Essay 221
i dont know i jThesis Statement / Essay Topic #1: The Bell Jar as a Coming-of-Age Novel
For most adolescents, the coming-of-age period is challenging and painful. For Esther Greenwood in “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath, however, coming-of-age is literally life-threatening. As she notices the differences between herself and her friends and attempts to find meaning in her life, Esther contemplates suicide and then makes several unsuccessful attempts to end her life using various means. The source of Esther’s discontent, however, is never entirely clear. Identify (textually) some of the situations and feelings that cause Esther distress and explain why this time of her life was so difficult for her. You may wish to engage the issue of mental illness, explaining how it complicates her passage through this turbulent period of her life. Finally, address how Esther ultimately makes it through this rough passage. Assess whether she has come-of-age successfully, despite her hardships in “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath.
Thesis Statement/Essay Topic #2: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of The Bell Jar
Clearly, the psychological distress which Esther experiences is the dominant motif in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, and the process of psychiatric treatment consumes a significant portion of the narrative. Beyond a facile assessment of the strengths and limitations of Esther’s treatment, there are a number of underlying dynamics that are worth exploring using a psychoanalytic framework. Writing an essay on “The Bell Jar” from this perspective requires a particular knowledge of some of the basic tenets of psychoanalysis; if you possess this knowledge, some areas worth examining are: the influence that the death of Esther’s father and the relationship with her mother may have had on the development of her illness; Esther’s developmental deficits (i.e.: Using one developmental theorist’s framework, explain how/why Esther faced a developmental crisis); the quality of Esther’s
For most adolescents, the coming-of-age period is challenging and painful. For Esther Greenwood in “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath, however, coming-of-age is literally life-threatening. As she notices the differences between herself and her friends and attempts to find meaning in her life, Esther contemplates suicide and then makes several unsuccessful attempts to end her life using various means. The source of Esther’s discontent, however, is never entirely clear. Identify (textually) some of the situations and feelings that cause Esther distress and explain why this time of her life was so difficult for her. You may wish to engage the issue of mental illness, explaining how it complicates her passage through this turbulent period of her life. Finally, address how Esther ultimately makes it through this rough passage. Assess whether she has come-of-age successfully, despite her hardships in “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath.
Thesis Statement/Essay Topic #2: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of The Bell Jar
Clearly, the psychological distress which Esther experiences is the dominant motif in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, and the process of psychiatric treatment consumes a significant portion of the narrative. Beyond a facile assessment of the strengths and limitations of Esther’s treatment, there are a number of underlying dynamics that are worth exploring using a psychoanalytic framework. Writing an essay on “The Bell Jar” from this perspective requires a particular knowledge of some of the basic tenets of psychoanalysis; if you possess this knowledge, some areas worth examining are: the influence that the death of Esther’s father and the relationship with her mother may have had on the development of her illness; Esther’s developmental deficits (i.e.: Using one developmental theorist’s framework, explain how/why Esther faced a developmental crisis); the quality of Esther’s