Frida, May 4 Second Post
kis...@aol.com
John Marcinkewich
interpret texts of certain works of literature. In these criticisms
the thoughts and desires of the character are revealed through the
author’s writing in context that can be interpreted as subconscious or
unconscious thoughts. It can be said that these thoughts of the
character are also thoughts of the author itself. It can serve as a
way of decoding aspects of the story and also the development of
characters lives. It can also serve as examples of emotions within the
lives of the characters of the story that the author also may try to
reveal about himself.
In Tears of a Tiger, after the trauma that Andy faces in his life, for
example, like his best friend Robert dying in the car crash, which was
caused by Andy, he begins to develop certain thoughts and emotions
throughout the story that are rather sad and depressing. The people
and situations that surround him tend to make these thoughts grow and
they start to take over his life. These certain thoughts and emotions
start to build up which eventually lead to his final decision of
committing suicide.
Deaths caused by drunk driving can cause one to go into a deep state
of depression, especially if its you killing someone else. In the
United States it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol
concentration of .08 or higher. If a person is caught driving while
intoxicated above the legal limit that person will receive a DUI
(Driving Under the Influence) and it will be put on there record and
they will have their license suspended for a long period of time. This
law has been in affect as of 2002 in the United States and Puerto
Rico. Driving under the influence can not only have the consequences
of losing your license but also losing your own life or possibly even
taking another.
Drunk driving causes many deaths world wide every day. Out of all of
the traffic fatalities in the United States one-third of them are
caused by driving under the influence. On average in the United States
someone is killed by a drunk driver approximately every 40 minutes.
Approximately 75% of fatal accidents occurring between midnight and 3
am are caused by alcohol. Studies also say that a first time DUI
offender has already driven while under the influence about 80 times
before being arrested. Drunk drivers with passengers in the car are
less likely to be killed than the person in the passenger seat because
the person in the other seat does not have the steering wheel to stop
their body from going through the windshield during the collision.
Desiree Tivnan
Desiree Tivnan
Mrs. Connors
English 10
Block D
April 28, 2012
In today's society, many people suffer from Depression. Depression is sadness or gloom; feeling helpless, hopeless, and worthless for an extended period of time (days or weeks) that keep you from functioning normally. Some causes of depression are job loss, money struggles, family situations, and certain medications. But in teenagers, the most common causes of depression are bullying, grades, school performance, social status, and sexual orientation. There are many different types of depression. There is major depression, chronic depression, bipolar depression, seasonal depression, psychotic depression, postpartum depression, and substance-induced mood disorder. For some, depression can be so overwhelming that they turn to drugs, alcohol, cutting or suicide to cope with this depression. Suicide is the action of killing oneself intentionally. Hannah suffers from depression because of all the events that lead to her suicide. As each event occurs, she gets more and more depressed.
Joanna Larsen
Many times traumatic events can trigger a psychological problem. In
the novel Mockingjay, the two main characters undergo several tragic
events. These events have huge affects on both Peeta and Katniss.
These affects result in disorders like depression and post-traumatic
stress disorder. Also, the characters are unsure about what thoughts
are conscious and unconscious which let them carry out insensible
actions. In addition the characters live in an unusual and their
surrounding affects them in a harmful way. The traumatic events the
characters from Mockingjay experience cause them to have various
conditions.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. It can
occur after you have seen of experienced a traumatic event that
involved the threat of injury or death. Some events that can cause
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are assault, domestic abuse,
prison stay, rape, terrorism or war. There are three categories of the
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The first is reliving the
event, which disturbs everyday activity; for example a flashback or
nightmare. The second category is avoidance; this means you feel like
you have no future, feeling detached, lack of interest in normal
activities and/or being unable to remember aspects of the trauma. The
final category is arousal where you have difficulty in concentrating,
are startled easily, have trouble sleeping, and feeling more aware.
Also, the person may feel guilt about the event, survival guilt.
Physical symptoms are dizziness, fainting, headaches and feeling your
heart beat in your chest. There are no tests that can diagnose post-
traumatic stress disorder..
Clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feeling sadness, loss,
anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or
longer. The exact cause of depression in not known. Some types can run
in families, but depression can also occur if you have no family
history of the illness. The following may play a role in depression:
alcohol or drug abuse, some medications, sleeping problems, stressful
life events (ex. Death of someone close to you, divorce, childhood
abuse or neglect, or social isolation). People with depression usually
have a negative attitude and are unable to imagine that any problem
can be solved in a positive way. Symptoms of depression are difficult
to concentrate, trouble sleeping or too much sleeping, thoughts of
death or suicide, becoming isolated, feeling hopelessness,
helplessness, and worthlessness. If depression is severe, there can be
psychotic symptoms such as hallucination and delusions. The test for
depression is questions from a health care provider about your
symptoms, the answers will help the doctor to make a diagnosis.
