Date of Defense

4-26-2017

Date of Graduation

4-2017

Department

English

First Advisor

Katherine Joslin

Second Advisor

Michelle Ringle-Barrett

Abstract

The purpose of this scholarly fictional narrative is meant to reveal the struggles that individuals with mental illness go through, not only in their personal lives, but also with their place in society. I lay out research around the stigma that surrounds mental illness first, defining both public and self-stigma in relation to mental illness. I also briefly mention Girl, Interrupted and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” to show how authors have addressed the stigma that surrounds mental illness in literature in the past. The research is an important part of understanding why I write the fictional narrative the way I do, but I will not tell you why until you make your own judgments about the fictional narrative and what you, as a reader, think it should be doing in relation to the research I present at the beginning of this paper. It is put first to give the reader beforehand knowledge, read through the fictional narrative with the given knowledge, and allow their emotions to take over through reading the narrative. I want the reader to go in reading it without me telling them how to read the narrative, letting them decide for themselves how they want to choose to read the narrative before I explain what I’m trying to do. It may be a frustrating read but all you have to know right away is that I lay out the research first and then juxtapose the fictional narrative with relevant quotes from Girl, Interrupted and “The Yellow Wallpaper” that relate to the fictional narrative and relate to the stigma that surrounds mental illness in society.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

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