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David Fernandez

English 102

J.Polish

November- 10- 2017

Dealing With Trauma

 

In life some of our feelings are influenced by our experience. When we remember a experience that we view as positive it brings us joy. Memories like winning a contest or finishing first in a race are seen as good events in your life. When you think about a positive experience   that you had it usually makes you more happy than if you didn’t. Sometimes there are events in our lives that we view as negative and it can be so severe  that it sticks with us. You can usually see this in war veterans and refugees who lived in war zones. They have seen horrible things happen to people and also have to cope with the death of their friends. Sometimes the result of this can be trauma. In the play “Anonymous” you can see that Anon (the protagonist) and his mother Nemasani show that they have some symptoms of trauma such as flashbacks, social isolation and lost of interest.

Throughout the play Nemasani was trying to cope with her lost son by making shroud because she thought he was dead. Even though Anon ended up being alive he was still nowhere to be found and she had no idea what could have happened to him. So part of her still wanted to hold on to the fact that he was still alive because there was still no proof of his death. “The mourning and burial ceremonies can help people accept reality in a short period and return to order” (chen). There was no body found yet so there could not have been a burial ceremony. This burial ceremony could have helped Nemasani realize that her Anon was did but since there was no ceremony she did not entirely give up on him still being alive.

At times when Anon is interacting with people he starts to isolate himself from that person if he doesn’t feel a connection with them. He kept avoiding Calista when she tried to bond with him. Calista attempt to befriend failed because they come from different worlds. Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng believes this “The theories that explain patterns of racial segregation within a diverse setting identify homophily (the tendency to form relationships with individuals that share similar qualities), propinquity (the tendency to form relationships with individuals that share similar social situations), status, and reciprocity, as particularly important qualities of friendship formation (Hallinan and Williams 1989; McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Cook 2001; Moody 2001)”. (Cherng p. 510)  Anon who comes from a place that is a war zone cannot relate with Calista who is very high class and whose family has the money to afford a beach. While he had to escape war and got traumatized because of his experience of the war

When Anon meets Ali he wanted to leave right away. He first meets Ali’s daughter Narseen and mentions that he likes the song she was singing. They talk briefly until Ali arrives and calls Anon a roach. After a while he insists on making Anon his guest and offers him food. Anon rejects this offer and informed him that he had to leave. As a refugee with trauma it is not easy to trust new people especially when you are being insulted by them when you first meet them.

Anon sometimes talks about his homeland and tells people what he remembers about it. Since he had to escape his country and become a refuge in another it is probably because his life was in danger. He has memories of war and what he remembers seeing. “ Where I come from is far away from here. Where I come from there was a war that lasted so long people forgot what they were lighting for. Where I come from bombs rained down from the sky night after night and boys wandered the streets with M16s. Where I come from mines are planted in the roads like deadly flowers, and the air smells like death, rank and sticky sweet. Where I come from you go to sleep at night and dream about the faces of the people you love”(Iizuka,65). These flashbacks that he has are caused because of trauma because of what he went through in the past. This can be seen in all sorts of groups fleeing war . “Vietnamese refugees who were rescued and brought to refugee camps in different countries experienced varying encampment traumas and stressors. Their experiences were comprised of assaults by border guards upon entering neighboring countries (Boehnlein & Kinzie, 1997), overcrowding, starvation or poor nutrition, unsanitary conditions, and personal danger”(Dao Tam, Julia M. P. Poritz, Rachel P. Moody, and Kim Szeto 440). Anon has a very vivid picture of what was going on in his homeland he recalls having to leave after that.

In the play “Anonymous” you can see that both Anon and Nemasani go through trauma. It is is because of the experiences that they had in their lives that caused them to have it. Throughout the play you can see signs of this Even though the experience might be different what they both have in common is that it was a negative one and it gave them trauma.   

