Miss Talmadge’s Psychology Paper 2011
Posted by canjohslib on March 14, 2011
At the beginning of this project you came to the library and Mrs. Jones offered a book talk to help you find just the right story for your work. Now it’s your turn to share with the librarian and your classmates some information about your book. Click on the “Comment” button below and submit a review of your book containing the following information:
A brief summary of your book.
What aspects of psychology were covered in the book?
How did this book help you complete your project?
Would you recommend this book to readers who are given this assignment next year? Why or why not?
Is there another book you would recommend in addition to the one you chose for this project? Tell us why.
Mrs. Jones will review all submissions before they are posted. Your e-mail address will not be posted, it is only given so I may respond to you on an individual basis.
I’m looking forward to reading your reviews and suggestions!
Mrs. Jones
Alicia said
I read the book “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen. It’s about a man named Jacob Jankowski. He’s about 90 years old living in a nursing home that he despises and everyone around him irriates him. All he really has that pleasures him is his nurse Rosemary and his memories. As he is sleeping all his experiences as a young boy unfolds. The year is 1932 and Jacob is 23 years old, he’s just about to get his degree in veterinary medicine from the prestigious college Cornell, when he get’s bad news that both his mother and father have passed away in a horrific car accident. Jacob obviously devastated and emotionally unstabe, he feels he has nothing to lose, so he jumps on a train, and this isn’t any ordinary train, this is the train of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Jacob starts at the bottom rung of the circus, there is a strict caste system within the ranks of the circus employees, but Jacob quickly gets to the top because of his veterinary knowledge, and he is among the hot-headed ring master August and his lovely wife Marlena, the female star of the show. Jacob is immediatly attracted to Marlena, but she of course, is married to August. Marlena has the same attraction towards Jacob, but is much more cautious about her feelings because of August. Throughout the book Jacob has many transistions back and forth through time. He is always dreaming about his past while in the nursing home.
This book deals with a little bit of Depression while Jacob is in the nursing home, but there is also a character that suffers from schizophrenia throughout the book, and it becomes harder and harder for them to control their problem.
I would recommend this book to other readers because it’s a very interesting book and it has a lot of detail. It’s a very unique story and has an ending that I think is very satisfying for all readers. It’s also interesting to learn what life was like for circus people.
canjohslib said
The ending really got me, and I was soooooo happy. The quick flash at the beginning was misleading. Any other books you would recommend for this project?
keisha said
I have read the book “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher. This book is about a girl named Hannah, she was in high school and had went through the everyday struggles all teens go through. Hannah had friends, parents, teachers and crushes but all these didn’t matter and ended up leading Hannah to a fatal death called suicide. Before Hannah’s death she made seven cassette tapes that told her story from her full view. On these seven casette tapes there was thirteen people mentioned that had something to do with her death. The day before she died she sent the tapes to the first person on the tape and throughout the week they arrived at each persons house. Each person had to listen and realize what they did to her that lead her in the direction she took. Clay Jensen was one of the kids who recieved the tapes and he didn’t know what he did to her to be on the tapes, but he came to realize why after the tape arrived to his name. As Clay listened to the tapes and heard all the names and what they did and when he arrived to the places where the important stuff happened, he began to feel guilty for Hannah’s death. Her explanations and views of people began to change Clay’s life just as it did Hannah’s. He learned things he never knew about his closest friends and also people he didn’t know. Hannah changed Clay’s view on life and everything he did he stopped and thought about Hannah and what she had to said to him on his tape. This book makes people realize what they could do to people with the things they say and do. The littles things can affect some people in different ways which could lead in suicide just like Hannah. Throughout this book, many people were realizing what their words and actions did to Hannah, and in reality things like that happen everyday. Words can hurt people and some people take care of it in different ways. I would recommend this book because its written from a teenagers view and talks about everyday things teens go through. This book is phenomenal and Im sure anyone who read it would think twice about what they say and do to people because they know what an end result could be and you could be someone who lead them in that direction.
