Arielle's Outline

EN 110

Spring 2008

Henkle

 

The Outline

 

The outline will follow the traditional format, and will display your paper from beginning to end.   These should all be full sentences.  The outline must follow this format: 

 

I.                Introduction

a.     Subject of Essay: Representation of the Holocaust in Society and its’ impact on the Individual

b.     Argument: 

In the excerpt "Regarding the Pain of Others," by Susan Sontag, she claims that "there is no such thing as collective memory, but there is collective instruction." Sontag uses the idea of collectivity to help explain that memories of tragic events such as the Holocaust are not necessarily permanent or important to each person.

c.     Method by which this paper will prove that argument:

The reason for this apathy is that each memory is based on the individual and the effect this memory might have on the individual. Consequently, there is a need for direction. Collective instruction encourages people to care and demands for horrific events such as the Holocaust to be remembered, without any excuses. Commemoration is one method of forcing people to learn about historical tragedies. Therefore, museums such as the Israeli Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, purposefully designed the museum in an architectural manner which forces each visitor to pass through each exhibit and stimulates introspection amongst all. Memorialization methods, such as the layout of Yad Vashem, promote awareness and activism. Other commemorative ways, such as representation in the media and photographs, help with the progression of history, and ensure that there are constant reminders of the past that help shape our future. Archives  and memorials are crucial in aiding everyone to identify with the tragedy.

II.             Body

a.     Paragraph 1: (state the overall point in a complete sentence.)

People tend to have difficulties in accepting tragedy as “habituation is not automatic, for images (portable, insertable) obey different rules than real life” (P653)

Evidence:

People require evidence in order to believe something. People are not prone to just believe things without having a photograph or video to substantiate them. Just imagine reading an article online about a nuclear bomb going off in china without any proof. The reader would just dismiss such a notion as hersesay. However, if images or even a video were presented (even if it was fake) the individual would be more susceptible to believing the event took place. It is only after the photographic evidence is presented that the individual can decide if they are moved by the event. It is for that reason that it is imperative to maintain the concentration camps. It would be difficult for any individual to fathom that such atrocities could have taken place in our modern civilization. However, when individuals visit the camps they are overcome with emotion, when they see the beautification present after such an atrocity.

Quote: “indeed, the very notion of atrocity, of war crime, is associated with the expectation of photographed evidence”

President Roosevelt understood the importance of the evidence, and it is thanks to him, as well as the Nazis, that pictures were taken of the victims and of the camps during the war.

The significance of representation in society as it applies to photography is one in which

Paragraph 2: (Repeat format of II (a), as necessary)

Photographs are also able to evoke certain memories of other tragedies.

“It was inevitable that the photographs of emaciated Bosnian prisoners, at Omaska, the Serb death camp created in northern Bosnia in 1992, would recall memories of the memories of the photographs taken in the Nazi death camps in 1945” (654).

Moreover, “photographs of atrocity illustrate as well as corroborate.”

“The familiarity of certain photographs builds our sense of the present and immediate past” (654).

“Photographs help construct-and revise-our sense of a more distant past, with the posthumous shocks engineered by the circulation of hitherto unknown photographs” (654).

“All memory is individual, unreproducible-it dies with each person” (654).

“Photographs of the suffering and martyrdom of a people are more than reminders of death, of failure, of victimization. They invoke the miracle of survival” (654).

 

III.           Conclusion

a.     Summary of Supporting Information: Photographs are crucial in sparking emotions in individuals. With regards to the tragedy of the Holocaust, photographs aid the viewer in identifying with the event that took place. For this reason, museums, such as Yad –Vashem serve as an important function  in the memorialization process.

b.     Conclusion Reached:  Accurate representation of a tragedy is extremely significant in helping observers relate to the event. Photographs, archives, television footage, and other media tactics enlighten each individual, and hope to evoke emotion and awareness, encouraging people to contribute and realize that there are atrocities are ubiquitous.