2 will look at Cluster B, and group 3 will look at Cluster C.

Depression
http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-women

Personality Disorders
http://www.mhasp.org/help/personality_disorders.html

Ok, now that we've diagnosed Esther, let's decide how to treat her. We know that Dr. Gordon prescribes shock therapy for Esther. How would Esther be treated today?

The Madness Begins to be Known

Consider the following questions, and leave a comment with your thoughts on each of them.

1. Chapter 10: Esther clearly loves writing and sees herself as a writer. Unfortunately, the two most important people in her life do not see her passion for writing as a sensible desire for her life. How does Buddy's and her mother's discounting of Esther's desire to be a writer (specifically a poet) effect how she views herself? How does she react to the discouragement she is recieving from Buddy and her mother?
2. Chapter 11: Esther's condition has gotten so bad that she has been sent to a psychiatrist. However, this psychiatrist does ont seem to make Esther feel comfortable at all. What is it about him that makes her think he is conceited? What do you think is behind her desire to control what he knows about her?
3. Chapter 11: What do you think is behind Esther's desire to escape to Chicago?
4. Chapter 12: Esther has her first shock treatment in this chapter. How does the treatment effect her? When she decides not to go back to Doctor Gordon, is she making that decision because she is cured? If she is not, why doesn't she want to go back?
5. Chapter 12: At the end of this chapter, Esther begins to contemplate suicide. What is it that keeps her from going through with any of her plans?
   

We've just finished reading chapters 4-6 of The Bell Jar. In this segment, Esther is taken in to see the dissection of some cadavers. Sylvia Plath wrote a poem about a cadaver room entitled "Two Views of a Cadaver Room". In this poem, she references Pieter Brueghel's painting, "The Triumph of Death". Here is a link to that painting, if you would like to see it.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/death.jpg

Introduction to The Bell Jar

Hello! Welcome to my (Miss Hall's) blog! Today, we are beginning The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Before we begin reading, please go to http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AWg68O-s2UT7ZHpyaHd0Yl8wZGc2djZzYzk&hl=en and answer the questions you will find there.