Being abused does not cause psychological or medical illness to occur
necessarily. But, being abused makes it much more likely that one will
occur. Commonly, people develop emotional problems after their abuse.
Some of these problems are depression, various anxiety disorders and
multiple personality disorder. Severe abuse can lead the victim to
suicide. Abuse can play a big factor in psychological problems, but
alone is not the cause of them. Symptoms of the victim getting abused
are panic attacks, self harm, sleep disturbances, flashbacks and
memory blanks.
In Mockingjay, the characters’ psychological disorders become
evident. The anxieties of the characters grow throughout the novel as
both face more difficult and intense challenges. These anxieties cause
Peeta and Katniss to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Katniss also has to live with the deaths of her family members along
with numerous close friends. These losses are too much for her to
handle and cause Katniss to fall into depression. In the beginning of
this story, Peeta gets abused. This affects him mentally and
physically and his life is greatly changed as he tries to cope with
it. Also as a result of the traumatic events, the characters are
unaware of some of their thoughts which lead to unconscious actions.
As this novel unfolds, the reader becomes aware of the many different
psychological disorders that Peeta and Katniss must learn to live
with.
Jason Kay
English-D
May 3, 2
The human mind’s in-depth conscious and subconscious workings are
truly an unbelievable concept. With any given stimulus, the person is
applied to the action in the changed environment, whether this occurs
physically or mentally to said person. The most interesting concept of
diagnosing mental disorders is the perspective viewed upon each
symptom. In fact, most mental disorders for a person are “changed”
throughout a patient’s treatment due to the fact that a more
“accurate” mental disorder fits a description of their patient. For a
believable book, most characters in literature suffer from mental
disorders and syndromes and this explains their motivations as well as
their actions.
In Jay Asher’s novel The Thirteen Reasons Why, the protagonist,
Hannah Baker, clearly suffers from depression due to constant
harassment of her actions and the unintended consequences that follow
with it. In response to the constant bullying from her peers, Hannah
seems to keep her feelings to herself about certain events until she
finally releases the reasons on how everyone has ruined her life after
she commits suicide. To further elaborate, Hannah Baker also shows
anxiety during certain events in her life and this also pushes Hannah
towards “the edge” and leads her closer to her death. This General
Anxiety Disorder goes hand-and-hand with the depression she suffers
from and results in very negative thoughts from the people around her
and in her own mind itself. The way that everything Hannah does is
brought out to the public leaves Hannah trapped in a most powerful
where she is ridiculed and critiqued for everything she does. The
Thirteen reasons why Hannah killed herself can all be related back to
her mental disorders along with the actions of her peers.
To begin, Hannah Baker’s depression first shows symptoms when her
first kiss is ridiculed by other students in her school. Hannah
expresses her thoughts about the problem by simply ignoring the rumors
which suppresses her feelings and adds stress to her life which will
later evolve into serious depression. Hannah’s “first kiss” (Usually
an innocent event for most) was stripped away from her pride and this
causes Hannah to be put at an outlier position among her peers which
can make the human mind a powerful weapon against oneself. The way
that the event is introduced to the public leaves Hannah in a state
where her privacy is starting to be breached. A teen with no privacy
will feel alone and hopeless, (teen depression website) as Hannah’s
behavior/mood indicates, and although these feelings are not as severe
as they later will be, it indicates the later actions that will be
made by her. Additionally, Hannah feels “betrayed” by Justin for how
he publicized the event. Hannah opens up on how betrayal feels to her
when she says “Betrayal. It’s one of the worst feelings.” (Asher, 13)
Hannah claimed she had a special bond with Justin, mostly because of
small events, but the power Justin holds over Hannah is quite
remarkable and the fact that Justin betrays her adds on to Hannah’s
stress. Although the event was minor at the moment to Hannah, as she
admits, it transformed into something greater and even added anger to
her stress acclaimed by the rumor started about her. As Hannah
realizes how Justin told his friends another story, Hannah becomes, in
short, frustrated with what he did. This anger developed not only
makes Hannah mad at Justin, but also it seems, as later indicated in
the novel, that Hannah gets mad at herself and regrets this kiss due
to the snowball effect it had on her. Although Hannah shows a sign of
depression, her regret of the event itself shows how she is still has
a normal functioning human mind that will think of the “other”
possibilities of what could have happened rather than what already
happened. This response to the stimulus that occurs to Hannah’s mind
depicts her humanity and what the human mind will do in times of
stress.
