Sylvia Plaths Novel, The Bell Jar Is Often Considered A Literary Clas

Sylvia Plath's novel, The Bell Jar is often considered a literary classic for its description of the protagonist's angst ridden journey through depression. In the autobiographical novel, Esther Greenwood, Plath's protagonist, sinks into a profound depression after her third year at college during the 1950's. Esther battles not only a deteriorating mental stability, but also a lack of a sense of individuality, which leads to her major depressive disorder. Esther is a sensitive and intelligent woman who feels oppressed by the obvious social restrictions placed upon her, along with the pressure she feels regarding her future. Esther feels overwhelmed and powerless to break free of the emotional burdens of her inner world of alienation and depression. Her story of the overcoming of depression leads the reader through a story of dependency, self-criticism, and inefficacy all to become healthy once again. The novel begins in New York City, during the summer after Esther Greenwood's third year at college. Esther spends the month of June interning at a ladies' fashion magazine in Manhattan, after winning a scholarship for her writing. During her time as an intern, she becomes uninterested in the work, despite her initial expectations, and increasingly unsure of her own prospects. Esther shows the beginning signs of depression, with self-doubt along with paranoia, when faced with the possibilities of career and success as a writer. Essentially an outcast among the other 12 girls who won scholarships, Esther's numerous attempts at social conformity fail, as her image of herself is incomplete and contradictory. When returning home to the suburbs of Boston, her mother tells her she did not make a writing course she applied to, a devastating blow to Esther also grows disenchanted with her boyfriend, Buddy Willard. Her sleep and eating patterns decrease and become irregular as she falls deepe r into the stages of depression. She goes to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon but he proves to be not much help to Esther's condition and advises shock therapy, which she comes to hate. Meanwhile, Esther is obsessively contemplating suicide. She decides to overdose on sleeping pills, but her death is prevented. She is taken to a city hospital and then, through the financial intervention of a benefactor, to a private psychiatric institution. She is treated by Dr. Nolan, a female psychiatrist whom Esther grows close to. . Esther undergoes a more successful procedure of shock therapy, after which she feels the bell jar of depression lifting. Esther's therapy allows her to recover from depression, and she leaves the hospital patched, retreaded and approved for the road. Esther, along with the reader, is aware of her mood disorder throughout the whole novel. She suffers from the psychological disorder of major depression. Her recurrent depression lasts until her treatment in the hospital, towards the end of the book. Esther's symptoms begin with anxiety, fatigue, and agitated behavior. Her disorder interferes with her sleep patterns along with the ability to concentrate and interact with others. Esther's emotions increase and seriously threaten her health and life when it leads to suicide attempts. Depression often leaves its victims with the sense that it will go on forever and they are helpless, but luckily for Esther, she receives therapy to overcome it. Her first psychiatrist diagnoses Esther as depressive, and he recommends electrical shock therapy to help her. This proves to be ineffective, and she comes to loathe it. After attempting suicide, she is placed in a private mental hospital under the care of Dr. Nolan. Dr. Nolan prescribes anti-depr essive medicine along with the discussing Esther's problems and a different type of shock therapy. Slowly, Esther's condition begins to become better. The novel ends with Esther happily describing herself as ready to enter the world freely. The novel of Esther?s triumph over her depression is both an informative book on depression along as entertaining and intriguing. The emotional burdens she faces at the time result not only in Esther's social and intellectual isolation, but also her impending mental breakdown. The classic provides the reader with a revealing look into the disorder of depression through the year in the life of Esther Greenwood. I would recommend this novel for any mature reader.

my bridge is big essays

my bridge is big essays I built my bridge on the foundation of triangles because any engineer will tell you they are one of the strongest shapes. No matter where you put pressure that other two sides of the triangle pick up the excess pressure. I decided to build the triangles into boxes so the support would spread out over a much greater area. I also added extra glue to the joints to strengthen the corners that did not match up really flush. In doing so I created joints that were not entirely straight but hold up just as well. I also cut the toothpicks so I could use whole ones as hypotenuses. Many were thrown out because they were broken or had defects in them. Many difficulties I encountered were not having enough fingers to glue the four sides down. Also it was a huge mess when the glue bottle became clogged and would not pour out until you squeezed it very hard. Well it then came oozing out all over your bridge and wasted like half the tube all over the wax paper or your mothers nice table. It was also very hard to get the toothpicks to stay in the upright position and when you moved a slight bit either way the toothpick on the other side would fall over. Mechanical engineering involved in the bridge building process included finding out that 45-degree angles were the strongest and that mass and stress put on these angles broke after the toothpicks were bent. Some careers include architecture, masonry, carpentry, astronomy and being a high school physics teacher. ...

What makes managers effective with people in the workplace today Essay

What makes managers effective with people in the workplace today - Essay Example In this regard, effective managers are team players who function in an environment that is characterized by changing economic circumstances, rapid technological advances as well as changes in politics which are often challenges to conducting business (Gordon, 2002 as cited in Shultz 2005, p. 10). It can be noted that the 21st century workplace is undergoing immense and permanent changes hence efficiency and flexibility are demanded of organisations, teams have become important whereas participative management and empowerment have become central to effective management of people (Swanepoel, 1998). As such, this report seeks to explore the factors that make managers effective with people in the workplace every day. The report is divided into four sections which include the following: The first part addresses the challenges to managers of managing people during the contemporary business environment. ... This will also include practical examples of effective problem evaluation and resolution through the use of ‘people management’ skills in action. The fourth section specifically deals with evaluating the practical value of management self development. This includes an evaluation of personal ‘people skills’ strengths and weaknesses based on ELLI, the skills evaluation and development questionnaire, the emotional intelligence questionnaire, The Belbin teamwork, on-line questionnaire as well as a critical reflection of interpersonal/teamwork skills in class. The fifth section will deal with conclusions and a brief reflective summary highlighting the lessons learnt from writing the report. 2.0 Evaluation of ‘managing people’ challenges facing managers during the contemporary business environment During the contemporary period, it can be noted that one of the most challenging roles faced by the managers is to manage an organisation that is undergoing a major change process. The business environment in which the organisations are operating is dynamic and constantly changing hence the need for the managers to identify different ways of managing change (Swanepoel, 1998). The way these organisational changes are managed will play a crucial role in the extent to which organisations remain competitive and successful. In this case, the leader plays a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the organisation undergoing a change process. As such, it is important to highlight some of the roles played by the manager as well as the challenges that may be encountered in managing change. Change is about transition by the organisation from its current strategy and operations in order to move the