The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness

Examine the effects of Schilling’s choice to format the book as a series of chronologically-arranged vignettes, from a multitude of voices. How does this formal choice affect and/or posit the book’s ultimate message?

Take a position on Schilling’s overall focus on the “soft” (psychological and emotional) elements of her illness and its roots. Do you think that the general absence of scientific data or insight helps or harms the overall power of her work?

Contrast The Quiet Room with other chronicles of madness that seek to duplicate the experience of insanity—not through coherent and reasoned narrative, as Schilling’s work mainly hews to—but through formal disturbances and persistent/consistent stream-of-consciousness narration. How do these two formal choices change and shape the overall message and effect of each literary work?

Do you think that The Quiet Room successfully removes stigma from schizophrenia patients? Take a position on this question and use direct citations from the book, as well as secondary sources that articulate the specific social stigmas that schizophrenic patients encounter within society. Use these citations to support and bolster your argument.

Analyze the manner in which Schilling’s class and wealth affect both her psyche and her journey toward recovery. For example, you may parse out the fact that the formidable and undesirable state hospital is merely a bogeyman for her, and not her only option. Use current statistics and data regarding the way that class and wealth affect mental health treatment in order to support your analysis.

Compare and contrast Lori’s insights on her illness with those of the members of her family. Use specific quotes in order to parse the subtle similarities and differences between both Lori’s perceptions and those of different family members, as well as how her family members’ perceptions are both similar and different to each other’s.

Write an essay that explains the import of three of the book’s Part titles. For example, why is Part 1 titled “I Hear Something You Can’t Hear”? Pull specific quotes from each section, and directly tie them to the title of the part in which they appear. Focus on identifying the themes and messages that Schilling communicates through her part-titling schema.

Write a research paper that examines at least two psychiatric treatment modalities for schizophrenia. Identify specific quotes within the book which demonstrate each modality. Compare and contrast these modalities in relation to how they affect and either hinder or promote Lori’s recovery.