Essay Outline

Sample Essay 

Forgetting or Remembering: Recovery from Trauma in “The Watch” and “I Lost My Talk”

How does someone recover after a traumatizing incident? Should one try to forget, or should they forgive? In “The Watch”, the protagonist suffers the traumatizing experience of losing his family and friends during World War II. In “I Lost My Talk”, the protagonist suffers the loss of her language and culture. In both pieces, the protagonists suffer extreme oppression and must find ways to recover from their trauma. In “The Watch” the protagonist chooses to try to forget his past, whereas in “I Lost My Talk”, the protagonist chooses to heal by recovering her culture and language.

In “The Watch”, the protagonist is reunited with a gold watch that symbolizes his past, which he re-buries in an effort to leave the past behind and move on. Throughout the story, it is implied that the watch holds great significance to the protagonist. When he unearths it after twenty years, he states, “could this thing … be my gift … my past” (Wiesel, 4). This statement suggests that the watch is a “memory of the past”, a symbol of the way things were (pg. 4). However, like his past has been damaged by the loss of family and friends from war, the watch has likewise lost its luster: it has become “unrecognizable [and] revolting” (pg. 4). Perhaps not wanting to be reminded of his past, the protagonist chooses to rebury the watch, and his past with it. In doing so, he hopes to provide “an epilogue to [his] childhood”, and closure to his trauma.

In contrast, the protagonist in “I Lost My Talk” tries to recover her memories of the past. Like in “The Watch”, the protagonist of “I Lost My Talk” suffered horrific trauma, but at the hands of the Canadian colonial society. Due to the time spent in residential schools, her language and culture had become a “scrambled ballad” (Joe, 9). In other words, she can no longer express herself in accordance to her culture. However, instead of abandoning her past, she decides to reclaim it. In contrast to the aggression of the colonial society as her language and culture are “snatched away” (Joe, 5), the protagonist “gently…offer[s] her hand” to try to recover her language and culture. In doing so, she hopes to recover a vital part of herself, such that she can “teach you about [herself]” (Joe, 15).

In conclusion, there are multiple ways to recover from a traumatizing event. In “The Watch” the protagonist chooses to try to forget his past and move forward in life, whereas in “I Lost My Talk”, the protagonist tries to recover her culture and language, to reclaim a vital part of her identity. Regardless of whether one chooses to forget or remember trauma bravely, recovery from trauma is clearly a difficult, but necessary process.

In English writing and analysis, compare and contrast involves taking two pieces of media (short story, poem, picture, video, novel, etc.) and finding similarities and differences between them. Usually, the comparison surrounds a theme (for example, culture, loss, genocide, revenge, hatred etc.). By putting the two pieces together and looking for similarities and differences, we should be able to get new insights.

The first step to successfully writing a compare and contrast piece is to choose a central theme to focus on, and then state that in a thesis statement. We will be talking more about thesis statements later. The second step is to collect evidence, quotes, passages that speak to the theme.

In the following assignment, you will be comparing “I Lost My Talk” with the video/story “Shi-shi-etko”. In this case, we have chosen the theme statement for you.

In both pieces of literature, the importance of culture to the protagonist’s identity and well-being is emphasized. In “I Lost My Talk”, the protagonist mourns the loss of her culture, as it is suppressed by Canadian culture. In “Shi-shi-etko”, the story focuses on the moments leading up to the protagonist’s departure to residential schools. Before that, she is reminded of her connections to the natural world, family, her roots and language, all of which will be challenged during her residential school experiences.

Your job is to now find evidence from the two pieces that answer this thesis statement. You may put them in point form in the T-chart below (Pdf and Word). 

I Lost My Talk
by Rita Joe            

I lost my talk
The talk you took away.
When I was a little girl
At Shubenacadie school.

You snatched it away:
I speak like you
I think like you
I create like you
The scrambled ballad, about my world.

Two ways I talk
Both ways I say,
Your way is more powerful.

So gently I offer my hand and ask,
Let me find my talk
So I can teach you about me.

Synthesis – I lost my talk and Shi-shi-etko (Word)
Synthesis – I lost my talk and Shi-shi-etko (PDF)

The-Watch-Elie-Wiesel (Introduction Sheet) 
The Watch- student worksheet (PDF file for typing answers)

Cops in class – article – Zero tolerance
Cops in class – article – Zero tolerance (adapted)
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/29/us/police-schools-punishment-zero-tolerance/ (Original Post)

Inferring from Text (Reading Strategy)
Wordiness Exercise  
Vocabulary Words related to Judaism

Powerpoints

March 1 Powerpoint 

Checklist – By the End of this Story, please have these finished:

1. The Watch – Student Worksheet (including prewriting, questions and reading responses)
2. Forgiveness or Vengeance Worksheet
3. Inferring from Text – Reading Strategy
4. Logophile (6 words: 3 from article, 3 from short story)

Exercise : Eliminating Wordiness Exercise 1 (Purdue Owl)

Revise these sentences to state their meaning in fewer words. Avoid passive voice, needless repetition, and wordy phrases and clauses. The first sentence has been done as an example.

e.g. Many local farmers plan to attend next Friday’s meeting.

1. Although Bradley Hall is regularly populated by students, close study of the building as a structure is seldom undertaken by them.

2. He dropped out of school on account of the fact that it was necessary for him to help support his family.

3. It is expected that the new schedule will be announced by the bus company within the next few days.

4. There are many ways in which a student who is interested in meeting foreign students may come to know one.

5. It is very unusual to find someone who has never told a deliberate lie on purpose.

6. Trouble is caused when people disobey rules that have been established for the safety of all.

7. A campus rally was attended by more than a thousand students. Five students were arrested by campus police for disorderly conduct, while several others are charged by campus administrators with organizing a public meeting without being issued a permit to do so.

8. The subjects that are considered most important by students are those that have been shown to be useful to them after graduation.

9. In the not too distant future, college freshmen must all become aware of the fact that there is a need for them to make contact with an academic adviser concerning the matter of a major

10. In our company there are wide-open opportunities for professional growth with a company that enjoys an enviable record for stability in the dynamic atmosphere of aerospace technology.

From Purdue Owl