I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg, is a description of a sixteen-year-old girl's battle with schizophrenia, which lasts for three years. It is a semi-autobiographical account of the author's experiences in a mental hospital during her own bout with the illness. This novel is written to help fight the stigmatisms and prejudices held against mental illness.Joanne Greenberg was born in Brooklyn in 1932, and is a very respected and award-winning author. Because of her experiences as a Jewish-American and having fought her own battle with schizophrenia, Greenberg wrote I Never Promised You a Rose Garden to help people understand what it is like have to face so much hardship. After her illness was treated, she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in anthropology and English. Throughout her life, she has fought for the respect and empathy that individuals suffering from both physical and mental handicaps have been denied. Joanne Greenberg presents her experiences by relating them t
This novel does contain some misconceptions about schizophrenia. The way that Deborah is treated in the novel is different from how she would be treated today. Based on what was known in the 1960's, Joanne Greenberg uses the method of therapy as the majority of treatment. Today, schizophrenia is treated mostly with psychiatric drugs. Although this novel uses outdated treatment methods, it does succeed in allowing the reader to see into the mind of a mentally ill person. Deborah Blau, who is very bright and artistically talented, creates an imaginary world she calls the Kingdom of Yr, to use as a defense against the confusing and frightening truths of the real world. When Deborah is five, she has an operation to remove a tumor that causes her to be incontinent. This is a very traumatic experience because a great deal of physical pain and shame comes along with the problems caused by the tumor and resulting surgery. Deborah suffers frequent abuse from her anti-Semitic peers and neighbors during her childhood. When Deborah first c
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 703
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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