Student Research Projects
The following research project are your fellow students' intellectual property and they are provided for your review only. Please do not copy any words, sentences or paragraphs.
WRT 101
Dwight Cacho -- An
Eye for an Eye?
Christine Cerone -- Anxiety
Attacks
Michelle
Zampanella -- Nymphomania
Nancy Zaccheo -- Global
Warming: Cause and Effect
Pawel Lutostanski
-- MDMA Usage by Teenagers
WRT 201
Steven Chung -- Aldous Huxley and
His Understanding of Existence-
Tomoko
Suzuki --"The Yellow Wallpaper," or Women's Depression in the
Nineteenth Century
Dwight D. Cacho WRT 101-008 June, 2001
An Eye, For An Eye?
Capital punishment is an antiquated and unsophisticated way for
human beings to deal with their grief and yearnings for equity.
The societal motivations behind such punishment, in actuality,
have nothing to do with justice. The
question arises, what is justice? Plato
had a difficult time finding an answer to this question and not
surprisingly, we still do today. Plato’s
primary hypothesis was that complete harmony and unity amongst society
and nature would equate to a kind of universal justice.
When an atrocity is committed, harmony is disrupted, however, it
would be myopic to believe that committing an equally atrocious act
would restore this precious, harmonious order.
Answering one vile dead with another only adds to the pile of
unjust refuse which lays on the floor creating a stench for all mankind
to perceive.
The question we, as a society need to ask is, should we deal with
things in a base and emotional way or should we try to transcend our
animal natures and use our minds in order to overcome tragedy?
Maybe it is this very process of overcoming which might equate to
some ideal of justice. Perhaps,
the most just thing for us as a society to do is try to become above the
brutality that can be so prevalent in our world.
When we succumb to our base emotions, we give in to the concept
and of injustice. We, in effect accept that the world as unjust and send the
message that because we can not solve these problems ourselves, we will
instead listen to our innate desires for retribution and forget about
the meaning of morality in the process.
What Timothy McVeigh
did was wrong. Killing him
was, however, in a way, almost as wrong as his original action.
This action articulates that we, as a society are not concerned
with solving our problems but with punishing those who cause them.
This is in no way a remedy.
True justice would be for McVeigh to realize the immortality of
what he did. For him to reach a point understanding would help to
facilitate healing. When
someone blows up a building and kills hundreds if innocent lives they,
obviously, do not really realize why this act is wrong.
For him to know, and feel the pain that he caused would help to
create some sense of closure which is really all the vengeful heart
truly wishes for, yet knows not how to find. Back to top
One thing I am certain of, if I, or
someone I knew, were innocent and on death row I would have no dilemma
as to whether I was for or against capital punishment.
There are, of course, also the questions of the unequal
administration of legal punishment in this country.
The reality is that the scales of justice, in our country as in
others, are not equally balanced for all.
One need only look to the statistics of who is being punished to
realize that minorities and those without the extensive funds necessary
to defend themselves are more likely to receive a punishment as
draconian as the death penalty. The
question that is now placed before us is what message do we, as
Americans, want to send about our society?
One could be sure that if this lapse of conscience took place in
another country, say China for example, it would only serve as fuel for
the flames we fan to condemn others as violators of human rights.
The death penalty solves very little and puts the state in a
highly precarious position. Killing
others offers us no peace. This
can be easily observed by listening to the reactions of those who bore
witness to McVeigh’s execution. Such
an act leaves one with a hollow reaction, like biting into an eclair
that has no cream filling; it is unsatisfying.
One also only need look to the fallibility of human beings to
realize that the state is completely unqualified to play the role of
god. It disturbs me that we
as citizens feel comfortable with allowing our government the right to
kill its citizens, for any reason, no matter what it may be.
I do not feel that decisions over life and death should be put in
the hands of government. I am a strong believer in limiting the powers of government.
I feel that the government is too untrustworthy and
self-interested to be entrusted to equitably dole out sentences as final
as death. If our government
has unjustly killed people, hundreds of people, it is not far fetched to
imagine that you, or someone you know, could one day be placed in such a
situation. [Works Cited missing]
Back to top
Christine Cerone WRT 101-008 12 June 2001
Anxiety Attacks
Anxiety occurs in multiple levels of
mild, moderate, severe, and panic. When
anxiety becomes moderate, you are able to focus on central concerns, but have
more difficultly staying attentive and being able to learn.
Problem solving is only possible with assistance.
When anxiety becomes severe, there is an inability to focus or problem
solve. The sympathetic nervous
system is activated. For example,
your heart rate and blood pressure could increase along with developing upset
stomach, sweaty palms, and/or difficulty breathing.
When a panic level of anxiety is reached, there is a complete inability
to focus, and an inability to cope. The
symptoms of the sympathetic nervous system are more severe and pronounced.
The person is completely out of control.
The person feels as though he or she is going to die and may verbalize
such a feeling. Also, the person
usually experiences shortness of breath, chest pains, palpitations, and a
feeling of impending doom to name a few. Feeling
anxious temporarily is one thing, but when anxiety interferes with your life and
work, it leads you to avoid certain situations or keeps you from enjoying life. You have an anxiety disorder if that occurs (Lippincott 34).
What can cause a person to have an
anxiety disorder? Threats of
physical integrity are common sources of anxiety.
For example, impending surgery, physical traumas, and lack of
essential resources are threats of physical integrity.
Anxiety also may arise from threats to self-concept such as role changes,
losses, and decreased capacity to manage activities of daily living.
Coping difficulties, previous experiences, and over sensitivity is
considered to be individual vulnerability.
It can predispose that individual to anxiety.
Heredity, other biological factors, and thinking in a way that exaggerate
relatively normal bodily reactions in catastrophic events are all believed to
play a role in the onset of panic disorder (Mental Help Net 2).
Some researchers suggest panic attacks occur when a "suffocation
alarm mechanism" in the brain falsely reports death is imminent (Lippincott
35). Back to top
The three types of anxiety disorders
being discussed are generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and phobias.
Statistics show millions of people have anxiety disorders. Proper treatment can help most people overcome them.
Generalized anxiety disorder is higher than the normal level of anxiety
people experience day to day. It is
exaggerated worry and chronic tension, even though nothing seems to provoke it.
This disorder means you have to always anticipate disaster, worry
excessively about your health, family, money, or work.
Sometimes, the source of the anxiety is hard to figure out. Simply the
thought of getting through the day provokes anxiety, which is a very unhealthy
lifestyle (Dickey 3).
