Nea literature help

Hi I am struggling to find books for my NEA. I am really interested in the art of human connections and I love the coming-of-age film and story Dead Poets Society, and I am thinking about exploring the changing cultures of masculinity and femininity before and after 1900. Do you have any books focusing on masculinity or femininity, preferably a play too or maybe a poem :smile:

Thank you, Meg

Reply 1

yonita_s22

hiya!!! i think your topic of interest is soo intriguing and reminds me of my english lit nea which i’ve just submitted! (i’m in y13 rn) in my prose nea, i looked at how plath presents femininity in the bell jar and how this cultivates esther’s depression. a really interesting article i read which helped me form my critical ideas about the isolation of esther’s condition and her inability to actually come into her own person (if we are considering the bell jar as a sort of coming-of-age story) was an online article called “femininity as disability in sylvia plath’s the bell jar” so maybe that could help you if you decided to go with it! it’s definitely not about exactly what you mentioned but it’s still super interesting ☺️☺️

Reply 2

yonita_s22

Original post by yonita_s22

adding onto this because i simply love the bell jar - if you want to focus more on human connections (if you do decide to do the bell jar) i think it’s really interesting to look at esther’s lack of human connections because she literally hates everyone around her in the form of racism and internalised misogyny. so her human connections basically fall short as she spirals into depression, and slips through the cracks of society. i clearly am just preaching at you abt the bell jar at this point (sorry) but honestly i love your topic and i think you’d be able to find your topic of interest in it super well!! best of luck xx