Another contributing factor to Hannah’s stress was how Alex Standall
voted Hannah as number one for the list of “Who’s Hot and Who’s Not”
in the Freshman class. Hannah, still a new student, came into a
completely different school environment than what she was used to.
Naturally, any human when they switch schools will become anxious or
scared as they think of all the possibilities that could go wrong at
their new school. Hannah underwent this typical anxiety, but as she
found out about the list with her name on it, she started to become
insecure about herself. As some can relate, if a girl receives a
comment on her body from some random guy she will feel embarrassed and
angry, and Hannah supports this theory when she examples it during
class when another student comments on her body. The list made Hannah
more insecure about herself and the publicity of Alex’s list sent the
message that “It’s okay to comment and do what ever you please to
Hannah Baker.” To add on to Hannah’s stress, Hannah was used as a
“weapon” towards another girl in the class to make another girl,
Jessica Davis, feel bad and jealous. Hannah, unwillingly, was part of
some sort of revenge plot and this can make anyone with a good heart
feel horrible about themselves. Hannah is blamed for something that
she had no control of and not only did this make Jessica jealous but
it also made them not friends anymore. Hannah undergoes insecurity and
other guys using her body as a toy AND loses a close friend. This
leaves Hannah in an alone and angry state in which she does not have
many people to turn and talk to, considering that Alex and Jessica
were her only “friends.” In fact, the list made for Hannah can be
viewed as the very first initiation of her real depression considering
when Hannah says “Okay. I just looked over every name—every story—that
completes these tapes. And guess what. Every single event documented
here may never have happened had you, Alex, not written my name on
that list. It’s that simple.” (Asher, 41) This quote, stating how Alex
supposedly “started everything” , shows how the human mind can
actually reach back to the root of its stress and identify the
starting cause of the problem. Although Hannah knows how the problem
started, the snowball affect that occurred after this incident will
clearly start to develop her depression more seriously. As her
depression increases Hannah’s mind will slowly dig a “deeper hole” in
which she falls into and with the deeper she gets into the hole, the
harder it will be for her to escape. Also, part of Hannah’s anxiety is
present due to the way she “relives” this certain event in her head.
Whether it is the list being made or her and Jessica not being friends
anymore, Hannah has flashbacks and memories of the pain and stress she
endured at this period of her life to intensify the amount of stress
she already has. This anxiety matches with her depression and will
only make Hannah more alone and scared of possible events in the
future, as well as holding the fear she has had in the past.
In addition, another direct reason why Hannah killed herself was
because of another boy spying on her change her clothes.
012
http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/teen-depression
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/index.shtml
Rachel Treannie
Rachel Treannie
Mrs. Connors
Honors English 10
May 4, 2012
Death is the worst possible outcome to any accident. Death is a regulator though; it ensures wariness and caution for mortals. Life would be undermined and treated poorly if no consequence would be dealt. All of this though can be fixed! In this book if anything from head to toe, even the hair atop your head, is damaged it can be replaced good as new. This should be a good thing, but of course anything good has something to balance that out. Carless is one result of this ability to practically play God. People will not be as tentative when driving, handling weapons, or machinery. To forget the mortality of man is horrible, the respect for other’s lives or personal lives would become obsolete. The novel is just at the beginning of this advancement and has yet to display the long term affects. Though surgeons can replace the damages, a death can never be brought back. Death is the dark wine stain on the rug, it is irremovable. People have grown less vigilant because they know they have nothing to really lose, they forget that one wrong hit and they are dead. This is lowering the standard for life because no one needs to worry or care about losing anything or anyone. They can just patch up what is broken and be on their way. The citizens beat around death with new solutions not caring that people’s lives must be “taken apart”.
They forget about those people who gave up a piece of themselves for the wounded. The law states in this novel that 99.4% of the body must be used (things such as the appendix are the other 0.6%). Those people who have new parts believe that the unwind is still alive, but in a divided state. That is what the law claims, living but in a divided state. Naturally that is what is believed and in believing this, it is assumed that there is no death or taking of another’s life. Though the unwind’s life is taken away because they are not living their own, they have no possession of their body. Thus, it makes sense that their lives are taken away, no one thinks that way in this society though. They do not view any of this as death they are not guilty or grateful for their new body part. They ignore the source and place life at a lower standard because that is how everything is in this society. The unwinds do not die, they just live divided. So no one ever questions. Like the meat in fast food, no one cares to think about what is in their food while they eat it, they know some ware deep down it is not good for the body, but they ignore that because they have already eaten, and it was okay to eat because so many others have eaten this artificial food before, plus no cow died really. Why bother questioning when they have eaten and are full. The food fulfilled the purpose; let them leave it at that. That is how this society treats Unwinds, who really cares how they got these nice legs; he can walk again that is all that matters. No one died, everyone is saved.
