Based on the Life and Book by Susanna Kaysen

Name: ______Period 3 & 6

Jan 30 – Feb 3 – Week 21 Focus: Maladies of the Mind Per 3 Per 6 Mon 1/30 “Girl” Memoir Wrap “Girl” Memoir Wrap Tues 1/231 Drop Day Screening 1 Wed 1/1 Screening 1 Drop Day Thu 1/2 Screening 2 Screening 2 Fri 1/3 Screening 3 Screening 3 Girl, Interrupted Screening 1 Based on the Life and Book by Susanna Kaysen

The film adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, as the poster sites, is “based on a true story,” and you have read that story. However, the crux of adaptation is reinvention. Like the book, it’s 1967, a time when women in this country were trying to break away from the stereotypes and expectations of the past, and the prospect of being “more than your mother ever dreamed of” was simultaneously celebrated and condemned, rewarded and punished. In other words, it was a confusing time for everybody. Dealing with this world of mixed expectations is Susanna and her fellow “voluntary” inmates at Claymore, an exclusive institution for troubled young women.

Think about some of the reinventions that take place between book and film. How do the subjects and characters in the film differ from the book? Do they meet your expectations? Were they a surprise, good or bad?

Susanna:______

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Valerie:______

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Claymore (McLean in the book):______

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Lisa:______

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______Georgina:______

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Polly:______

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Daisy:______

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Melvin:______

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How does the movie deal with Susanna’s perception of time?

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How does the treatment of Susanna’s “boneless” hand differ between the book and film?

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How does Susanna’s reasons for attempting suicide differ between the book and film?

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How would you describe Susanna’s relationship with her parents?

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Do you think Susanna is making progress at Claymore? Why or why not?

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______Girl, Interrupted Screening 2

After today’s screening, what do you know now about Borderline Personality Disorder?

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What changes do you notice in Susannah during the night of the girls’ bowling in the basement and raiding the files in Dr. Wick’s office?

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What does Susannah do at the ice cream parlor that we haven’t seen from her before? Does she deal with the situation well?

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______Do you think that Susannah is making progress toward a cure? Why or why not?

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When Toby visits Susannah, what does she admit to him that she has never admitted before? Why doesn’t she go to Canada with him?

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Does Dr. Wick “nail” Susannah with her treatise on ambivalence? Why or why not?

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In the bathtub scene, does Valerie “nail” Susannah with her take on Susanna’s condition? Why or why not?

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______Girl, Interrupted Screening 3

One reason Susannah didn’t go to Canada with Toby was he had no plan. Why does she go with Lisa to Florida even though she has no plan?

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At the end of the movie, Lisa says Susannah and the others need her to “play the villain.” Is she simply “playing the villain when she pushes Daisy’s buttons or is there another “pathology” behind it?

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How does the Daisy experience affect Susannah?

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______In Susannah’s conversation with Dr. Wick, how does the term “control” bring everything into focus?

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What’s the link between The Wizard of Oz and Susannah’s journey?

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What does it say about Susannah that she’s able to summon the courage to defy Lisa?

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At the end of both the movie and book, Susanna is “Declared Healthy – Recovered Borderline” in Girl, Interrupted? Is it more effective to leave things hanging regarding the others or to visit with Georgina and her goat, Lisa and her son?

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