People with this disorder usually realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants. They are unable to relax, which causes them to have trouble falling or staying asleep. Physical symptoms are often accompanied by their worries such as muscle tension, trembling, twitching, headaches, irritability, sleep problems, sweating, and restlessness. They may also feel lightheaded, shortness of breath, upset stomach, a lump in their throat and frequent trips to the bathroom. Many individuals with this disorder are easily startled, feel tired, have trouble concentrating, and suffer from depression (Page Wise 1).
Generalized anxiety disorder is a mild
anxiety disorder that does not make people feel restricted in social settings or
on the job. They usually do not
avoid certain situations. However, if this disorder is severe, it can make it difficult
for the person to carry out most ordinary tasks.
This disorder occurs in childhood, adolescence, but can begin in
adulthood gradually. Researches
have proven that it is more common for women to have this disorder than men.
Also, it often occurs in relatives of affected persons.
If a person has spent six months or more worrying excessively about their
everyday problems, they are diagnosed with this disorder (Dickey 5).
The second type of anxiety disorder is
panic disorder. People with panic
disorder have feelings of sudden and repeated terror that strike with no
warning. They cannot predict the
next attack, and many develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying where
and when the next attack will strike. In
between times, there is a lingering, persistent worry that another attack could
come anytime (Dickey 6).
When a panic attack strikes, you may
feel sweaty, weak, faint, or dizzy, and most likely you heart pounds.
You can also feel flushed or chilled and your hands become numb. Loss of control, fear of impending doom, a sense of
unreality, smothering sensations or chest pains are more symptoms of panic
disorder. In a panic attack, the
person actually believes they are having a heart attack or stroke, losing their
mind, or on the verge of death (Page Wise 1).
Panic attacks can occur at any time, even during non-dream sleep.
A panic attack can last a few minutes, usually, or up to an hour or more
in rare cases (Dickey 7.) Back to top
Between three to six million Americans
have panic disorder. It is proven panic disorder is more common in women and this
disorder typically starts in early adulthood.
If a person has one panic attack, it necessarily does not mean they have
panic disorder. If the person has
multiple attacks, they should seek treatment.
Depression or alcoholism is usually accompanied by panic disorder, which
may spawn phobias. Phobias can
develop in certain places or situations where the panic attacks occurred (Page
Wise 1). For example, if a panic
attack strikes while you are riding in a train, you may develop a fear of
trains, and perhaps start avoiding them. They
avoid normal, everyday activities, or they may confront the fearful situation
only if they are with a trusted person. In
about one-third of all people who become so restricted by panic disorder, the
condition is called agoraphobia (Page Wise 1.)
The third type of anxiety disorder is
phobias. Several forms of phobias
can occur. A fear of a particular
object or situation is a specific phobia. A
fear of being painfully embarrassed in a social setting is social phobia.
The third kind of phobia is agoraphobia.
Many people experience specific phobias. They are intense, irrational fear of certain things or
situations like heights, dogs, closed-in places, tunnels, water, flying,
escalators, highway driving, and blood are common phobias.
Adults with phobias realize they are being irrational, but when they face
their fear, they have a panic attack or severe anxiety (Page Wise 2).
Statistics show more than one in ten people have a specific phobia.
Phobias seem to be hereditary and more prevalent in women.
Phobias start suddenly and gradually get worse.
Twenty percent of adult phobias vanish on their own without treatment
(Dickey 9). It is easy for people
to avoid their phobias, and not seek treatment.
They even make important personal or career decisions to avoid a phobic
situation.
staring at them.
People with social phobia can be afraid of being with people, giving a
speech, talking to an authority figure, and dating. They only feel comfortable when they are with someone close
to them. Public speaking is the
most common social phobia. Parties,
using a public bathroom, eating out, talking on the phone, or writing in the
presence of other people are general fears for people with social phobia (Dickey
11).
Back to top
There are many types of treatment
for all disorders of anxiety. A person with an anxiety disorder can go to a bookstore for
books about their disorder. A
person can also go to a psychiatrist for therapy.
There are many therapies a psychiatrist can use for a person with an
anxiety disorder. One method is
behavioral therapy focuses on changing specific actions and uses several
techniques to decrease or stop unwanted behavior.
Diaphragmatic breathing is, an example of behavioral therapy, a special
breathing exercise involving slow, deep breaths to reduce anxiety.
The second method is exposure therapy exposes patients to what frightens
them gradually and helps them cope with their fears.
The third method is cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches patients to
react differently to the situations and bodily sensations that trigger panic
attacks and other anxiety symptoms. The
last method is medication for the anxiety disorder.
The medication used for generalized anxiety disorder is Busiprone (Buspar),
and anti-anxiety agent. The usual
dose is five milligrams by mouth, three times a day.
The medication use for panic disorder is antidepressants or
benzodiazepines.
Ativan is a benzodiazepine, which is an
anti-anxiety agent that is a sedative. The
usual dose is two milligrams by mouth in divided doses a day. Treatment with medication lasts at least six months to a
year. Therapy with medication is
the best treatment for any anxiety disorder (Dickey 12). How do you get help for
anxiety disorder? First, you should
get checked by your regular physician to see if you have any medical condition
(Page Wise 2). If you do not have
any medical condition, you should seek a psychiatrist who specializes in
cognitive-behavioral therapy and is open to giving medication (Dickey 21).
You can also call the telephone number 1-800-64-PANIC, which is the
National Institute Mental Health Hot Line.
For more information about anxiety disorders you can call the Anxiety
Disorders Association of America (301) 231-9350, the National Anxiety Foundation
(606) 272-7166, or the American Psychological Association (202) 336-5500.
Works
Cited
Dickey, Marilyn.
"National Institute of Mental Health: Anxiety Disorders." NIH Publication, 1994: 3-22.
Lippincott, J.B. Mental Health and
Psychiatric Nursing. J.B.
Lippincott Company, 1992: 34-38.
Mental Help Net. "Anxiety."
2 June 2001. <http://anxiety.mentalhlep.net/>.
Page Wise Inc. "Anxiety and panic attacks." 2 June 2001. <http://allsands.com/Health/Diseases/anxietypanicdi_rfm_gn.htm>.
Back to top
Michelle Zampella WRT 101-008 June, 2002
Nymphomania
Nymphomania throughout history has been both
a medical and legal argument, which concerned women who enjoy too much sex.
