Study
Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. What does Kaysen's
inquiry into the meeting with the psychiatrist who diagnosed her
tell us about her reliability as a narrator? What other conclusions
can we draw?
2. How do people
react when Kaysen tells them of her hospitalization? How does she
cope with their reactions?
3. What does the
Lisa Cody episode reveal about Lisa? Does Kaysen judge Lisa for
her actions?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Among the adult characters,
who are sympathetic? Why do we find them to be sympathetic?
2. In what ways does Kaysen cast
doubt on whether she was actually mentally ill? Why does she create
this doubt?
3. What does Kaysen mean when
she asks whether Daisy's suicide was “really premature?”
4. Why did Kaysen include her
hospital records in the memoir?
5. Why does Kaysen relate the
events of her time at McLean in nonchronological order? What is
the effect of this choice on our understanding of her experience?
