Research Draft

Research: how war causes memory loss to adolescent?

 

War can cause many problems to survivors such as psychological problems after witnessing the destruction of war. According to the article, “Researchers have found that war has a remarkable and miraculous effect” it has stated that, “more than half the population had fled their homes, and some 70,000 people had died.” When comparing this to the play “Anonymous” by Naomi Iizuka, the main character Anon has experienced the same situation. For example, in the play, the author states that, “where I come from there was a war that lasted so long. Where I come from bombs rained down from the sky night after night. The air smells like death” (Naomi Iizuka, p. 4).   Anon witnessed these entire incidents and made him affected and his mom and him tried to escape from their country. This shows that all these things impact an adolescent’s mind by keeping them in memory and hard to forget those entire things they went through in their life.  This entire incident affected him and led to memory loss. One of the psychological problems after witnessing the destruction of war is memory loss.  Word like who are you?, I don’t remember you, are some of the words mentioned by the memory loss people. Even Anon has mentioned some of these words like, “I don’t remember”, “I don’t know how to begin. I don’t know where to begin” (Naomi Iizuka, p.4). Another incident that really affected his mind is separation from his mother. For example, in the play, “the last time I was in the ocean, I almost drowned. I was with my mom. We were in an old fishing boat. We were trying to escape and there was a storm” (Naomi Iizuka p. 13). This is an example of fear of death, where they escape from the war to reach a safer place. According to the article from WebMD, “Memory Loss”, the author states that, “Being depressed can make it difficult to pay attention and focus, which can affect memory.” When relating depression to memory loss, the main character Anon also went through depression where he was looking for his mom. For example, in the play, all he remembered was his mom. “I’m really homesick. What if you want to go home, but there’s no more home to go home to? What if the one person you love more than anything, what if they don’t remember you? What if they don’t even know who you are?” (Naomi Iizuka p.14). This proves that, he’s scared that his mother would have forgotten him or he would never find his mother. All these questions were running through his mind and people like Calista were trying to discourage his aim on finding his mom.

 

Work cited

Guo, Jeff. “Researchers Have Found That War Has a Remarkable and Miraculous Effect.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 June 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/28/researchers-have-found-that-war-has-a-remarkable-and-miraculous-effect/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.67b98b06ce38.

Iizuka, Naomi. Anon(Ymous): a Drama. Playscripts, 2010.

“Memory Loss.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/brain/memory-loss#1.

Questions:

  1. Is my essay well organized?
  2. Do I have to be more specific and clear in analyzing the play?
  3. Is there anything that I need to focus on or include?

 

 

One thought on “Research Draft”

  1. Farzana,

    You’re off to a really great start here! I remember from class that we discussed splitting this thematically into a bit on research/the play with witnessing war, then depression, then — I’m so sorry, I’m blanking on the specifics at the moment — something that effects Nemasani very much (you wrote it pen at the bottom of your printed draft). I think that is a really great way to continue with this paper. It allows you the space to tell your reader what kind of journey you’re going to take them on, and then it gives you three solid places — all related to each other! — to bring them on this journey. Really great — I’m excited to see where you take this, and how you continue to integrate your research and the play.

    I would encourage you to, as you keep drafting, slow down and really take your time with your analysis. For example, you use the ever-important “where I come from” quote, which is wonderful! I’d encourage you to really take your time explaining to your reader the significance of Anon’s words and word choices here, and how it fits in with your research. Slowing it down in those kinds of ways, and really letting yourself linger with different parts of your analysis, will really help the paper shine!

    I’m excited to see where you go with this: you got it!!

    JP

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