Noah Kellem
Early on in the novel, Liesel experiences the first traumatic event of her life that later causes her to have serious mental stress. It occurs on a long and tiresome train ride with her family with their destination being Liesel and her brother’s new foster home. While Liesel is resting and falling in and out of sleep, she suddenly looks up to see her brother’s lifeless body lying on the floor of the train car. In disbelief, she rushes over to him and starts shaking him to get him to wake up, and her mother then does the same. Liesel has just witnessed her own brother die before her eyes.
This has a serious impact on her mental state, and it affects her sleeping habits and the way she interacts with other people. For the first couple months, Liesel hasn’t been able to sleep one full night without being interrupted with sudden dreams of her brother’s death waking her up. Although her foster father comforts her each night, he does not help with her recurring nightmares and they continue to torment her. These nightmares keep occurring because Liesel suffers from what is known as Post-Traumatic Stress-Disorder or PTSD for short.
Although PTSD is mainly found in returning soldiers, PTSD can be developed in anyone that experiences a traumatic event. In Liesel’s case, this traumatic event is the sudden death of her brother that she witnessed in an already terrifying and stressful situation to a child. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs states that the death of a family member is one of the most common ways for children to develop PTSD, and the severity of the PTSD can depend on how close the child was to the trauma. Liesel was right in front of her brother when he died, and she can remember and relive his death vividly because of it.
In the chapter titled “The Woman With The Iron Fist”, Liesel suffers from the same nightmare every night for over a month. Each time she sees her bother lying motionless on the train cart floor, and wakes up screaming. This is a common symptom of PTSD in children as stated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA), and PTSD can also lead to the child having a hard time trusting others. After The Injury provides indications as to whether or not a child has PTSD, one being if the child relives the trauma in dreams/nightmares. They say that it is normal for a child to have bad dreams, but if they are recurring nightmares that increase in frequency after the trauma, it is a strong possibility the child suffers from PTSD.
In the same chapter, the narrator states that it took three weeks for Liesel to fully trust her new foster-father. As stated earlier, the USDVA says that the inability to trust people can be a direct result of a traumatic event a child goes through and a symptom of PSTD. Liesel took a long time to trust her new foster-father, and her new foster-mother even longer. This is a direct result of her brother’s death, and causes her to separate herself from them until she finally trusts them. Liesel’s nightmares and untrustworthy nature after her brother’s death are clear indications that Liesel is coping and suffering from PTSD, as she shows the same symptoms as other children, and even adults, with PTSD.
Rachel Ashley
Rachel Ashley
May 4, 2012
Mrs. Connors
Humans of all kind feel a need to be accepted; they want to belong. This concept is one that lies at the very core of one’s human nature. While a few rise above this urge encoded in to the very fabric of the human heart, millions succumb to this insisting desire, yielding to the demons of conformity. There is a line that exists between wanting this acceptance from others and becoming totally dependent upon this urge for acceptance. For most, there is a clear distinction between these two things, but for some this line becomes blurred. These people are known as Neurotics; they suffer from “a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, it is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances.”[1] So what is it that brings on these severe mental disturbances? Several philosophers have decided to examine this issue and see it they can learn what brings this on. One of the key researchers in this filed is Karen Horney, who has come up with the most logical way of defining both how people first become neurotics and has been able to come up with three categories into which neurotics generally fit. However, people are not the only ones that can fit in to these categories, since characters in novels often take on very humanistic traits it is only natural that a handful of them would also suffer from neurosis without ever even realizing it. In the series, The Nightside, by Simon R. Green it becomes apparent that the character John Taylor is one that suffers from this mental disorder.
What is it that first made John Taylor in to the neurotic that he is? According to Karen Horney, “The key to understanding this phenomenon is the child's perception, rather than the parent's intentions.” [2] In his early years John Talyor was often neglected by his father who would
Moms’s opinon
“I will respeak your most seceret name and remake you unto the respectful, obedient son I always intended you to be.”