Joey said
The novel “Damage” by A.M. Jenkins, is a novel about a teenage boy named Austin Reid. Austin is thought of as your typical high school jock, whos popular and looked at by everyone as that guy. He is the star on the football team and is just like any other student, but throughout the novel you start to realize that Austin is suffering from depression. His best friend Curtis is unaware of what Austin is going through, he cannot even tell his mother or sister. I think some of the depression comes from Austin loseing his father at a young age, but as the story goes on and you start finding out more about Austin and his life you realize that pressure for him to be that perfect guy. When Austin meets the girl of his dreams, the prettiest girl in school, Heather, who he finds out has a crush on him, starts to get into a relationship with him his depression starts to slowly decrease and disappear until the day him and Heather start to get into fights. Thats when Austins depression starts to flare back up again, and the thoughts of suicide starts to return into his mind. He tries to tell Heather, but when she rejects him it sends him in a downward spiral. The psychological aspect of this novel is depression, and the understanding the pressure and stress a teenager can go through. This book helped me complete my project because depression is a major psychological factor in everyday people. Someone can be going through depression and you could not even realize they are experiencing it, just like Austin was. I think this was a good novel, for example the way the auther wrote the book you really felt like you were in Austins shoes and his thoughts were running through your head, just like you were him.
I would recommend this book to other students because if you want to understand what someone that is experiencing depression is like then this is a good book. Also it does have some sports in it, so if you have played in football you can relate to some of the things Austin is going through and it just helps make you feel like you are in Austins shoes. This is a good novel and i suggest it to other students of next year to use for their psychology project.
Kaylee said
“Cut” by Patricia McCormick is about a girl named Callie who cuts herself. Callie’s parents and doctors decide to send her to a recovery center for troubled teenage girls called Sea Pines. Callie doesn’t like to talk to the other girls in the beginning, but because she’s mean, but because she’s too insecure to talk to most people at this point. Callie does this to herself because she blames herself for past experiences that have gone on in her life prior to being in Sea Pines. This novel helped in completing my assignment because Callie does not necessarily have a disease, but she psychologically is not right. She inflicts pain upon herself to make her feel better. To the ordinary person, they would ironically call that “crazy”. I do not think that I would recommend this book to other readers for this assignment. It was too short and didn’t have much depth. It explained the struggles Callie went through, between the desire to cut herself when things weren’t going right, and her desire to become better and go home. Although, the vocabulary was quite simple and something that would be more interesting to a person who was in middle school, not high school. In place of, “Cut”, I would recommend the book “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote. This book is an extremely blood curdling and eerie novel, based on a true story. This novel is about the unexpected murder of a well-liked family in a small town in Kansas, by these two psychologically deterred men who had no responsibility or remorse for their actions. This book is not cheery by any means and it doesn’t have a light and happy ending, so I do not recommend this novel to someone who is looking for that.
canjohslib said
Turman Capote gave us a great look into the minds of murderers. He was a strange little man who wrote a very disturbing, but poignant book.
Kaylee said
Strange is an understatement!
Andrew said
I read “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey. It is set in a mental hospital in the 60s. The book is narrated by Chief Bromden, an Indian who pretends to be a deaf mute and is the longest residing member of the hospital. It starts out with the arrival of a new patient, Randle McMurphy, who unlike the other patients is loud, strong and confident. He realizes the bad condition the other patients are in, the big nurse, nurse Ratched, creates an environment of fear and intimidation to keep the patients on the ward psychologically under her control. McMurphy vows to the other patients to go to war with the nurse and beat her at her own game by making the other patients buy into his fun loving and gambling swagger and defy the nurse and the power of authority. Soon his bet that he can break the nurse and her strict environment dominated by rules and regulations, turns into an all out battle on a personal level for McMurphy. Many aspects of psychology are covered as there are many patients on the mental ward with different sort of disorders. Bromden, who we see most deeply into the mind of suffers from paranoia, he believes the ouside world is a huge machine that he calls the combine that destroys people and sucks them in, and the powers that be, like the nurse run it. He “hears” machinery in the wall and always thinks the nurse is controlling their lives. George is another man on the ward who is sort of obsessive compulsive and obsessed with cleanliness. Some of the men have seizure disorders, some have been destroyed by electroshock treatment and lobotomies, and there are many other different characters who have different psychological disorders. This book was very good for the project, because in terms of psychology, it is full of examples of disorders and treatments for psychological disorders because it is set in a mental hospital. Not only that, but it is a very good book, it is really easy to read and pretty funny at parts with an unexpected and very good ending. The characters are funny and the book is fun to read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who who would want to read it, because of this. Another book I would recommend is “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, it is a vey good story that, although long, is very good to read
canjohslib said
I loved Unbroken!