All the early medical findings of nymphomania have been recordings of
physicians primarily from the 18th century.
As time progressed physicians attempted many different approaches in
order to properly define and diagnose this disease.
All the research and actual accounts of nymphomania throughout the 18th
to 20th century prove that the disease is nothing more than a myth.
In 1841, the daughter of a farmer was diagnosed with nymphomania.
According to physicians she spoke violent obscenities, and moved her body
in disgusting, sexual ways. Physicians
believed her actions represented her inner feelings.
They gave her a vaginal examination.
Physicians found her uterus was enlarged, her vagina was moist, and her
clitoris was longer than normal. After
the examination they diagnosed her with nymphomania.
They applied cooling compresses to her genitals, and other remedies such
as bleeding and cold water douches. After
several weeks doctors found her to be cured of all symptoms, even her clitoris
was believed to have returned to its normal size.
In diagnosing their patient, doctors
believed the disease was linked to her genitals. Men would have undergone the same type of treatment for many
conditions, but aliments of men were rarely linked to their genitals.
Doctors believed both mental and physical diseases in women were linked
to their reproductive organs. Many
women were not properly nourished, and worked long hours, they also had numerous
pregnancies. Doctors believed that is why they suffered from many physical
aliments, which was often related to the ovaries and uterus.
Beliefs played a crucial in society. It was believed woman’s reproductive systems influenced
their well being. Women went
through far more physical changes then men, through puberty, having children and
menopause. This reinforced the idea
that women are more physically affected by their reproductive systems than men.
Many doctors and citizens believed that any type of female disease
including nervous and mental conditions were caused by gynecological problems.
These beliefs formulated the medical disease
known as nymphomania. In the case
of the farmer’s daughter, there is nothing known about what happened to her,
except that she was cured. If the
patient was not cured from such an aliment, she would have been placed in a
mental institution. Doctors in
these institutions observed abnormal female behavior which they diagnosed as
nymphomania. These woman would tear
off their clothes, attack asylum attendants, use obscene language, and
participate in public masturbation. These
women may have had a serious brain disease, or they could have been rebelling
against the institution. Doctors
viewed such behavior to be a symptom of a sexual disease.
Back to top
In the Victorian period a woman who had a strong sexual desire was
considered to have symptoms of disease. There
were many different medical theories about the causes of nymphomania, such as:
nerves, spinal lesions, brain inflammation, misshapen heads, irritated genitals,
and enlarged clitorises. But the
physicians were also concerned about morality.
Nymphomania was an uncontrollable sexual indulgence, which lead to
temptation. Even though physicians
attempted to define sexual desire as a disease, the patient’s lack of morality
was considered an illness. Doctor’s
also believed masturbation, eating rich foods, reading too many novels, and
impure thoughts, affected nerve fibers in the brain and caused nymphomania.
By the 19th century, English and American
gynecologists began to focus on the clitoris.
It was thought to bring both pleasure and desire.
Sexual desire was viewed as a disease.
Women volunteered to treatments such as purges, caustics, leeches, baths,
douches, diets, sedatives, and surgery. These
women hoped such treatments would cure this disease and save their morality.
Doctors also believed that the brain and central nervous system could be the
cause of disease. They began to examine spinal fluid, hoping to find evidence to
reinforce this theory. Despite
their research no evidence was found. Doctors
continued to treat this disease with cold compresses, long periods of
inactivity, and other remedies.
The problem with the doctors’ approach was
the way in which women were examined. Women in the 19th century were considered very modest.
Morality was still a major issue at this time.
Doctors were limited to what they could see or touch, on the female body.
Women were examined while they were fully dressed.
Doctors would ask questions, while they examined her face, hands, and
feet. They then would make a
diagnosis, without seeing or touching her genitals.
In the beginning of the 20th century, there
was a major concern with “over sexed” women who were immigrants.
Woman who fell in a higher class bracket, such as middle class were often
defended. When accused of being
over sexed the public would describe them as delicate.
Women in this class bracket were believed to be too fragile to survive
from this disease. It was thought
that if they had contracted such a deadly disease, surely they would have died
already. It was a different case with immigrant women though. When an immigrant was accused of being “over sexed,” the
public often attacked them. These
women were described as being “feeble-minded.”
The public believed that these women lacked both self-control and
morality. They feared that these
women would become delinquents to society.
They then deported them.
In the 1920’s, doctors believed hormones
could be the cause of nymphomania. They
then began to investigate. Women
were often injected with both estrogen and testosterone.
Psychologists began to believe that nymphomania was caused when women had
vaginal orgasms instead of clitoral orgasms.
This idea was formulated by a psychologist known as Sigmund Freud.
Doctors believed that this may be the cause until the 1940’s and
1950’s. They were still
experimenting with hormone injections though.
Despite their experiments and careful research, they found no evidence
that hormones were linked to nymphomania. There
was no way doctors could claim nymphomania was caused by vaginal orgasms.
They could not perform experiments pertaining to orgasms on living women.
By the 1980’s the American Psychiatric Association defined nymphomania,
as “distress about a pattern of repeated sexual conquests with a succession of
individuals who exist only as things to be used.” Back to top
The problem with their findings in order to
properly classify nymphomania, is lack of actual nymphomaniacs.
Their findings were based on notes by doctors, psychologists, and
probation officers. We never hear from actual nymphomaniacs about their so-called
disease. Maybe these notes are
quite factual. Without hearing from
actual patients of this disease their findings may be inaccurate.
Nymphomania is a topic which we as individuals do not often hear about.
There is little information
known to the public. This disease
originated in the 18th century. Only
women were believed to have this disease. This
was because diseases were often linked to their genitals.
Doctors tried many different approaches in order to understand how and
why the disease was caused. By the
19th century, this disease was still a major concern, and doctors knew no more
about it than they did in the 18th century.
By the time medicine reached the 20th century, nymphomania was ruled out
as a disease. It is nothing more
than sexual conquests for people with a high sex drive. Nymphomania, like the belief in the Loch Ness Monster, is
nothing more than something that lies in the imagination of individuals.
Works
Cited
Groneman,
Carol. Nymphomania: a history:
New York: Norton, 2001.
Silverman, Sue William.
Love sick: one woman’s journey through
sexual addiction. New
York: Norton, 2000.
Wallace, Irving.
The Nympho and other Maniacs.
New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1971.
