Final Assignment
ENAM/GSFSS 302
You have two options for your final assignment.
1. You may write a critical piece, focusing on TWO texts we have read this semester (at least one from the second half of the semester). Using at least two secondary critical sources (and of course you may use the assigned sources, among others), generate a thesis that addresses some aspect of the central set of concerns we have been exploring. This paper should be roughly 10 pages in length, and is due December 11 by 5 PM (email, please!). Examples of topics might be:
A. Explore the representation of female “hysterical” disorders in two texts we have read. What is the relationship between “hysteria” (or female melancholia/erotomania/uterine furor/”passio hysterica”) and language or other kinds of symbolic discourse?
B. Compare the different representations of madness in the characters of Agave (Bacchae) and Ophelia (Hamlet). What do these characters show about the intersection of madness and gender in their respective plays?
C. Explore the representation of the connection between madness and creativity (literary, physical, musical…) in any two texts we have read. How do ideas about creativity intersect with hierarchies of madness, in which melancholy (for instance) is associated with “exceptional” people?
D. Discuss the ways in which “diagnosis” operates in two texts. Who has control of the diagnosis, and what effects does it have, both real and symbolic?
E. Explore the geographic/spatial representation of madness in two texts. How does the association of madness as a “wild” state outside of the spaces of civilization in, for example, The Bacchae or Yvain, get transformed in the work of Gilman or Woolf?
F. Discuss the ways in which symbolic or actual laws in two texts reinforce experiences of marginalization, confinement, or estrangement that lead to madness. You could consider Gilman’s account of the confinement of the rest cure, Foucault’s analysis of confinement and expulsion, or the threat of hospitalization in Mrs Dalloway, etc.
G. Problematize the notion of “cure” in any two texts we have read (Yvain, Hamlet, Yellow Wallpaper, Mrs Dalloway, or either of the memoirs). Who determines the appropriate cure, what are the implications of the strategies by means of which the “cure” is to be achieved?
H. Woolf stated that she intended to place the “sane and the insane side by side” in Mrs Dalloway. What are the implications of this project for our understanding of madness? How does this juxtaposition work in this and one other text?
I. Discuss the goals and procedures of narrative medicine, and relate them to the themes or problems explored in one of the texts we have read.
2. You may also choose to write a creative piece that reflects on one or more of the themes we have explored in the class. The piece should have clear connections to the themes, ideas, and problems we have discussed during the semester. In addition to your creative work, I would also like you to write a “critical appendix” of roughly 3-4 pages, in which you offer a commentary on your work that links it to the texts we have read this semester—either primary or secondary. If you choose this option, you should discuss your particular plan with me in advance. Depending on the kind of piece you choose to write, the page length may vary, and so we should discuss the requirements for the creative projects on an individual basis.