Modern Lovers By Emma Straub

In the book Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, Susanna Kaysen was only 18 years old when she agreed to enter a medium security psychiatric facility in Boston, McLean hospital in April 1967, after a failed suicide attempt. She insisted that her over dose on aspirin was not a suicide attempt, but after a 20 minute interview the doctor decided she needed to be admitted to a hospital. During her prolonged two-year stay at the hospital Kaysen describes the issues that most of the patients in her ward have to deal with and how they all differently deal with the amount of time they must stay in the hospital for. While in the hospital Kaysen experienced a case of depersonalization where she tried to pull the skin of her hands to see if there were bones underneath, after a failed escape attempt. Soon, after going to therapy and analysis she was labeled as having recovered from borderline personality disorder. After her release she realizes that McLean Hospital provided patients with more freedom than the outside world, by being free responsibility of parental pressure, free from school and job responsibilities, and being free from the “social norms” that society comes up with. Ultimately, being in captivity gave the patients more freedom then in society and created a safe environment in which patients wanted to stay in.

Sanity is subjective. Every individual is insane to another; however it is the people who possess the greatest self-restraint that prosper in acting “normal”. This is achieved by thrusting the title of insanity onto others who may be unlike oneself, although in reality, are simply non-conforming, as opposed to insane. In Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted, this fine line between sanity and insanity is explored to great lengths. Through the unveiling of Susanna’s past, the reasoning behind her commitment to McLean Hospital for the mentally ill, and varying definitions of the diagnosis that Susanna received, it is evident that social non-conformity is often confused with insanity.

The short story “The Love Of My Life” by T.C. Boyle's examines two couples who are imagined to be inseparable and how no love comes closer to theirs. The story follows young high school couples who are in the merge of a bright future. They are always together “wearing each other like a pair socks”. They idolized the love they share is something far from real and it is true love. While Jeremy is set to attend Brown and on the other hand China were in Binghamton things took wrong turn. Over the summer before their going to college they mistakenly conceived a baby while they are at a camping trip. The story was pleasant and everything was green and China and Jeremy went to a trip together and had sex. The couples were so keen to avoid this from

When I was a child my parents pushed me toward physical activities such as football and other sports, while on the other hand my sister was pushed toward things like music and arts. Whenever I would hurt myself my parents would laugh it off, but they were quick to aid my sister in the event she was hurt. As most people know, women and men are treated differently in how they should act. Men cannot show their emptions, while women are expected to be emotional. Society has strict guidelines on what it means to be a man and a woman, and these guidelines can have negative effects on both genders.

A novel by the name of Love, Aubrey written by the author Suzanne La Fleur has written a moving text about grief and belonging. This text contains three major characters, going by the names of Aubrey, Gram and Lissie (Aubrey’s mum and grandma). These individuals experience dejection and trauma due to the deaths of Savannah and Gordon Priestly in a car related tragedy (Aubrey’s younger sister and father). Although, numerous assorted characters also deal with anguish but spread empathy through one another as they have all encountered different circumstances. Aubrey, the main character in the text, manages her grief using a variety of different techniques. These include showing denial, shutting out her difficulties and finding motivation to move

Bailey, Beth. Sex in the Heartland. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1999.

If society was a person in itself, it would be a criminal. It has deceived human beings into believing that love is supposed to be something that is always beautiful, euphoric and extremely powerful. It pressures individuals into commitment, passion and desire while simultaneously reminding them that an excess of one thing is not good. Society need to make up its mind. As the world knows, love is not simply defined as a group of words; rather, it is many things that are rooted to deep affection. Love presents itself in different shapes, forms and sizes, but what happens to this endearment when it is one-sided? The sole attribute that every individual seek has the potential to destroy most. Unrequited love poisons the character

At first, after discovering she had frequent migraines, Didion denied her predicament. She felt embarrassed, like it was a secret that would enforce to others her negative qualities. Eventually, she began to accept the fact that migraines were simply something she would have to get used to.

