HISTORY AND MEMORY ESSAY  900W

THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT, EMOTION, MEMORY

In contrast to documented evidence, personal history or memory inevitably reflects a one sided biased view of history. Evaluate the proposition in relation to your prescribed text and at least one related text. Personal history or memory inevitably reflects a one sided biased view of history. However through an analysis of multiple texts it can be seen that neither documented evidence (history) or personal memories are completely reliable. Despite this, a study of the poems “In Thai Binh (Peace) Province” and “A Letter To Marek about a Photograph” by Denise Levertov and the non-fiction book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat” by Oliver Sacks it is clear that when taken together history and memory provide an enhanced approximation of past events. History has been traditionally viewed as a rational and verifiable documentation of events which have been through “academic evaluation and reflection”. However a study of the aforementioned texts reveals the fallible nature of historical evidence. The persona in “In Thai Binh (Peace) Province” is Levertov herself, she writes about her trip to Vietnam during the war and describes the photographs she captured there. The first stanza speaks of