Tyler said
The book I read was “The Rag And bone Shop”, by Robert Cormier was one of the most interesting books i’ve read. The type of psychology used in this book was messing with the kids head. The main character Jason, was the main suspect of a murder case but was found innocent. The interigation was messing with Jason’s head because there was somethings that he didn’t understand and some of the questions they asked directed that he was the killer. The book helpred me with my project because it had alot of details of different tpyes of psychology. I would definitely recommed this book to anyone who is intersted in murder cases or suspenceful books. It also shows how envolvment in a murder case could go anyway for the good or bad.
canjohslib said
More details please. What was the interrogators name? Why did they suspect Jason? What questions, “messed with his head”? Any other books you recommend? I think you can put more effort in. I’m suspecting that perhaps you did not read the book.
Joselyn said
I read one of the most interesting books that ive never heard of before. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night-time follows the story of Christopher John Francis Boone. Christopher has Autism, and goes into to tell us about his everyday life. From why four yellow cars in a row equal a bad day to what he likes. Christopher finds that his neighbor Mrs. Shears’ dog Wellington has been killed. Christopher goes on doing what sherlock holmes does: being a decetive. He goes on trying to find the killer of the dog, while writing a story of his own about finding the killer. His mother died when he was younger and his dad works as a plumer. While Christopher struggles to find Wellington’s killer despite his father sayin gnot to mention Mr. Shears’ husbands name who according to his father is “evil” and his father telling him exactly that he shouldnt be going around asking people or sticking his nose in other people’s businesses. As he is writing his story he learns that Mr. shears’ and his mother were very “close” friends, that he doesnt quite understand that people, and secrets about his mother that know one ever knows. This book helped me by giving me insight on what a goes on in the mind of an austistic person . This book,I recommend this book to anyone who wants a laugh. There are very funny moments like the sign on the door he visits that says ” BEER Helping ugly people have sex for 2,000 years”. I know Ordinary People this another good book that is closer to the truth than anything. It describes the stress on everyone when one tries to commit suicide and the trouble of getting over death of a loved one. Go Ask Alice is another great book in goes into the detail of one girls struggle to bounce back from the world of drugs and the strain it puts on people. Lucky goes into the story of Alice Sebold the author of the lovely Bones goes into Alices rape and her survival after it happened. A Child Called It goes into the story of Dave Pelzer whose mother is an alcholic and whose father refuses to help him.
Matthew said
The book i read was “The Lobotomist” by Jack El-Hai. I do not read very much but I found this book absoulutly facinating. This is a biography about Walter Freeman himself. It explains his life from a small child to his “beneficial surgical procedures.” The most controversal thing about this is whether or not Walter Freeman was a good man with good intentions to help people and just did not know what he was doing was wrong and harmful or did he have negative motives and wanted to use phychiological ill people as experimental subjects? In the book he was compared to Mengele. Mengele was a so called doctor who did expiraments on people in the Nazi controlled consentration camps. The aspects of Psycology in this book were based on the patients that Walter have. Many of his patients suffered from bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and many suffered from hallucinations, and many other things that effected their quality of life. In my opinion Walter Freeman himself suffered from some physchiological issues. He viewed himself as a god in his own reich but was oblivious to the harmful effects of his ingenious surgeries. He was just so blind to his so called most innovative surgeries in the world of Pyschology. When he was told his surgeries were useless and did more harm that good it must of devistated him and put him into denial. This book allowed me to look at the ways people try to treat people with their best intentions with the very little knowledge they have. It proved to me again that medicine is comprised of several trial and errors and to be able to perform your procedures with out proof of success you must realize knowledge is power and you need to find the most desparate people so they will come to you as their last resort. Even though i love the book i would not recommend this book for students to read next year. It takes a special person to read this book. You have to love the topic and must be able to look at this man with an open mind to get the most out of this book. If you can look at him with an opened mind and not be so fast to judge him as an evil sick man you will be able to feel his pain and be almost sympathetic torward him. There is not to many books you can recommend if you like this book. The only other book i could recommend is maybe a biography on Pavlov or Freud.