In World War One, the war was fought in two places, in France and in England. England was never physically in the war, but France truly saw the actions. The citizens of England put their best foot forward when it came to contributing to war. The truth was that there was a great divide between the two fronts. The war front, fields bloodied and smear with greasy mud. The home front, standing tall with pride, patriotism, and power. In the book, Not so Quiet…. written by Helen Smith, who have experienced the cruel harsh reality of the war, she describes the ugly side of the war and how everyone view the war. When the war started in 1914, there was need for manpower on the front line, men and women step up to take on roles, Helen was among a group of other girls that contributed on taking on the role of taking care of the wounded and the deceased.

The book Ordinary People by Judith Guests is about a seventeen year old boy named Conrad Jarrett. Conrad is diagnosed with depression and tries to commit suicide. His depression developed after his brother Buck dies from drowning. In the book we find out even though Conrad 's depression developed after Buck 's death, his mother 's arrogance and his father 's assertive behavior of teaching him how to grow up are all factors of his depression. Depression is a type of mental disorder and all mental disorders need to be given proper treatment. Unfortunately the way the world works, is that people can be given proper treatment and care if and only they have money to pay for it. Treatments of mental disorders all depend upon which class the mentally ill fall into.

In Odd Couples, Anna Muraco interviews intersectional friendships between gay men and straight women as well as straight men and lesbian women. The author is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Muraco is careful to incorporate gender, sexual preferences, and age each time she mentions interviewees. Most of the intersectional friendships involve a gay man and straight woman; however, she makes a great effort to interview friendships between a straight man and lesbian woman, though sometimes these friendships may be difficult to find. The author aims to challenge two large assumptions. The first assumption she confronts is that men and women are fundamentally different. The second assumption is

NERVE is a New York Times Best Selling novel by Jeanne Ryan that has recently been converted into a major motion film. The story follows Vee, a senior in high school, notorious for being a shy behind-the-scenes-type-a-girl who becomes sick of being outshined by her friends. On a whim, Vee and enters NERVE; A GAME LIKE TRUTH OR DARE MINUS THE TRUTH. WATCHERS PAY TO WATCH, PLAYERS PLAY TO WIN CASH AND GLORY. Everything was harmless at first. But one challenge leads to another, and the prizes are simply too enticing to resist. Determined to stay in the game and win the grand prize, Vee and her partner Ian continue the competition -- until things turn sinister, deadly, and suddenly every resource for help is involved with the “game”.

The book, That Summer, by Sarah Dessen is a great coming of age,enjoyable novel to read. Haven,who is fifteen,is going through many harsh changes in her life at the moment. Her parents are getting divorced and her dad is getting remarried and all Haven wants is for her life to be like it use to be. Haven’s so called “soulmate” named Sumner,who she dated last summer,is back at her school. Her dad gets married and Haven does not take it too well.She now realizes that it’s officially over. Her parents are split up and nothing is going to fix that problem now that her dad has moved on. Haven has a job at the mall working at a shoe store in which she sees Sumner often. She believes that fate has brought them back together. Haven’s mother wants

Entering the fifth section of her book, If you love this Planet, Helen Caldicott gives a brief synopsis of an experience she encountered with the initial release of the plastics industry. There was a slight differentiation in the style we lived years ago as she describes how much simpler times were and how complex provision has become. In this section titled, “Toxic Pollution”, her focus is plastic. Introduced to her in 1972 during her residency, plastic took over and quickly became a part of everyday life, replacing conventional tools and devices. From this small instance in her lifetime, she remembered most of how her environment was changing and now she sees the results from the millions of items implemented. Helen Caldicott is the character Public Health professionals identify as one individual that forms the target population. In the field of public health, the focus is to prevent disease, prolong life and promoting healthy lifestyles through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, legislations, communities and most importantly individuals.

Finding the Love of Your Life was written by Neil Clark Warren, PH.D., and in this book he explains his ten basic principles of finding the right mate to spend your life with. He teaches people how to understand the two different types of love: passionate love and companionate love. He states that many do not get past the passionate love portion which is why many people go from relationship to relationship when the passion wears off.