A look into the stigma of mental illness in society by Lauren Niemeyer

ecause it shows how mental illness not only affects the person with it, but also the
people around it.
Niemeyer 4
At the beginning of the unit I will also give an opinion survey to see how the
students feel about mental illness ahead of time. This will just give me a basic starting
point to know where the students are coming from when we start the novel. I will give the
same survey at the end of the unit, not for a grade, but to see if any of the students’
opinions have changed after learning more about mental illness.
The major novel that will be used in this unit is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
(Kesey, 1963.) The main setting of the book is inside a mental institution and it is told by
the perspective of one of the patients inside. This book shows examples of all ranges of
mental illnesses. The narrator, Chief, is not really mentally ill but still finds comfort and
friends among the patients. By being an outsider and not truly suffering like the rest of
the patients, we learn a lot about mentally ill people interacting with others and get
everyone’s character through “sane” eyes.
Throughout the unit, students will read and reflect on the novel through journal
entries. Each journal topic is used to promote a deeper thinking and connection within the
story. The novel creates many opportunities for students to make judgment on situations
that occur. This will help students see that there is a prejudice put on mentally ill people
and develop their own views on mental illness.
Throughout the unit we will also look at supplemental texts. The first being a
poem by Sylvia Plath titled “Apprehensions.” Sylvia Plath suffered from mental illness
and eventually ended up killing herself; however, throughout her short life she created
many famous pieces of work. In the poem, Plath discusses some of her fears and her