51 pages • 1 hour read
A Question of Power
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Essay Topics
How does Head pit Elizabeth’s spiritual journey against her mental health? What is problematic about the dynamic and what is positive about the juxtaposition and the theme? In other words, how does it reinforce and/or dismantle harmful tropes about people battling mental health conditions?
Like Head, many poets use mental health to represent singularity. In “Much Madness is divinest Sense” (1862), the 19th-century American poet Emily Dickinson uses mental health to illustrate how the majority stigmatize nonconformists. The 20th-century American Gwendolyn Brooks does something similar with “The Crazy Woman” (1960). Put Head’s novel in conversation with such a poem.
Discuss Elizabeth’s attitude toward sex. How does the emphasis on sex impact her? How does the narrator portray Elizabeth’s sexuality? Is she a sexual person?
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By Bessie Head