Scott said
My book review will cover “Inside Out,” by Terry Trueman. Zachary Wahhsted is a schizophrenic sixteen teen-year-old who hangs around the “Sunshine Espresso” coffee shop everyday after school to wait for his mother to pick him up at 3:30pm. Once he arrives home, he goes inside and takes his medication to control his outbreaks. While waiting at the store, two savage teenage brothers, coined “Frosty” and “Stormy” enter with weapons. Zachary becomes caught in the middle of an armed robbery with nine other hostages including a six year-old girl. With knowledge of his own condition, Zachary knows that if he doesn’t escape and take his medication, “Dirt Bag” and “Rat” will come to terrorize him. During the robbery, the police show up rather quickly, and are waiting outside. As time goes on, it becomes more and more obvious that Zachary has a mental issue. Stormy and Frosty, or Alan and Joe Mender get aggravated with Zachary and call him “retarded” many times inside the book. Once the two brothers let the hostages go, and Zachary is freed, he takes his medication. Throughout the book, at the beginning of every chapter are excerpts of letters between Zachary’s mother, and his doctor back and fourth. It shows the struggle of having a son with schizophrenia, and ways they cope with the disorder. I would recommend this book to future readers because it is a really quick read, and it’s an easy storyline. It shows schizophrenia and its associated conflicts.
canjohslib said
Any other books you can recommend?
Eric said
The book I choose to read is “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. This is a biography about Louis Zamperini and his struggle to survive in WWII Pacific. He is faced by constant obstacle after obstacle and his spirit is never broken. Louis Zamperini was born in Southern California and as a child he was in and out of trouble with the law. He would steal and run away to see if he could do it. In his teen years he channeled his talents to running and was talented enough to be invited to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Zamperini ran 5000m and came in 7th place but his 56 second lap recieved the attention of Hitler and requested a quick meeting with Louis. There he met Hitler, shook his hand and was complimented as “the boy with the fast finish”. Zamperini returned home and worked on his mile time and was on track to beat the four minute mile, but enlisted in the air force at the breakout of WWII. He, along with ten other crewmen, were sent on a mission to Hawaii. The airplane had technical problems and went down in the Pacific. The only three surviving crewmen still alive survive on the occasional bird and fish they can catch. Louis Zamperini and Russall Allen Phillips were the only two left and keep their spirits up by singing “White Christmas” and cooking imaginary meals. After 47 days the two men were rescued by the Japanese and were imprisoned in several POW camps till the end of the war. “The Bird” who is 7th on the most wanted war criminals was Louis’ guard and he found special interest in Louis because of his olympic reputation. Their he was feed very little and was forced to do demeaning things like do push ups above human waste and clean latrines with his hands. He was rescued when the Allies won the war and thought by his family to be dead he returned a war hero. Post war he was haunted by the horrors he had to endure during his stay at the camps. He drank heavily to deal with his demons. His demons usually showed up as the Bird torturing him in his dreams. He almost destroyed his marriage until he attended a crusade in downtown Los Angeles. There he learned to forgive and that is when his war was truly over. Overall this book was great because I personnally like history and WWII. Even though it is a long book it is worth learning about Louis Zamperini and his amazing story. For future readers I highly recommend this book because Laura Hillenbrand may have only written “Seabiscuit” and “Unbroken” but she put alot of time into making this book that its shear size should not scare the next reader. I would recommend the “Lobotomist” because its from around the same era and Lobotomy is a strange but fascinating subject.
Quinn Li said
“Ape House” by Sara Gruen is a fictional novel about some very special apes called bonobos. In general, this type of ape tends to be very intelligent and the book focuses on a group of bonobos who are being trained in a language lab. The apes are extremely close to human, and this is seen as each bonobo expresses itself by using American sign language. When the language lab gets bombed, the apes’ best friend and scientist, Isabel Duncan, gets seriously injured. Distraught over the loss of her “family” Isabel goes from organized, neat freak to a remote slob who chooses making broth from Ramen noodle packets over leaving the house. It is only when a new television show called “Ape House” that stars Isabel’s missing family, that she pulls herself together enough to track down the bonobos. In Lizard, New Mexico, Isabel joins the masses of protestors and fans of Ape House. Almost as if fate had wanted them to meet, Isabel meets up with several famous animal rights’ activists, her intern Celia and the random lovers she finds, and a hardworking, honest reporter named John Thigpen. Together, this odd group uncovers a conspiracy so twisted that not only will it save the apes, but just might be enough to give Isabel her family back.
Throughout the book, the reader sees each character struggle with problems from their past. Isabel has trust issues and a suspicion of men due to the fact that her prostitute mother always used to lie to her about the frequent “uncles” visiting the house. Also, the reader sees how being pulled away from her family and normal life take a toll on Isabel. John Thigpen also deals with a troubling childhood that seems to haunt him throughout the book.
If you can tolerate a dragged out story and don’t mind being able to predict the ending, this book is okay. Personally I did not find it very good. Although the idea was a good one, I think that the story itself was boring, unbelievable, and predictable.
