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Date Permissions Signed

5-17-2018

Date of Award

Spring 2018

Document Type

Masters Thesis (Campus-Only Access)

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Paola, Suzanne

Second Advisor

Miller, Brenda, 1959-

Third Advisor

Laffrado, Laura

Abstract

Instructions for Caring is a collection consisting of juxtaposed lyric essays, braided essays, and poetry. Through research and fragmented personal narrative, each work meditates on human connection and mental illness. The fragmented nature of Instructions for Caring situates human biology and environmental conditions in close conversation with lived experience in the first-person point-of-view. Research into the history of state-run mental health facilities and the evolution of treatment methods contextualizes memory in an attempt to get closer to understanding empathy and care. The research asks how what we call mental illness lives within bodies or is expressed by bodies, the way lived experiences, biology, and the environment may contribute to atypical behavior.

Type

Text

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25710/1n2x-4184

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1037275504

Subject – LCSH

Mental illness; Mental illness--Physiological aspects; Psychiatric hospitals

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.

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