John talking to his dad
“You went away. Abandoned me to my enemies, when I was just a child. You left me alone when I needed you most. You drank your self to death rather than raise me, why?” Pg 236
His dad to him
“You’ve done well, in my abances. I am proud of you, my son”
“That is all that I ever wanted page” 237
Hailey Adams
For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to
each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to
carpool duty. They grew so close it seemed they have always been a
part of each other's lives. It was no surprise that in high school
Chris Harte and Emily Gold's friendship grew into something more.
They've been soul mates since they were born. At age nine, Emily and
Chris were playing truth or dare in McDonalds. Chris dared Emily to go
into the boy’s bathroom and when she entered, there was a man, whom
she called The Creep, sexually assaulted her. Emily was so traumatized
she decided never to tell anyone. She allowed the event to take her
over and effectively take over her life.
Victims of sexual assault have shown prominent repercussions
throughout their lives. Within the novel, The Pact by Jodi Picoult,
Emily experienced extreme physiological, psychological and emotional
effects due to sexual assault. Unfortunately, she developed Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As she got older, lasting emotional
effects like depression, withdrawal, no interest in sex, shame, and
nightmares took such a toll on her she committed suicide.
When Emily died, evidence pointed to murder and pointed right at her
boyfriend Chris. There was not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but
accusations were thrown across the board. Not knowing the answers
drove the families apart. While each family dealt with Emily’s death
in different ways, both families were drastically changed. During the
healing process, both families did not have all the answers to their
questions. Because of this, they were forced to create their own piece
in the puzzle in their head so that they could recover and continue
with their lives.
Victimization plays a crucial role in Emily’s character. After her
death her tragic story began to unfold and her behavior and mental
state began to make sense. The Gold’s and the Harte’s began to go
through the process of the seven stages of grief which added overall
content and emotion to the novel. Through psychoanalytic criticism and
the ideologies of Frued, all of this content is explored through out
the novel which challenges the repercussions of Emily’s sexual assault
and provides an explanation to Chris and Emily’s parent’s relationship
strain.
Emily’s evident Rape- Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder effects
began to show around age 16. Sometimes it takes a while for RR-PTSD to
develop. Sometimes it's instant. It all depends on the type of person
you’re dealing with and how traumatic the event was to that person.
There are many phases, symptoms, and challenges the individuals who
suffer from it face. Emily and Chris had been dating for years and
naturally he wanted to have sex. The more she began to toy with the
idea the more anxiety it caused her. “Many rape victims have realistic
nightmares and dreams about the actual rape. In addition, victims may
relive the event through flashbacks, during which victims experience
the traumatic event as if it was happening now”. (1) These symptoms
were shown in Emily’s life. At night Emily woke up panting with cold
sweats. She would dream of her assault and described the burning
sensation of disinfectant, the smell of his black breath, and coarse
hairs on the back of his hand. Sometimes she would even awake with the
same burning pain and it would continue for hours.
(SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION AND FRUED)
Re-experiencing the trauma is the most major symptom of RR- PTSD.
There had been instances which she and Chris would come close to
intercourse, but something that he said or did would trigger Emily to
shut down completely. “There was no safer way to stumble through
intimacy than with a good friend. But then something had changed.
Chris’s hands moved; Emily found herself fighting him off. At first it
was fear, which gave away to curiosity. The problem was, curiosity
gave way to something else.” (Picoult 141) Often times, she would come
home after being with Chris and be so upset she would vomit. Emily was
becoming confused with her own feelings. Chris was becoming impatient
and confused as to why Emily was constantly shutting down. The sexual
assault only added to the pressure because she was unable to allow
herself to be a sexual being. “Em did not know what sex was supposed
to feel like, but she guessed it wasn’t having your skin shrink back
from his, your stomach roll, your head pound out that this was
wrong.” (Picoult 141) (QUOTE FROM SOURCE)
Silently suffering RR-PTSD caused Emily to slip into a state of
depression. No one picked up on it because she created a mask that she
put on in front of parents and friends and teachers. Chris took her
not being like herself as not being interested in him anymore, and not
as a deeper issue. It made Emily feel more alone and being an
extremely talented artist helped her a lot. She expressed herself
though art, it worked therapeutically for her. Emily’s art work
shifted when she became suicidal. “This last canvas was washed with a
red and black background. A floating skull grinned out from the
picture, bone white and gleaming, a painfully blue sky streaked with
clouds showing through the holes of the eye sockets. A realistic red
tongue snaked out from between yellow teeth. At the bottom, Emily had
signed her name. And titled it Self-Portrait” (Picoult 219)