History and Memory Essay

To what cessation has textual form shaped your judgement of history and stock? In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least oneother related text. The textual form of the poetry of Denise Levertov and the itemise Pure excruciation by gobbler Moe has shaped the readers understanding of history and memory to a great extent. While history is correspond generally as objective, impersonal, factual and static, memory is represented as subjective, personal, fragmented and fluid. Techniques applied by the composers atomic number 18 consistent with forging these theatrical performances.A close interrogatory of the texts indicates that history and memory argon distinct concepts, only when they are also devil elements which work unneurotic in an interdependent relationship to make a record of truth. A close study of A Letter to Marek about a Photograph shows how history and memory are both distinct entities, plainly that they work together to cr eate a to a greater extent complete representation of the truth. The poem erects a representation of the ho hires history as static and objective through the adjectives used to severalize the personal make wooden angles and fretted gables.However, the composers memory of the context of the home provides a place change with anxiety and worry through the use of the pun in fretted gables, and the metaphor ornaments turned on the lathe of humor and trust. While the physical photograph records in a cumulation of adjectives the carpentered, unpainted, aging house in some w relatee ghetto, Levertovs memory records the frantic context of the inhabitants of the house in the personification of the building the brooding face of anxiety and waking and sleeping.Thus, ones understanding of history and memory as two distinct stock-still interdependent elements in recording the truth has been shaped to a great degree through a close reading of A Letter to Marek about a Photograph. Similarl y, in A Time Past Levertov conveys the idea of history and memory being distinct but interrelated elements in recording the past(a). While Levertov records the wooden steps to the front door where I was academic term that morning as an historic typesetters case, she intertwines the memory with the physical history of the steps.Human carry out is deeply complex in the history of these steps through the senses in the tactile, aural and visual imagery. She can feel their split, the quiet broken by no bird, no cricket, and gold leaves spinning in closeness. The human experience of emotion joy and love and cheerful, unafraid are captured in the record of the past. Although the memories are fragmentary in nature, like the splinters, they ironically complete the history. This fragmentary quality is captured in the various anecdotes involving the partner and her little son who died, of marriage, of my son, and sitting alone or with my husband.Although some memories may be blurred or faded over time or was it the second son who lives and thrives? The memories themselves do non lose their importance. While the steps play a significant place in terms of subjects in Levertovs history, it is the memories involved with the steps which complete the record of truth, thus further enhancing ones understanding of the relationship amongst history and memory. In Thai Binh (Peace) Province refers to Levertovs film of the Vietnam War, both a physical and kind record of a past event.Textual form is in truth important in conveying the difference between history and memory, thus shaping the readers understanding of the two concepts. The historical documentation includes the repetition of the plosives bombed. The cumulation nouns for buildings hospitals schools silk-factory help to convey the utter devastation of the country. This is contrasted by Levertovs mental retreat to selectively photograph within her dark sails of the river boats, warm slant of aft(prenomin al)noon light with the use of adjectives such as perched, relaxed to show her retreat towards peace within the long war.Levertov uses juxtaposition of the tike with its feet blown off to the boy relaxed on a quietly grazing buffalo effectively to provide a more thorough, comprehensive and complete record of the historical event, rather than a biased locating of the history. She alludes to the history with the humanistic nature of her memory to make it more comprehensive. Thus, it is clear that the textual form of Levertovs poem greatly enhances ones understanding of history and memory being two distinct, yet interrelated, elements.The textual form of Tom Moes Pure Torture shows a clear distinction between history and memory, while it presents the notion that history and memory are interconnected to produce a more complete representation of the truth of past events. The first-person recount presented in chronological order is consistent with a recording of an historic event. Moe presents the facts of his five-year incarceration as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. As a authenticated memory, it presents a history, but with the added dimension of his personal perspective that only memory can provide.Moe details the frightening nature of the event, thus personalising it through the use of lifelike detail and emotion endowment a more accurate representation of the truth. The memory has been recorded and published about 23 years after the events occurred. The graphic details of Tom Moes physical harm have been depicted in Pure Torture. He describes their skin which became waterlogged, looking like pale cheese, a crumbling coat of slimy flesh. The use of simile and metaphor emphasise the physical effects of the treatment, personalising and individualising the experience.The memory of how his body deteriorated similarly highlights the unique human experience you could stick your finger into me up to your knuckle and pull it out leaving a hole that wou ld behind fill with fluid, and I was shocked at how my body looked like a bag of chicken bones. The composers intention is clear he intends to shock and fill the readers mind with his memory, and he is very successful in building images so that the record of history is far more accurate and comprehensive.A close examination of the documentary film Dear America Letters from Vietnam stands as evidence that the textual form of media recording history and memory are intertwined in such a way that they get around a complete record of the truth of an event. The historical record of actual footage of a soldier who has preoccupied his foot, graphically details the mans pain when he is in the field Ive been hit (screams) Ive been hit Later, while he is being attended to by doctors, he describes the physical pain, Its that sharp nerve pain urning burning I know theres not oftentimes left. I thought the whole thing was going to come off. The witness to the event states Ive never se en such bravery and guts before You should have seen my brave men. It would give you goose pimples. This contrasts significantly with the footage the direction on physical pain is turned in to a focus on mental and emotional qualities. The letter writer is selective in what he wants remembered his focus is on the courage and bravery of the soldier, rather than the pain associated with it.It appears that the trauma is too close to be passed on to members of his family, and he is selective in what he records as his memory and what he contributes to their memory of the war. The footage of the night patrols is frightening, with bombardment in a montage of explosions, gunshot and fires in the jungle. The aftermath of a night patrol is recorded by a soldier who is called in to identify a body. He writes to his family Its going to be hard for me to write this, but maybe it will make me feel better there on the table was a boy is eyeball were open. I couldnt really identify him. They told me his name Rankin. I cried. God, it cant be. But after looking at his face again it was him. It hit me like a shot. This was the first body I ever saw it was too much. I went outside and cried. It started raining at noon today it rained so hard. The letter writer has used his memory in a therapeutic way, much like Tom Moe did in Pure Torture and Levertov has done in much of her poetry. The metaphoric tears from heaven helps describe the emotional impact this event has had on the soldier.This letter shows how the event moves from historic footage of a physical event to an emotional human response in the aftermath of the event. Thus, it is clear that while the historic recording of an event may communicate the actual detail of the event, the human response to the event is vital in giving a comprehensive account of that event. It is clear from the close examination of Levertovs poetry and Pure Torture and Dear America that the responders understanding of history and memory is influenced to a great extent by the textual form of the text.The representations of the objectivity and the impersonal, factual and static nature of historical record is complemented by the representations of the subjectivity and the personal, fragmented and fluid nature of memory. Techniques applied by the composers to create textual form are consistent with forging these representations. History and memory are distinct concepts, but they operate together in an interdependent relationship to make a more comprehensive and accurate record of truth of past events.