Works Cited

Dao Tam, Julia, M. P. Poritz, Rachel, P. Moody, and Kim, Szeto,. Development, Reliability, and Validity of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview for Vietnamese Refugees: A Diagnostic Instrument for Vietnamese Refugees,. Houston: International Society For Traumatic Stress Studies, 2012

 

Chen, Biao. Coping With Death and Loss: Confucian Perspectives and the Use of Rituals. Springer Science+Business Media, 2012

 

Cherng, Hua-Yu Sebastian, Social Isolation Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Immigrant Youth. New York: 2015

 

Iizuka Naomi, Anonymous. American Theatre

 

Reflective Statement

 

When I started writing this paper I thought of what topics from the book I can use to write about. There were many topics I could have used like Immigration, culture shock and imagination vs reality. After thinking about for a while I thought that it would be best to pick Trauma. I made this decision after realizing that this is something more than one of the characters have. Both Anon and Nemasani share this. Trauma can be caused by witnessing war or being abused and there are many symptoms like isolation, mistrust and anxiety. Awareness of this topic should be spread around. Just like how physical health has a lot of awareness like exercising and eating healthy mental health should be something that people should learn more about.

 

Having peers who had similar topics and ideas to research helped out a lot  while working on the paper. When we shared our papers we saw that we had a lot of ideas in common. There was many suggestions that we were able to give each other since our topics were similar. This helped create the paper since  there was some feedback. When you have a research topic to focus on you  get to have the opportunity to view the play differently and notice things that you have not noticed before.

 

How can a house be called a home to an immigrant ?

In the play “ Anon(Ymous)”, by Naomi Iizuka , a young refugee known as anon searches for his mother as they are separated at sea from an unnamed war. This motivated character migrates through unknown locations filled surrounded by  war like areas and encounters a wide variety of people . Some of the people he met during his long journey were filled with love,  but some were dangerous and sneaky.

As an undocumented alien moving around city to city or country to island , having to adapt to new customs every time you blink seems to always remind you back of home. These people don’t just migrate out of fun.Immigrants typically flee their country because of persecution, war / disasters and even for a better lifestyle.There is a wide variety of reasons to leave home for these people,  Some people emigrate to avoid starvation.Some seek adventure. Others wish to escape unbearable family situations. Still others desire to be reunited with loved ones.(Bryant, 1)

 

As you migrate you look for things that remind you of home to make you feel comfortable.One effective scene involved Anon and Pascal explaining memories of home and family. From the passage we seem to sum up that Pascal and Anon come from two totally different cultural backgrounds and have many powerful experiences throughout life, but the taste of home cooking or a familiar smell is customary to both. Both of these characters  remember a different kind of home, but the feeling of home is identical and easily detectable.

In the passage ritu says “ Where do you come from, stranger?” , Anon the characters that searched for his mother replies, “ I’m from all over”.(Lizuka ,70) As an immigrant no place could possibly be called a home,  a house is something permanent not temporary. A home is something you could return to and it be the same as when you left it. Before 1920, about 30 percent of all immigrants from the United States later returned to their native country. Today, about 15 percent return home. Some immigrants intend to stay in a new country temporarily and then go back home. But others go back because they find adjusting to a new society too difficult.( Bryant,1)

It’s not easy having to start somewhere as a brand new being.The values, social norms, and traditions in another country may be very different from beliefs about “how things should be” in the country where a person was born and raised.

When individuals move to another culture, they naturally carry their own background and life experiences with them, and these shape how they perceive and adjust to their new location. For instance, some of these diverse beings may find an American classroom easy to adjust to, while others may struggle significantly in this area. This puts the person trying to adapt to a new setting on a “Culture shock” . This is a common experience that describes the feelings of entering an unfamiliar culture. Keep in mind that not everyone has the same reactions to cultural adjustment and may experience the symptoms of culture shock in varying degrees, and at different times. Some people become extremely homesick while getting to know the new area.(Texas,1).

