Troe,+Sammi

Esther: Esther is the main character in The Bell Jar. She doesn't know what she wants or who she wants to be. She gets very confused and depressed and loses her mind. She spends the first half of the book explaining why she lost her way and the second half is her trying to regain control of her life. She feels stuck in a "bell jar." The bell jar prevents her from connecting to the people and the world around her. She struggles through the whole book to try to lift the bell jar, but can still always feel its presence.
 * September 26**
 * Characters:**

Buddy Willard: Buddy is a boy Esther grew up with. He was her first crush and they dated for most of their teenage years. Buddy is the ideal all-American boy. He's athletic, good-looking, and smart. This book is set in the 1950s where Buddy seems like the ideal guy. He loves his parents, goes to church, and plans on being a doctor. On the outside, Esther sees perfection, but once she gets to know him she realizes that he isn't very caring or thoughtful of her feelings. He sees no point in Esther's writing and calls it silly. He says all of her writing will go out the window once she becomes a mother.

Mrs. Willard: Mrs. Willard is Buddy's mom. Esther's mother and her are good friends. Mrs. Willard is very protective of her son. Considering the time era, Mrs. Willard believes men and women have certain roles in the world and that each should stick to them. She's a very traditional woman and mother.

Mrs. Greenwood: Mrs. Greenwood is Esther's mom. Her husband died when her kids were very little so she had to raise the children by herself. She always struggled to make payments and keep up with housework. She teaches a type of writing called shorthand. She keeps trying to convince Esther to learn it so she can just get a job as a secretary. She, like Mrs. Willard, is very practical and traditional.

Doreen: Doreen is Esther's best friend in New York. She is an outgoing and wild girl. She doesn't follow the rules of society or act the way a lady in the 1950s was supposed to act. Esther always envies her and tries to be more like her.


 * Summary:** At the beginning of the book, Esther is at a conference for young aspiring writers at a fashion magazine in New York. Esther loves to write poetry. In New York, she is introduced to a whole new lifestyle and many new people. This is when she really starts to think about her future and who she wants to be. She doesn't want to end up like her mother, stuck in a small town always working to make ends meet, but she doesn't know what she does want to be either. In New York, she works on putting herself out there and looking for a future, but her month in New York ends and she has to go home. When she gets home, she finds out she didn't make it into the university and has no plans for the next semester. Esther feels beaten down, but she tries to recover by deciding she wants write a book. She tries and tries, but feels no motivation. She gets so beaten down that she can't sleep, eat, write or read. This is when the "bell jar" starts to close her in. After weeks of this, Esther starts hurting herself and trying to kill herself in numerous ways. One night, Esther overdoses and almost dies, but is found by her mom and taken to a psychiatric hospital. She is taken to another institution and stays there for a long time and has to see a therapist. The therapist advances her to Stage 4 and allows her to leave the institution.


 * Rating:** 3, This is a good book. It is interesting and unlike anything I've ever read, but I didn't really like just reading about her going crazy. It's just not my kind of book.


 * Wiki Reflections**: I think using wiki is a good idea. It is easy to use and makes it easy for students to get their points of view out there. Other kids can also comment and share their opinions. I like it.

I have read to page 183. I predicted that this story will be about Esther losing her mind and her place in the world. Yes, I was right. Esther talks alot about boys, especially Buddy Willard. I think she talks about them alot because of the impact they made on her. Esther really wants to be loved and live a normal life with a man, but she isn't interested in any of the men throughout the book. After Esther's trip to New York is over, she leaves to go back home with her mom in Conneticut. When she gets back home, she finds out that she wasn't accepted into college. This is what really seemed like her breaking point. All of her other friends are off at college or starting their lives while she has no plans and is living at home with her mom. Esther starts getting very anxious and is trying to make something of herself, but she can't. She isn't able to focus enough to read or write, and can't make herself eat or sleep. She ends up being very depressed and tries to kill herself in numerous ways. She ends up overdosing on a bottle of sleeping pills and hides herself in a small corner in the cellar of their house. Her mom notices she is missing and finds her. She has to be taken to the hospital and is placed in the psychiatric ward there. Esther's character has changed from the beginning of the book because now Esther feels like she has no reason to even try so she resorts to trying to kill herself. I do like this book because it's interesting and unlike anything I've ever read. It gives a great point of view as to why she tries hurting herself. It kinda creeps me out but it is interesting and different.
 * September 17**

I have read to page 72. "...steering New York like her own private car. Only I wasn’t steering anything, not even myself...I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo." I liked this quote because this is when she really begins to express how she really feels. This quote is at the end of chapter 1. Esther is in New York because she won a contest. She says this because she's a poor kid from a small town who never would've been able to get to New York by herself, and even though its a big achievement, she feels nothing for the victory. I'm not sure yet whether or not I like Esther's character. I think she's a talented writer for winning the contest and I'm jealous of that.
 * September 10**

I have read about 30 pages in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. The main character in this book is Esther. She is confused about what she wants to do with her life and is trying to find herself. She loves to write and won a writing consent. She won a trip to New York for a fashion program. Esther loves being there but she feels out of place. I think this character will try to find what she's good at in life.
 * September 2**

I'll be studying the author Sylvia Plath and reading __The Bell Jar__. Other people have told me a little bit about this book already. This book is about the main character losing her mind and working to find herself again. I think the book will be mostly about times in her life that helped her get better.
 * August 26**