Back to top
Nancy Zaccheo -- WRT 101-045 November, 2000
Global Warming: Cause and Effect
Global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect. This happens when gases such as water (H2O), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (C2O) create a layer of gases over the earth causing radiation from the sun to be reflected back to earth hence warming the earth. This is called the greenhouse effect. This can cause dramatic changes in the environment. It is speculated that the greenhouse effect is caused by an increase in population, which puts fossil fuels in greater demand (such as coal and gasoline.) This is creating a domino effect around the world. For instance, automobiles are a large contributor of carbon dioxide. Cars add about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide to each gallon of gasoline used but, trees which aid in the depletion of carbon dioxide are being cut down. The amount of carbon dioxide has increased by 25% since 1880 and is still rising. The current amount of carbon dioxide is estimated at .035%. It seems like such a small amount but it’s enough to change the earth’s climate, as we know it. The most notable effects are in the artic and have become a great concern worldwide. (Woods Hole Research Center)
The greenhouse effect has increased the earth’s temperature by only a small fraction over a long period of time. In Canada and Alaska the average temperature has climbed by 7 degrees in the last twenty years. The sea ice covers 6% less of the landscape in Alaska than it used to and, is 40% thinner. Also, the permafrost in the Artic is on its way to being less permanent because of warmer temperatures. The decrease of ice in the Artic Ocean has been determined by sonar in nuclear submarines and satellites, they report a 40% decrease of ice in the last two to four decades. This means the sea ice is shrinking approximetly14,000 square miles per year. This alone is causing a chain reaction across the northern hemisphere effecting the wildlife and nature, as we know it.
In Canada the beluga whales usually migrate up the mouth of the Churchill River in June but now they arrive as early as May, after the ice breaks up in the spring. In Alaska the polar bears normally rise from their summer dens to travel to Cape Churchill but they walk right into water instead of ice. They are arriving famished in small towns searching for ice so they can hunt. But, instead they are causing havoc amongst the people that live there. The polar bears then must be tranquilized and transported north to the Hudson Bay. Researchers believe the Polar Bears are in danger because of the shrinking ice. The polar bears have become thinner and are having fewer cubs because the ice that they hunt on is receding creating a smaller hunting area and shorter ice seasons. (Time Magazine) Back to top
The warming in Alaska has caused the permafrost to melt. Therefore, the forest has begun to sink into the ground and die. The sea lions population has dropped off due to rising temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska and changes in the ecosystem. Over a million sea birds have died because the fish they feed on, called artic cod, lives under the sea ice and have moved north to icy waters where the sea birds could not reach them. (Mulvaney)
The Eskimos who live in Bering and other small communities have testified that they have seen changes in the environment and the wildlife. These radical changes can and will be detrimental to the survival of the Eskimos. They rely on hunting and the exportation of fish for everyday survival. They claim that springtime usually has heavy snowfall but now the land is covered with slush because the snow melts earlier and faster. They also note that the tundra has begun to dry and crack due to a shorter season and receding sea levels. Also, insects that are not native to this climate have made a home in the tundra. Alaska has experienced not only thinner sea ice and warmer winters but also an increase in storms that have melted the permafrost enough to cause landslides on a small Island called Little Diomede off the coast of Bering. Sea ice normally protects the Eskimo villages from winter storms but without this protection the Islands have begun to erode. One village in St. Laurence Island was so badly hit by storms in 1997 that it had to be abandoned due to large amounts of erosion. A native to the Island said he sees his world falling apart.
The artic ice continues its journey south causing damage to the coral reef. The melting ice is less buoyant and warmer than the seawater so, the fresh water lies on top of the seawater, which gets caught up in the flow of the currents. Therefore, warmer water is being brought down to already warm waters. Along with this and the increase of storm activities and pollution it is speculated that this is the cause of coral bleaching. The average temperature for the coral reef to grow is 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees F to 80.6 degrees F.) Temperatures have been as high as 29 degrees C (84.2 degrees F) this creates free radical toxins in the coral causing the once vibrant and colorful coral to die and appear bleached. It can take years for the coral to start growing and replenish itself. Meanwhile, all habitants of the coral either die or move to colder waters. (Encarta)
The melting of the Artic ice is causing sea levels to rise; this is called "Thermal Expansion." The sea levels are rising and causing coastal flooding and beach erosion with every storm surge we have. All around the world people will be affected by this and, they will be forced to move to higher elevation. Countries like, Bangladesh will stand the chance of losing 17.5% of its land to flooding and, the Marshall Islands could lose 80% of its land by the year 2050. Weather patterns have changed dramatically in recent times and we see that warmer temperatures where it is normally colder and vice versa. (Houghton 113) It is obvious that global warming is causing devastation around the world we see it on the news and read it in the papers. Here are some examples of event’s that have taken place recently; Ice Land was hit with a series of earthquakes measuring 6.6 on the rictor scale while Mongolia suffered a sever winter drought killing 2.2 million animals. The last drought was 30 years ago. Naples, New York was declared a health hazard when a horde of flies invaded the town because of heavy rains that spread chicken manure in already soaked soil, which then brought maggots. (Popular Mechanics) Back to top
With the onset of global warming many scientist and officials have been trying to come up with ways to stop or slow down the effects of global warming on the environment. Some people say one way is to stop the use of fossil fuels such as, coal and natural gas because burning them has the greatest impact on the earth by releasing carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. Also, reducing the amount of trees that are cut down and planting new trees means a decrease in carbon dioxide since trees help clean the air. But, as the population grows so does the demand for resources so we must come up with alternative plans to keep carbon dioxide under control. As I said, automobiles are one the largest offenders in the release of carbon dioxide. The other is agricultural machinery and plantations. The solution to this could be the use of solar panels and windmills to create power to run the machinery without the use of coal or natural gas. Another solution to the problem of carbon dioxide and cars is that we can use electrical powered cars. This has already been introduced but the electric car is very expensive and not available yet due to the high cost manufacturing. So, for now we must cut back individually by car-pooling to use less gas, and reduce the amount of oil being used in our homes.
