The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Suicide or attempted suicide is a real problem for students at universities in the United States.  Research the prevalence of suicide at universities, providing statistics for those who committed suicide and for those who attempted it. Examine pressures exerted on students that take them to the brink, and use the novel as an example of a case study of a student who loses a grasp on reality. How does Plath’s character (and Plath) demonstrate characteristics of suicidal tendencies similar to students who may be suicidal? What services are available today but were not available in the 1950s? You will need to do research for this prompt. 

Essay 2

The following options are for your second paper in this course. You may choose one of the prompts. Submit your thesis and one-two page outline with works cited by no later than Saturday, March 27, 2021 to be posted on a Discussion Forum on Blackboard. The final paper is due between April 1st to 4th and the final deadline is April 4th. NOTE THESE DATES ARE CHANGED FROM THE SYLLABUS. The outline should break down major ideas with textual examples. Outline format and quotation tips are posted on Blackboard under Content for your information and guidance. An outline should help you organize and develop ideas and serve as a guide to your paper. The paper should be five (5) pages in length and conform to MLA style with appropriate heading. If you need examples, let your instructor know. If you opt to do research, the research must be from credible sources (and Wikipedia is not a credible source) and conform to MLA format. Blogposts and. coms will not be acceptable research. Check Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference or the Purdue OWL at www.purdue.edu/owl for the correct paper presentation style and outlines. A brief paper format guide is with your syllabus for this course. You must cite from the literature to illustrate and support your ideas, which requires in-text citing and provide a

Works Cited

page. All sources, the novel included, must be cited. Finally, do not plagiarize!

Prompt : Suicide or attempted suicide is a real problem for students at universities in the United States. Research the prevalence of suicide at universities, providing statistics for those who committed suicide and for those who attempted it. Examine pressures exerted on students that take them to the brink, and use the novel as an example of a case study of a student who loses a grasp on reality. How does Plath’s character (and Plath) demonstrate characteristics of suicidal tendencies similar to students who may be suicidal? What services are available today but were not available in the 1950s? You will need to do research for this prompt.

My outline:

Thesis Statement:

Many times throughout Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood, the narrator, stares in the mirror several times and feels insecure in her appearance, experience, or other aspects. Due to Esther’s mental condition, the readers and reviewers of The Bell Jar begin to reflect on her changing self-perception; Esther’s self-image began negatively at the beginning of the novel and deteriorates throughout the novel, leading her depression to escalate.

I. Introduction: Basic summary on The Bell Jar, Percentage of college students in the U.S. that considered suicide from 2010-2020, Esther’s role in the novel

· The Bell Jar is a novel about Esther Greenwood who is a college student who aspires to be an author. She is chosen for a month-long summer internship as a guest editor at Ladies’ Day magazine, but her time being in New York City is unfulfilling as she grapples with identity and social norms.

· Esther Greenwood in Silva Plath’s autobiographical novel The Bell Jar is a young and intelligent woman. Esther never really learned how to develop herself as an independent. She has gotten used to being a dependent on other people and she follows their decisions in life. Esther is torn between trying to start a family and continuing on with her career.

· When it comes to the principles of suicide, it is important to remember that suicide is a deliberate act with very serious repercussions.

· (Number of institutions and students in the years of 2010-2020 that have attempted and thought of committing suicide in the United States.) From 2010-2015 there were 531 institutions and 393,884 students. From 2016-2020 there were 754 institutions and 884,719 students.

II. Body: Suicide Prevention in College Students, Suicide Second Highest Cause of Death Among College Students,

· Esther becomes unstable than ever before, and she attempts to commit suicide. She attempts to slit her wrists but can only manage to cut her calf instead. She wants to hang herself, but in her low ceilinged home, she cannot find a spot to tie the string. She tries to drown herself at the beach with friends, but she never floats to the top of the water.

· A year, over 1,000 students commits suicide on college campus.

· 80-90% of college students who took their life by suicide have not received help from college counseling centers.

· According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is ranked second in most common cause of death amongst college students in the United States.

· Plath’s character demonstrates characteristics of suicidal tendencies similar to the students who attempt suicide.

· The novel revolves around Esther and how she needs to learn how to live with herself, society, and attempted suicide recovery.

Plath’s character similar tendencies with students of attempted suicide:

· When other interns and demanding boss surrounded Esther, she felt very isolated from society and nervous about her future.

– Students on campus sometimes feel isolated from other students because they can’t fit in.

· Esther’s boss made her feel guilty and not confident in herself because when she asked her what she will do after college. (Early symptoms of Esther’s depression)

· Not all students know what they are going to do after college and they are nervous about what the future holds.

· Esther feeling like no one understands her

· Students feel like they are all they got and no one will understand the things they go through.

· Esther feels pressure when she realized that she needed to fit in society.

· Students in college will always try to fit in into the community and standards that are set on campus.

Esther represents the students in college who suffer from depression and attempted suicide. She plays a role that students in universities go through on the daily of trying to satisfy others and following them. Esther loses a grasp on reality during her internship and she doesn’t know how to be herself because of The Bell Jar. Students in college are supposed to focus on their classes and major to build a career. Instead, they are worried about other students and “fitting into society.”

III. Conclusion

· Suicide is a major concern across the United States in colleges and universities. Students usually hide their mental health issues because they are ashamed of it.

· In the 1950s, ignorance about mental health meant that there was extreme stigma and fear surrounding it. Most of the people with mental health issues were considered “lunatics” and were then sent off to asylums. This caused more damage to the person. There was never really an incentive way to treat these people/ students.

· Throughout the years, till 2010, there was been a shift of strategic focus towards the mental health prevention.

· “A world with good mental health for all is a vision that will take a global movement to achieve. It can only be achieved by a fundamental reassessment of the power of prevention to support mental health.” (Famous quote, break it down and analyze it)

· There are plenty of facilities now that are provided for the people that are diagnosed with a mental illness.

· There are programs, hospitals, plenty of doctors specialized in different mental illnesses, counselors, and more.

· Universities provide students a counselor for them to talk to. They are very open-minded. The counselors also help you based on your situation, and check on you almost every week to see if you progressed.

· Now there is also a phone number you or your loved one can dial and call when feeling suicidal and want help. There are lots of opportunities people can take now to cure 2them from the mental illness comparing it to the 1950s where there was nothing.

*Opening up to my audience about my cousin that is suffering from schizophrenia and how it is a difficult mental illness as well as the illness being a suicidal ideation. *

Works Cited

Brodbeck, Ben. “Suicide Second Highest Cause of College Deaths.” SafeColleges, Ben Brodbeck,

www.safecolleges.com/suicide-second-highest-cause-of-death-among-college-students/

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Elflein, John. “Suicide Considerations among College Students by Year U.S. 2010-2020.” Statista, John Elfein, 20 Jan. 2021, www.statista.com/statistics/827344/suicidal-thoughts-among-college-students-receiving-mental-health-services-us-by-year/.

Millard, Chris. “Self-Harm Becomes Epidemic: Mental Health (1959) and Suicide (1961) Acts.” A History of Self-Harm in Britain: A Genealogy of Cutting and Overdosing., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 16 Aug. 2015,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK333527/

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Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. Faber & Faber, 2019.

Smith, Rachel. “Our History and Future: 70 Years of the Mental Health Foundation.” Mental Health Foundation, Rachel Smith, 15 July 2019,

www.mentalhealth.org.uk/blog/our-history-and-future-70-years-mental-health-foundation

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