Plan
Prompt: How does Yoko Ogawa depict the psychological and emotional effects of living in a
world where personal histories are constantly erased?
Depict: Demonstrate, show, describe, display
Psychological: mental, inner
Emotional: inner, psychological
Living: doing, experiencing
Effects: do, change, impact
Erased: lost, disappeared, destroyed, deleted
Questions of key terms:
what is impact of losing memories on the psychological state of the island inhabitants? –
need to know the slow decay of the connection of the islanders, going from a community
who is rather close to everyone living quite quiet lives and in isolation.
How does Ogawa demonstrate the erasure of memories and its impact on the narrators
emotions? – the narrator and how she can feel a sensation when the R kisses her calf.
Demonstrates that strong emotions may be able to overcome the memory loss everyone
faces.
How does the constant erasure of memories impact individuals mentally and emotionally?
What role does the dystopian society play in shaping people’s psychological well-being?
How do characters cope with the loss of their personal histories?
The question is asking about how the erasure of personal histories through the constant loss
of objects, ideas and attributes effect the psychological and emotional aspects of the people
that experiences this loss.
Formulate a contention:
Through her poignant narrative and vivid depiction of a society where personal histories are
systematically erased, Yoko Ogawa illustrates the profound psychological and emotional toll
on individuals.
3 ideas: personal identity, communal bonds and control / fear.
Topic sentence 1:
The erasure of memories lead to a fragmented sense of personal identity in Ogawa’s
characters.
Quotes:
“Photographs are precious. They preserve memories”
“The townspeople avoided going out any more than necessary...” – isolation
"My soul seems to be breaking down"
“The snow has changed everything”
“... I was alone”
“I could no longer recall the sound of my own voice”
“If I go on writing stories, will those memories protect me”
“I’m still losing myself”
Topic sentence 2:
The loss of shared memories weakens communal bonds and fosters isolation among the
islanders.
Quotes:
"We divided the last bit of peach and repeated the same stories to each other,
allowing the fruit to dissolve, ever so slowly, on our tongues."
“I know I’ll lose a person who is important to me. Just like I lost my mother”
“Even when I’m gone you must take care of this room. I hope my memory will live on
forever here through, you”
“Each word you wrote will continue to exist as a memory, here in my heart”
“I took a deep breath and felt a slight pain, as though a spark had found its way into
the bottomless pit of my heart… I remembered. The pages of the book had opened
and fluttered through the air just the way birds had once spread their wings and
flown off to distant places. But this memory, too, was soon erased by the flames,
leaving behind nothing but the burning night.”
Topic sentence 3:
The constant threat of characters losing all sense of control destroys some characters,
whereas others succumb to their fate and do not seem phased.
Quotes:
“I felt increasingly oppressed, as though I were being backed into a corner by a
powerful force”
“He had always seemed completely in control”
“I realise how meaningless my feeble resistance will be”
“But I have no strength to resist the disappearances”
“I knew it would seem suspicious if I, as a writer had nothing to destroy”
“But it’s not just food. Fuel for the stove is getting scarce”
“... Incinerator”
“the disappearances are beyond our control.”
“we’re all going to die anyway, someday, so what’s the difference? We simply have to
leave things to fate.”