On June 12, 2000 officials from the 160 countries gathered to discuss the pact made for clean air, transportation and, waste management. The pact is called the Kyoto Protocol, which was established in 1997. This will kick off a series of meeting periodically in different parts of the world. In September, the group known as the "intergovernmental climate change talks," met in France. Next, they will meet on November 13-24 at The Hague in the Netherlands. The group is hopeful that this particular meeting will put the Kyoto Protocol into effect by the year 2002 forcing some countries to reduce emissions. Despite the fact that we are showing significant signs of global warming Governments still are not eager to back up this plan because, they believe that the statistics are controversial and weak. Another reason why officials refuse to consider this plan because, they believe the changes that are taking place is a natural variation in the climate. (Ramesh, Web)
While in the Netherlands the Kyoto rulebook was finalized and the Protocol will be discussed as to how it will operate in practice. If the Kyoto Protocol is put into practice there will be a reduction of 5% in greenhouse gases produced where as, if it was not enforced harmful gases have and will increase during 1990 and 2010 by 18%. The organization is well on their way to getting governments to sign the Protocol, 83 have already joined in the fight against global warming and, many of these countries are large contributors to the release of carbon dioxide. The countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol make up at least 55% of the emissions that are affecting the atmosphere while, other countries like, the U.S., Russia and the European Union account for 36.1%, 17.4%, 24.2% of emission released respectively have not signed as of yet. We cannot delay the process any longer because our future depends on it.
Works Cited
Encarta, Encyclopedia. "Coral Reef: Microsoft, Encarta
Online," 2000.
Houghton, John. "Global Warming: The complete
briefing." New York: Cambridge University, 1997.
Mulvaney, Kieran. "Alaska: The Big Meltdown. E, Magazine,"
September 2000. <http:/web7.infotrac.galegroup.com>
Popular Mechanics, "Planet Watch," September 2000.
Ramesh, Jaura. "Environment: Global Climate Talks at
Critical Juncture." June 8, 2000. Infotrac Web. A62713448
The Woods Hole Research Center, "The Greenhouse Effects:
Environmental Outcome of Global Warming," September 2000. http:/www.whrc.org/globalwarming/greenhouse.htm
Time Magazine, "The Big Meltdown: As temperatures
rise in the Artic, it sends a chill around the planet." September 4, 2000.
Back to top
MDMA Usage by Teenagers
MDMA, called "Ecstasy" was first synthesized in Germany in 1914. MDMA is a drug that is becoming popular with American adolescents at dance halls known as "raves" and on college campuses. An analogue of amphetamine, MDMA shares properties with both amphetamine and hallucinogenic drugs. (Schwartz 1-12) The drug appeals to young people and it is available in many US cities.
At Stanford University, and at raves frequented by high school students in Baltimore and New York City, MDMA, in tablets containing about 100 mg of the drug and costing about $6 - $30 each and up depends where you are you buyind and how many. MDMA has become a popular drug of abuse. MDMA is reputedly safe to take as a recreational or therapeutic drug in a dose of 1 to 2mg/kg (Schwartz 5-12).
People are taking Ecstasy because they hear it helps you communicate with other people and makes you feel outgoing. Another reason why teenagers buy Ecstasy is that it costs less than the alcohol in club bars. People try MDMA pills because they have different names and funny shapes.
"Data on the use of MDMA by American teenagers is slowly accumulating. A random 1990 survey of illicit drug used by undergraduate students at Tulane University revealed that use of MDMA was reported by 24% of those surveyed, exceeding use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and cocaine… A 1994 comprehensive survey of drug use was reported 15- and 16 years old British students. MDMA use was reported by 8% of those surveyed. By contrast 5% of American 16-years-old used MDMA in 1996." (Schwartz 2-12) According to the ABCnews.com report, U.S. customs officials seized 3.5 million ecstasy tablets in 1999 and already have seized that much in the first months of 2000. In some well-publicized incidents this year, a former Mafia hitman was arrested in Arizona for selling the drug to students; 61 people were charged in an Ecstasy-selling ring in New York.
A recent Johns Hopkins University study reveals that frequent use of the street drug ecstasy has an impact on specific nerves in the brain that regulate serotonin, the neurotransmitter linked to memory, cognition. Long-term use of ecstasy may cause behavioral disorders such as anxiety (worry or uneasiness about what may happen) and depression. "Published in the June 15, 1999 issue The Journal of Neuroscience, the study of red squirrel monkeys indicated that taking the drug twice a day for four days resulted in damage to the serotonin system the brain damage that remained six to seven years later. People who take MDMA (MethyleneDioxyMethAmphetamine), even just a few times, are risking long term, perhaps permanent, problems with learning and memory." said NIDA director Alan I. Leshner. Ph.D." (Study finds)
Short-term adverse effects of MDMA included sweating, tachycardia, fatigue, and muscle spasms, including jawclenching. Serious adverse effects of MDMA included serious or fatal heat injury, fluid and electrolyte depletion, and central nervous system, cardiac, muscular, renal and hepatic dysfunction." (Schwartz 1-12)
A 21-year old patient with trichtillomania was prescribed citalopram, 20 mg daily. She was an occasional user of ecstasy, but had not used it for some months. After several months on citalopram, she took half a tablet of Ecstasy and reported that she had not experienced the usual "rush" while on the drug. A 19-year old patient, also with trichollomania, was prescribed 20-mg paroxetine daily for several months. She tried and felt no effects at all from it. She discontinued paroxetine to see if she could feel the effects of Ecstasy, and she did experience the "high" from the drug. Back to top
I did interview with one of my friends. He is currently a student of Bergen Community College. I met him in one of my classes. He is 20 years old. I knew he was a user of Ecstasy. That’s why I asked him a couple of questions. He said he took Ecstasy for the first time when he was fourteen. He bought it from friends. They said to him it was very good stuff and he would feel very well after taking it. My friend told me he didn’t feel so very well. He felt tired and dehydrated. But sometimes he felt fin. It depended on the activities that he was doing during the high and the type of pill. Every pill has different potencies due to the different increments of the ingredient to make a certain brand pill. Some pills can give you excess amount of energy while others will make you feel mellow. He said also it was not very hard to buy Ecstasy. It could be as easy as calling a friend.
He stopped taking Ecstasy because he had some problems with law. The police caught him when he was selling Ecstasy in a "Drug Free Zone". He is on probation right now. He says most of his friends take Ecstasy. One of his friends in Ocean County died after repeated use of the drug and several of them were hospitalized in critical condition after using Ecstasy at a rave in Morris Country.
There wasn’t specific law about Ecstasy to June 23, 2000. On that day the measures make it a first–degree crime, punishable by up to twenty years in prison, to manufacture, distribute, or dispense the drug, or to possess five ounces of the hallucinogen with the intent to distribute it.
