Susanna Kaysen's "Girl, Interrupted"

Abstract: 6 pages in length. There exist myriad influences that can prompt a person into sidestepping what is considered to be normal behavior. Susanna Kaysen's "Girl, Interrupted" strives to answer the long-standing and elusive question: What is normal? When Kaysen was eighteen years old, even then at such a young age she realized that she did not respond to conventional social cues as set down by societal dictates. Her literary account relives her eighteen months worth of sometimes harrowing and other times enlightening experiences, all put forth for the sole purpose of opening eyes and minds to the reality of mental illness. The writer discusses Kaysen's account, as well as draws parallels with Tamara L. Roleff's "Mental Illness (Opposing Viewpoints)" and Gerald Grob's "The Mad Among Us : A History of the Care of America's Mentally Ill." Bibliography lists 8 sources.

Filename: TLCgirl.wps

Pages: 6

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Catagory: Film & Television

Subcatagory: Music, Film, Television, Theater & Photography

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