Anon(Ymous), the play that left its audience with more questions than answers, the play that left me with unquenchable desire to know more; was written by Naomi Iizuka and was published in 2007. The author took us on a journey, where the protagonist of the story was introduce. A young refugee that goes by multiple names and each different name had their own unique stories to share and also their own nightmare to face. “Where I come from mines are planted in the roads like deadly flowers, and the air smells like death, rank and sticky sweet”1[2] (Iizuka, Anon, 2). Anon was a refugee who fled his home country due to an endless war, where being civilize held no apparent meaning. For safety purposes, Anon and his mother had decided to migrate somewhere safer but during their travel, they were separated in a storm. The play enfolds various controversial themes such as border crossings, wars, dehumanization, immigration, sexual harassment, and the endeavor to identify one’s identity in the midst of all the unstable chaotic shifts and forced dream sequences.
Truth be told, to be able to fully comprehend the meaning behind the play Anon(Ymous) and this research paper, I must first break down the author past life. Naomi Iizuka was “born on April 22 ,1965”1[3] in Tokyo but grew up in Japan, Indonesia, The Netherlands and Washington D.C. With Iizuka’s mother being an American Latina and her father being Japanese, her life was very complicated as a teenager, she never completely fit anywhere due to her multicultural background. Nonetheless, Iizuka never let society held her from chasing her dreams and although her works often follow a non-linear storyline, majority of her plays are influenced by her multicultural background.
Work Cited Page
Iizuka, Naomi. Anon(Ymous): a Drama. Playscripts, 2007.
https://outragerous.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/anonymous.pdf
Naomi, Iizuka. Background- Age. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Iizuka
Questions:
1- Do I have enough information within my rough draft to convince my reader?
2- Am I on the right path with my research paper and Am I answering the question?
3- Do you believe Anon(ymous) represent different characters within the play?
Steeve,
Wow. This is going in a really fascinating and insightful direction — I love that you’re turning to the author’s life as part of your research! Just make sure that (a) you continue to also refer to the play itself in your analysis and also that (b) you’re bringing in at least one or two sources from an academic journal.
Your title/question is absolutely brilliant, and I can’t wait to see how your paper analyses the systemic forces that lead you to ask this question (both in your research, the real world, and the play). Keep going in this direction — paying close attention to the journey you’re bringing your readers on — and you’ve got this!!!
JP