Works Cited
"Bill to stiffen prison terms for ‘ club drug’
against momentum" The Record 23 June, 2000 pA-7.
"Ecstasy is becoming a drug of choice." Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
13 March 2000 v12 i11 p8.
"High from ‘Ecstasy’(MDMA) blocked by selective serration reuptake
inhibitors." Psychopharmacology Update Jan 2000 v11.
Interview with a user of Ecstasy. October 23, 2000.
Schwartz, H. Richard and Miller, S. Miller. "MDMA (Ecstasy) and the rave: a
review." Pediatrics Oct 1997 v100 n4 p705(4).
"Study: Ecstasy use may cause brain damage." Alcoholism & Drug Abuse
Weekly 16 Nov. 1998 p8(1).
"Study finds brain damage from use of Ecstasy." Alcoholism & Drug Abuse
Weekly 28 June 1999 v11 i26 p7.
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Steve Chung WRT 201-014, December 2001
Aldous
Huxley and His Understanding of Existence
Our existence, being, and an understanding of ourselves, have been a
mystery for thousands of years. It has intrigued, taunted, plagued, and gave us
an uncontrollable curiosity for a glimpse of the truth. This desire for super-knowledge
led to the formation of science, religion, philosophy, and the rituals of
society. With a harvest of information ranging from all different fields, we
obtained an improved understanding of our lives. It is not easy for anyone to
claim answers to this seeming unbreakable question: who are we? Unfortunately,
we can only utter the names of few people who claim they understand the nature
of man (their being). The understanding of the truth is not easily obtained by
the majority due to their lifestyle, skepticism, ignorance, and their indolence.
“William Blake, Swedenborg, and Johann Sebastian Bach,” (Huxley 2) or Jesus,
Buddha, and Aldous Huxley obtained an understanding of their being. These
figures likely obtained this higher state of consciousness through “hypnosis,
autohypnosis, systematic meditation, or by taking the appropriate drug.”
(Huxley 2) Huxley believed that there is a state of mind of higher
consciousness, different from the normal state, where one can realize that he is
not there person he thought. According to Dictionary.com, being
is the “state or fact of existing.” Are there many experiences that
change a human being’s view of life forever? Through the use of drugs, Aldous
Huxley, like many other mystics, opened the doors of perception and obtained an
enlightenment.
What is this higher state of consciousness
that seemingly understands the essence of existing? This state of mind can be
seen through the phrase: the red wooden chair. On the lowest level of
consciousness, the chair is red. This level can be a metaphor for human fantasy
or even self desires which most people perceive in life. Huxley states that when
humans “lose their sense of values, their taste and judgment become corrupted,
and thy have an irresistible tendency to love the lowest when they see it.”
(Kuehn 48) On the second level, one can realize that the chair is man-made which
can be a symbol for religion and ignorance. Huxley states that “The reason
that people believe in this ‘theological game’ is that they find it much
more psychologically satisfying to conform to habit than to be subjected to the
discomfort of religious skepticism.” (Kuehn 47) A third level, which is
superior to the two former levels is the realization that the chair is made of
wood. This is realized by only a selected few that sees the true essence of the
chair’s existence. This can be a symbol for science or geniuses that obtain a
higher understanding of existence but not complete for the understanding of
everything as one. The final and highest level humans is known to achieve, is
the realization that the wood came from the forest, nature, a single source of
all living things. Huxley “leaned more toward Buddhism than to any other.”
(Kuehn 54) Huxley probably had a curiosity to experience the Buddhist’s
nirvana, an entrance to the total truth. He was “willing, indeed eager, to be
a guinea pig” (Huxley 1) for a drug called mescaline which the Indians
“venerate as though it was a deity.” (Huxley 1)
“It is just to not that Huxley’s
interest in drugs and hypnotism, and in some of the other fringe benefits of
existence in California were not random; human reaction was as Huxley judged the
matter, pitiful in its narrowness of range, and the student who was concerned to
broaden that range and to intensify its subtlety would investigate all the means
that presented themselves.” (Watts 26) Huxley was open minded and interested
in differing ways of understanding knowledge. Huxley wanted the true essence of
knowledge, intuition. Hinduism advocates intuition over just knowing facts. One
can just know facts like memorizing the names of all the parts of the body or
understand with intuition, the function of every part.
During the altered state of mind under
mescaline, Huxley describes seeing a chair. Instead of the existentialist
quality of Gertrude Stein’s “a rose is a rose is a rose,” Huxley describes
the chair’s legs as the “chair legs were chair legs were St. Michael and all
angels.” (Huxley 4) Huxley believed that the chair legs became him, it became
his mother, and it became everything, because everything in the true essence of
being was one. When everything is only one
in essence, a person with this intuition becomes God, “the Dharma-body of
Buddha” (Huxley 3), an omniscient being, and the knower of all things around
him. One can assume that ordinary and non-intuitive state of mind cannot
understand this inexperienced understanding of being
because they live in a “homemade universe of common sense—the strictly
human world of useful notions, shared symbols and socially acceptable
conventions.” (Huxley 7)
The “moksha-medicine offers heightened
consciousness and is a means both of seeing everyday reality in a new light and
perceiving the eternal truths that lie behind it.” (Nance 103) The difference
in the awareness of reality is between “man’s egotism and the divine purity,
and between man’s self-aggravated separateness and the infinity of God.”
(Nance 103) This enormous difference in the state of mind was explained by a
Cambridge philosopher, Dr. C. D. Broad. Broad states that brain is “at each
moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of
perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function
of the brain and nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and
confuse by this mass of largely useless and irrelevant knowledge, by shutting
out most of what we should otherwise perceive or remember at any moment, and
leaving only that very small and special selection which is likely to be
practically useful.” (Huxley 4) It is a scientific fact that there are remote
viewers. These remote viewers have the ability to perceive knowledge of distant
places. During the 1970’s the C.I.A. spent significant amount of money in the
study and research of remote viewing. It has been witnessed and proven that
there are people who have this ability through practice or they are “born with
a kind of by-pass that circumvents the reducing valve.” (Huxley 4). Since they
can tunnel through some medium as if something far away is in fact in their
grasp, there is a connection between everything, anytime, and everywhere. If
there is a connection between everything, it can be concluded that the majority
of humans have filters or “reducing valve” (Huxley 4) that limit the
information our brain receives. Even during the Gulf War, remote viewers were
used in the search of missile sites hidden even through the sharp eye of
satellites. Mescaline is known to reduce the brain’s production of certain
enzymes that act as blockage of the reducing valves.