One book I would suggest for this project is “Girl Interrupted”. It is about an 18 year old girl who is practically imprisoned in a mental institutions. She was kept there for 2 years and in the book she tells of stories and experiences she had in the institution.
Brooke said
I read the book “I Will Save You” by Matt De La Pena. In this book the main character is named Kidd. Kidd grew up around abuse from his father who was a drunk and would abuse his mother and him. His mother ends up killing herself and Kidd has to move to a foster home in Fallbrook called Horizons. He end up running away to campsite called Cardiff. When he is there he meets a girl named Oliva and a man named Mr. Red. Kidd ends up getting a job with Mr. Red and Kidd and Oliva develop a friendly relationship. While Kidd is at the campsite he has a lot of issues with trying to deal with the abuse he faced and not being able to save himself or his mother. Kidd runs into a problem named Devon who causes a lot of conflict with him. Yes, i would recommend this book for readers next year it was a great book. The ending is a very big shocker. No, i do not have any other books to recommend for readers next year.
Stephanie said
Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock, takes place in Toast, North Carolina and follows the story of eight year old Carrie Parker and her six year old sister Emma. The two sisters live in an abusive household that their alcoholic stepfather, Richard, controls. Carrie and Emma deal with neglect and physical, mental, and sexual abuse. The abuse is very obvious to everyone, but their mother remains completely ignorant about it, even though she too is physically abused by Richard. Carrie and Emma have a very strong relationship through all the abuse. Carrie supports a great deal on her little sister and always needs her companionship. Carrie learns to become a stronger individual after the family moves when Richard has to find work. At their new home, Mr. Wilson, the next door neighbor, teaches Carrie how to shoot and slowly Carrie becomes less dependent on Emma. Me & Emma explores the psychological effects that living in an extremely abusive environment can have on a young child, psychology definitely plays a large role in the story. At the end, an enormous secret is revealed that really blows the reader’s mind! It is an excellent story and is very well told. This is one of those novels that have the “WOW!” reactions at the end.
canjohslib said
I know you have other books you can recommend! Enlighten us!
Esco said
I read The Child Called “It” by Dave Peltzer. This book must be one of the most terrifying books I’ve read. If you read this you will feel scared for this child. This book is based on true events. The main character David gets abused by his alcoholic mother. He is physically and mentally abused by the so called “bitch”. This book is a quick and easy read, unless you can’t handle the things Dave’s mother does to him. The beginning of this book is when David gets rescued, so most of the book is about his struggle to survive.
canjohslib said
Pleas give us a few details. What does David’s mother do to him? Can you recommend another book for next year’s readers?
Aisha said
The 1996 novel Fight Club written by Chuck Palahniuk, was a very enjoyable book. It centers around a nameless narrator who works for a car manufacturing company, he is responsible for determining whether a car needs to be recalled or not. He is unhappy with his life and grew up without a father. His body responds to his depression with a severe case of insomnia, which leaves him up for days on end. To seek help, he goes to various support group which consist of people who are inflicted with a disease. He goes there because that is the only place he feels he can show his sadness, when he hugs one of the patients at the end of every session and cries. Going to the support groups help get rid of his insomnia for a while, until another faker named Marla Singer starts attending the support groups. He feels he cannot show his emotions when another faker is present in the groups and his insomnia starts up again. The two compromise a schedule that ables them both to attend the support groups but on different days and different diseases. Eventually the narrator meets a man named Tyler Durden, who also grew up fatherless. Tyler works various jobs such as a movie projectionalist and a chef at exquisite dinner parties and pulls pranks while he works. For example he while projecting a movie at a movie theatre, he would edit the film so that an obscene picture would flash for a tenth of a second like a subliminal message for the audience to see subconciously. He would also get off by tainting the food he served at dinner parties like. He would for example spit sneeze and urinate in the meals before they were served. Tyler becomes apart of The Narrators life when the narrator has to move in with him. Durden confesses to the narrator that he had never been in a fight before, and he insisted that the narrator hit him in the face as hard as he can. Eventually they beat each other up in a parking lot, and the fighting felt more theraputic than attending the support groups. Eventually more men join the club and that’s when fight club started to take place every Tuesday in the basement of a bar.
Problems emerge when the narrator loses his self identity when he realizes that he and tyler are the same person, and tyler starts to take control of his life. I really enjoyed reading this book because I like mystery and it taught me a lot of intereseting facts. I also recommend reading The Thin Red Line By James Jones for next years phsychology class