 

You can’t adjust yourself to just any place , in contrast a house provides a  roof over your head around neighbors you knew your entire life, a home is the smell of a family recipe in the morning and rooms filled with memories.immigrants don’t have the luxury of living around loved ones and being at home comfortably. Some immigrants were brought to a new land against their will. From the 1500’s to the 1800’s europeans shipped black Africans to the Western Hemisphere as slaves.(Bryant,1). They were brought here and had to make the best of the situation.They had to create a community and within that community exchange and or develop the same language, customs, foods, interests, and important beliefs and values. (Donley, 1) .

But what if you can’t adapt fully ? .You can live satisfied in a house that doesn’t feel like home. To be a home, it needs to feel like a place you belong.  A place you feel at peace, no stress can enter while you’re relaxing Comfortably. A home reflects your personality, so it stands to reason that people like you will also like being in your home.( Owyong,1). Some people, as they move through their lives, rediscover home again and all over again. Some people never find another after once leaving home. (Klinkenborg,1)

 

Citations

 

Bryant, Joyce. “Immigration in the United States.” 99.03.01: Immigration in the United States, teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1999/3/99.03.01.x.html.

Donley, Susan k. “Education: Heritage Discovery Center.” Push and Pull of Immigration: Letters from Home – Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center,

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

Klinkenborg, Verlyn. “The Definition of Home.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 May 2012, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-definition-of-home-60692392/.

Owyong., Chris. “House vs. Home.” Re:Focus, blog.startwithwhy.com/refocus/2010/02/house-vs-home.html.

www.jaha.org/edu/discovery_center/community/peopling_pa02.html.

“A Guide for International Students.” Cultural Adjustment, Texas University, cmhc.utexas.edu/cultureadjustment.html.

In order for Naomi Iizuka to write her play Anon(ymous), she must have researched the lifestyle of immigrants becoming refugees to have a better life. Correspondingly, the actors need to have excellent preparation for themselves as emotionally and physically prepare themselves as if they were the actual characters from the play. The actors need to get a sense of characterization. Three things that grabbed my attention was one being immigration due to how immigration was a huge factor in the poem with political issues and how Anon encounters with other people which are kind and some cruel to find his way to his mother. Overall I was grabbed by how many different types of people Anon encountered and with all having  different lifestyles and how he was carried on by others from place to place In order to find his home. I feel like in order for me to understand those three parts of the play in a deeper and meaningful way is for me to find people who can relate the experiences and hear them out or maybe even see the play so that I can see their emotions and face expressions. The way they express themselves when the actors play it out. I feel like I would like to talk about how immigration since anon was being helped by many different people and how it was a meaningful factor in the poem.

In the playwright, Anon(ymous) is about a boy named Anon who is trying o find his mother. Over the course of the story meets new people. But in certain parts of the story, you may notice that Anon has some form of identity issues and the characters changes in the story like Calista and Mr Markus who ignores Anon and his mother Nemesani true names. In this essay ill be using the playwright Anon(ymous) to discuss the issues of identity lost in immigrants and minorities.
A person identity is like a fully detailed background check of who you really are and where you from. Losing your identity can easily happen it occurred throughout many eras of history most notable Ellis Island. People who immigrated to the United States to have their name changed. In peer-reviewed journal named “Ellis Island Nation: Immigration Policy and American Identity in the Twentieth Century” by Robert L. Fleegler the article talks about the assimilation of immigrants into the country by what’s called contributionism. Immigrants will contribute by adding their ideas and cultural into mix others which makes the United States of America the country of immigrants as we know today but, the problem with this is that immigrants slowly lose their own culture “ Contributionism emphasized that the cultural and economic assets of immigrants enrich America by celebrating the unique benefits of immigrants’ native cultures to American life. At the same time, however, contributionists frequently assumed that immigrants would lose some of the very distinctions that set them apart as their talents and skills were incorporated into the American nation” I believe this is true since both of my parents weren’t born in the united states but over time they started to opt out of their own traditions into a more American tradition.

The same goes for me or anyone who is 1^st or 2^nd generation American or was born in another country they’re family traditional may begin to diminish. There’s also an intergenational conflict that occurs due to the sudden change in cultures values generation after generation of immigrant families.