In a controlled setting and experiment, Huxley was able to reduce the reducing valves to experience the world in a higher light. One could go far as to ask why would one want to reduce the valves that supposedly are present to help humans survive. What would humans be like if an infinite amount of information was pouring in from every possible direction? One would not be able to focus on certain necessary knowledge that helps their ability to retrieve food, and reproduce efficiently, which would be doom of human society. This is the survival of the body. All humans being cannot transfer thoughts and ideas efficiently to one another because the receiver only receives symbols, words, and only a tip of ice berg. This tip of the ice berg undermines the whole truth, the reality, or the essence of the thought. Human consciousness is the outcome of this reducing valve which seems “genuinely real by the local language.” (Huxley 5) “In this world where education is predominantly verbal, highly educated people find it all but impossible to pay serious attention to anything but words and notions.” (Huxley 5) Therefore, humans are forever doomed in a pool of madness due to their inability to gain a higher light- moksha.
Theoretically,
experiencing this moksha state of mind, one would not act in the ordinary
ways of a man who has not experienced it. This would be actions not condoned by
Christianity, Buddhism, or any other religion that denounces the evils of
society. While most people act good because of fear, or false hopes of rewards,
the understanding how everything is connected will bring out the meaninglessness
of doing something that robs the soul of purity.
“Literary of scientific, liberal or
specialist, all our education is predominantly verbal and therefore fails to
accomplish what it is supposed to do. Instead of transforming children into
fully developed adults, it turns out students of the natural sciences who are
completely unaware of Nature as the primary fact of experience, it inflicts upon
the world student of the humanities who know nothing of humanity, their own or
anyone else’s” According to this, Huxley is telling us that we are putting
layers of wall paper that covers the basic, natural truth that exists
everywhere. This truth is not learned through verbally or through science, but
through first hand experience. Buddhist have masters and students where the
masters cannot directly tell their students one path of reaching enlightenment.
Therefore, the masters use imagery, art, poetry, and little stories to inspire
the students to personally gain the truth. Zen Buddhists state that one can
realize the whole truth through a single piece of pebble on the ground. Are
human beings on a wrong path that leads them far from reality? Hinduism is known
to have already pictured and obtained intuition of the reality of our being. We
have to be find reality as Adam “had seen on the morning of his creation-the
miracle, moment by moment, of naked existence.
Huxley wrote that man is “at once an
animal and a rational intellect,” who is a “product of evolution closely
related to the apes and a spirit of self-transcendence.” (Nance 79) The uses
of drugs for this moksha state of mind were performed by the Indians for
hundreds of years. There are Zen monasteries where people go to a secluded
housing where they do not talk. These monks eat very pure food, meditate for a
large portion of their day, practice inducing themselves in a trance, and living
a life ordinary people would think crazy. Why are these minorities of reality
practicing so hard and vigorously? Buddha did not want the majority of humans to
obtain nirvana, but instead left to a select few. Have we come too astray from
ever realizing the truth these people obtain by means that offend our ordinary
way of life? We cannot have desires. Aldous Huxley obtained this nirvana by a
drug. We are not able to obtain this drug due to its illegal status. Why do
people think this drug is dangerous? Would the realization of the truth by
everyone bring down capitalism and bring about communism where people work
knowing that they are part of a single existence? We would never know, unless we
are fortunate to take this rare drug or lose our current way of life and
meditate for decades just to realize the truth.
Work Cited
Nance, Guinevera A. Aldous Huxley.
New York: Cntinuum, 1988.
Watts, Harold H.Aldous Huxley. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1969.
Kuehn, Robert E. Aldous Huxley: A collection of Critical Essays. New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974.
Huxley, Aldous. The Doors of Perception. New York: Harper & Row,
Publishers, 1963.
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/stevens2.htm
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The Yellow Wallpaper, or a Woman in Depression in the Nineteenth Century
Even though the number of the people who are suffering from such mental disorders as depression is increasing, the gender gap is small. In statistics, the number of the men who commit suicide because of depression is a little larger than women. However, in the 19th century, the mental disorders were commonly seen among middle class women. We can see the phenomenon in the literature that was written by such female authors like Emily Dickson and Edith Warton in 19th century. Many heroines went insane or commit suicide in the stories. The story “ The Yellow Wallpaper, ” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is one of them. The story started the scene that the narrator arrived at the colonial mansion that her husband John rented during the summer in order to recuperate of the narrator’s nervous depression. Her symptoms weren’t so serious at that time. There she had a treatment of “rest cure” from her husband because he was a physician. She was shut up in the nursery room and forbidden to write sentences that she wanted to do most. So this improper care made her go insane. Why did the husband treat her like that? Why didn’t he keep her free? I would like to research the women’s social position in the era and to illustrate why many of the middle class women in the 19th century suffered from mental disorders.
First of all, I would like to investigate how the
middle class women in the era spent their days. Richard D. Altick explained their
situations in his book, Victorian People and Ideas. “In this period, after the
industry revolution, by developing the machines and the division of labor, even women and
children worked for many hours. However, the women in middle class never had to work as
working class women. They only dressed beautifully, entertained, and order things to their
maids and this state made their husbands satisfy because the wife who lived easily was the
emblem of his masculine” (Altick 50). Actually, the narrator said in this story,
“ Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able- to dress and
entertain and, order things.” If the woman’s personality was well adapted the
model wife in the era, she could live comparatively peacefully in the male dominance
society. However, if the woman who had a lot will power and wanted to work not only in a
household but also in society, she would have had a hard time to live. The narrator said,
“ John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer,
and that satisfies him.” Because the narrator’s husband thought that he gave her
the wealthy life enough to be happy, he didn’t realize how much she was tormented
with the forced woman’s role. He even never tried to know what her happiness was at
all. Back to top
The women in the Victorian Age put on the clothes with tight corsets that emphasized their thin waist and lifted chest. Because men bought their wives’ clothes, it was natural to reflect men’s taste in it. The women couldn’t run fast and even breath comfortably. Moreover, they were easy to faint with astonishment or threaten because of their tight clothes. This phenomenon met with favorable reception in the society because women who were weak and needed men’s helps were easy to control (Altick 105). This trend was continued until Coco Chanel started to design the clothes that were comfortable and active for women.
Moreover, in the era, the women were not allowed
to give their own opinions to such men as their husbands and fathers. The narrator
repeatedly asked her husband to take her away from the nursery room that had the yellow
wallpaper with grotesque patterns. She hated the room from the beginning. She preferred
the room downstairs. However, her husband wouldn’t listen to her please. Elaine R.
Hedges said in her criticism, “ This is 1890 and, to use Virginia Woolf’s
phrase, there is no choice for this wife of a room of one’s own” (Headges 130).
For the husband, it was no matter whether she hated it or not. Women were not supposed to
insist their opinions then. Why weren’t they supposed to do so? It was because
“they depended on their husbands for their living totally” (Headges 133). They
didn’t have their own professions. If they offended their husbands and got divorced,
they would be in the financial difficulties all at once. Therefore, when the narrator
asked him to take her away from the nursery room and he refused her wish, she restrained
herself like; “ I wouldn’t be so silly to make him uncomfortable just for
whim.” And she said, “ He sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern,
reproachful look that I could not say another word,” because she was afraid to make
him get angry and couldn’t rebel against him. The women in this era were obsequiously
sensitive to their husbands’ moods.
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The women who had no opinions and just obeyed their husbands were like children or pets. In evidence, her husband often called her “ a blessed little goose” and “ my little girl.” In the male dominance society, it was convenient for men to put the women in the childish position because they could control women easier. In this story, furthermore, the husband shut her up in the “nursery” that was suitable for her situation. For Loralee Macpike said in her criticism, “ The fact that the narrator’s prison-room is a nursery indicates her status in society. The woman is legally a child; socially, economically, and philosophically she must be led by an adult - her husband; therefore, the nursery is an appropriate place to house her” (Macpike 138). Her husband wanted her to keep a child. He may be threatened that she would awake to the adult world. Therefore, he wanted to confine her in the nursery and forbade her to write because the writing also could be a key to the independent woman. This situation that the husband was treated her like a child made her irritate. Her wish kept neglected by her husband. This never ending persecuting must be one of the reasons why she was mentally deranged. Gilman, the author of this story, said in her book Women and Economics, “the same human energies and human desires and ambitions within. But all that she may wish to have, all that she may wish to do, must through a small gold ring.” (Gilman 71) Gilman wanted to say that women were the same human beings as men. However, the women’s intention was always needed their husbands’ permissions to put into practice and if the intention fell into disgrace with their husbands, they could never get it.
Even in the psychiatry, we can see the phenomenon of the male dominance. In this era, even though there were many women’s mental disorder patients, there were few women doctors. The male doctors couldn’t come to realize that the women’s diversity like other common men. They would apply one pattern treatment “rest cure” for all women’s patients. In this story, the husband, who was a doctor, treated her this rest cure. He forced her to do noting. He told her to eat well and to save energy in her body. Even though she believed that what she needed was “congenial work, with excitement and change,” her thinking was totally ignored. Her symptoms gradually got worse. Why did this physician, I meant her husband, ignore her appeal? Ann Douglas Wood said, “They thought that the root of the women’s mental disorders as depression and hysteria was their failure to be a woman, to sacrifice themselves for others, and to perform their feminine duties.” (Wood 112) It means that they had the fixed image of the ideal women and thought that because the female organs of the women in depression didn’t work well, they couldn’t adapt the women’s roles, and the dissatisfaction at their roles caused the mental disorders. Moreover, “because they thought that the ovaries gave to woman all characteristics of body and mind, the physicians often removed ovaries from women’s bodies by operation” (Wood 100). Because the even doctors had the biased image and gave cruel medical treatment to women, I think that the women patients would have never recovered at all.
I found the curious facts that many women pretended the mental illnesses. Barbara Ehrenreich said in her book, The Sick Women of the Upper Classes, “Even though they didn’t want, if their husbands wanted to sex, they had to do it. However, there was one excuse for the women that their physical and mental conditions were really bad.” I can understand that some women pretended the metal diseases to avoid the unwilling sex and pregnancies. Mental disorders were protections for women from sexual violence from their husbands and it can be another reason why a lot of women had mental disorders in the record.Back to top
I think that the couple in this story did not love each other utterly and only played their gender roles suitable for the Victorian age. From the first of this narration to the end, she never said, “ I love my husband,” even though she said, “ He is very careful and loving, ”or “because he is so wise, and because he loves me so.” I think that because her husband kept disregarding her although she kept appealing him to need less opposition for her work and more society and stimulus, she couldn’t love him. At first, she didn’t know her true feeling that she didn’t love him so much even though she knew it unconsciously, for she couldn’t love her baby because it was his son. She said, “ I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes,” and “ I take pains to control myself – before him, at least, and that makes me very tired.” However, gradually she recognized that her husband wouldn’t hear her. It meant he never loved her. It was because the husband that loved his wife should show consideration for her feelings in her place. He never showed like that. He compelled her the stereo typed wife whose role was making comfort and rest for the husband. She started to feel that “ I wish he would take another room,” and “ I don’t like the look in his eyes.” Finally, she said, “he pretended to be very loving and kind.” Then she found that he didn’t love her at all. Her anger inside made her think that “ I want to astonish him” when she went insane. It means that she wanted to show him that she was the same human being as him and had emotion and different personality from the stereo typed woman. She said, “ I’ve got out at last in spite of you and Jane.” She gained the relief from the confinement only by going insane.
As I mentioned before, the women in 19th century were suppressed by the male, dominant society. Gilman, the author of this story, was a pioneer of the women‘s emancipation movement and was an exception. There wasn’t another way for common women to live except to play the roles created by men. Therefore, many middle-class women in 19th century had mental disorders. The phenomenon was reflected in the heroines that went mad or killed themselves in the stories that were written by nineteenth-century women authors. They were forced to be obedient to men, not allowed to have their own will, and to keep playing stereotypical roles. As a result, they suffered from mental disease spontaneously or pretended to have mental disease intentionally.
Works Cited
Altick, Richard D. Victorian People and Ideas.
New York: W. W. Norton Company, 1915.
Ceplair, Larry. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Nonfiction Reader. New York: Columbia
University, 1991.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings. New York:
Bantam Book, 1989.
Golden, Catherine. The Captive Imagination. New York: The Feminist Press, 1992.
Hapke, Laura. Daughters of the Great Depression. Georgia: The University of Georgia
Press, 1995.
Knight, Denise D. The Abridged Diaries of Charlotte perkins Gilman.
Charlottesville: University Press Of Virginia, 1998.
Lutz, Tom. The American Nervousness. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991.
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