 

Naomi Lizuka has done a great job in keeping the audience engaged through out the play. She does this by constantly having the audience guessing if the whole play is a dream, and not realty, or what is Anon’s real name, and why he doesn’t mention his real name, and even hiding the location of the play. Naomi does all these things intentionally to have us confused. The big question I have is why? Why would Naomi want to confused her audience?

There is a long process involved in playwriting a play. One of the main elements is having a topic or a specific subject you want to get across to your audience. This can be a message to want to get across, or even bring up the attention of a modern day issue. This involves a lot of research just as Naomi did to create Anonymous. This also clicks together with how you want a member of the audience to perceive what you’ve created.

Mental Health of Refugees from War Torn Countries

“In addition to individuals who meet the criteria in the 1951 Convention definition, UNHCR recognizes as refugees persons who are outside their country of nationality or habitual residence and unable to return there owing to serious and indiscriminate threats to life, physical integrity or freedom resulting from generalized violence or events seriously disturbing public order.”(UNHCR, 2011, p.19). According to UNHCR there are about 20 million people classified as refugees. (http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/refugees.html , 4th Nov. 2017). Even just by the definition we can understand that refugees have a life full of struggle and it is not uncommon for them to develop health issues. Mental health issues, which are just as important as physical health issues are very often overlooked because of the lack of resources and knowledge to recognize them. Because of this many refugees suffer from very dangerous mental health issues.

An article on Mental Health of Refugees by WHO says,”many children may be unaccompanied. They have special needs. If these needs are not met, serious mental health problems are likely to occur.”(http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/41825/1/9241544864_eng.pdf , 4th Nov. 2017) As said above, Anon could have been a very similar victim of mental problems and could have suffered long term problems like schizophrenia, depression and frustration specially because he was fro a war-torn place.

 

Along the play, I realized that Anon, who seemed to be very healthy and seemed to have a strong will to survive could in fact have been mentally ill. Not only that it is also possible that the entire play is only his imagination. Although the play in itself is fictional, the characters in the play slightly hint that Anon could have some mental issues.

In regards to that, Anon could have developed schizophrenia because of the sheer stress that he suffered back in his home. Other than that he is clearly depressed and frustrated. In the paper, I want to discuss if the issue is common in refugees from war torn places.

Nagat. Almatare

English 102

Professor: Polish

Rough Draft Research Paper

 

 

 

In the play (Anon(ymous), Anon had traveled from one place to another looking for his mother and wanting to go back home because none of the places where is birth home. Anon had to leave his real home with his mother because of war but, Anon drowned on a boat as his family tried to run away from death. Anon’s mother still had hope in her heart that her son might be alive somewhere. People can run away from war because they’re fear of death but death can follow us in different aspect of the world. So why the play writer Naomi Lizuka wrote that Anon drowned without giving a clear conclusion to the play? Was Anon died and he was seeing the next world? Was Anon a live but dreaming in his coma? Was this all dream because of what he had gone through in his journey of running away from a war? This play reminds me of Shakespeare’s Play: “Hamlet’s delay lies neither in his incapacity for swift action nor in the overwhelming difficulty of eliminating Claudius, the readers seem to have reached a frustrating dead end in their understanding of Shakespeare’s greatest work. Fortunately for them, however, a psychoanalytic reading of the play may provide the necessary means through which Hamlet’s seemingly inexplicable behavior can be rationalized”.( Sihyun)1. In many cases readers expect a conclusion in a play: sometimes it can be a happy or sad ending.

Anon explored different places like when the white rich family rescued him and the rich family’s daughter felt that she owned Anon because of her rich father who owns land and mountains. Anon felt that was never his home so he left, kept on traveling to find what he calls “home”. Anon’s mother in the play worked for a sewing factory where the white rich family came and told her that they have rescued a boy from drowning in the water, but that boy ran away because he wanted to go home, the place of his birth.

Pre draft