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Haddon uses narration by describing Christopher and the things he thinks, says and knows although he never specifies that Christopher has Aspergers, he makes sure he shows signs of the syndrome Mark Haddon’s study of the condition is superbly realised, but this is not simply a novel about disabilityuses his narrator’s innocence as a means of commenting on the emotional and moral confusion in the lives of the adults around him. Christopher sees everything, remembers everything, but cannot prioritise – cannot sift out what most of us regard as important.

And the heart of the story is his development, in which his relationship with his brother  David B. is captivated by the exotic Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde—and learns a lot about them, and other cultures in general, through avid reading—his brother’s idol is Adolf Hitler. At eight or nine years of age, he draws a swastika and hangs it on his bedroom wall. None of the kids know about Nazism and the Holocaust at this point, but they are aware that it is transgressive. Jean-Christophe’s fascination is obviously related to his rising feeling of helplessness—he idolises the idea of the Führer, of being in command. This becomes especially pathetic later, when once again he tries to draw a swastika and finds himself incapable. This image represents his brothers infatuation with hitler and his want to be like him

Well I can’t believe this semester is coming to an end, while I’m approaching summer and looking forward to a nice break and am going into it with a open mind and appreciation for our brains. We have learned so much information in this class its boggling. The novels, memoirs and articles we have read were interesting. Ones that I particularly enjoyed were The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Mrs. Dalloway, and Epileptic. I feel that the best part of the class was our conversations to hear people opinions and debates opened my eyes to different things.

Memory can be impaired by various injuries and diseases. Damage to the medial temporal lobe and hippocampus can devastate the ability to acquire new declarative memory; damage to the storage areas in cortex can disrupt retrieval of old memories and interfere with gaining of new memories simply because there is nowhere to put them (Squire). Alzheimer’s causes memory impairments from the early stages, recent memories tend to be poorly remembered while there may be good memory for long-ago events. Other conditions such as viral infections, depression and use of drugs (including medication) can affect memory by disrupting brain chemicals as well. There is currently much debate over whether memory loss is inevitable with aging, or whether it is a by-product of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease which are more common in old age than in youth (Squire). Many argue that memory loss obliterates identity and therefore lose their sense of self. Some debate that although memory is lost their identity is some ways is preserved.

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The feedback has really helped me to adapt to the website, the suggestions Professor Tougaw have pointed out as to what I should include in the website and even what to break up on certain pages had made it easier to adapt to the website. I think the part I will most likely struggle with is making sure I do not write it like an essay and adapt to it fit the web expectations. I wish I had more time to have been able to written another draft but I didn’t, I could of develop my thesis futhur to get a clearer point across to the reader. My pages for the web project will be broken into
-debates about memory and identity
-introducing the writers telling about their work and where they stand in the debate
-the effects of memory loss on families
-depression and anxiety created by memory loss.
-conclusion that focuses on what is preserved when memory goes.

I feel that my weaknesses in my essay were that I did not come across clear; my motive and thesis were not as strong as they could be. I needed to include more stitching, I also feel that I had a hard time with making sure I analyzed the quote spoke about it and made sure it flowed together. My strengths however I feel that I used good quotation to back up the evidence of each author.

I plan on taking in all the feedback I have received from my writing group and incorporating it in to my draft, my writing group has given me insight on what I should fix or add and have provided with suggestions. It helps me a lot to have many eyes look at my paper and each give different suggestions.

while reading The Diving Bell and the butterfly, I was getting so upset, I couldn’t imagine going from one extreme to another. Bauby went from and editor at Elle magazine which is huge, talking about fashion ideas for the upcoming seasons I’m sure going to lavish parties with celebrities at high end places to laying in a hospital bed only to be able to blink with one eye. If I was in that position and knew how I lived my life before and my only communication is from and eye blink I don’t think I would be able to handle. What strikes me is how amazing this is, I mean for god sakes the man wrote a book from blinking, are you kidding me. I bow down to him because he didn’t give up on life, he was still in this world and he was going to do incredible things. Someone had recommended this movie to me its called The Sessions, if you haven’t seen it yet it’s a must! It’s actually based on a true story which makes it that much better. Without giving anything away it’s basically about this man who is approaching forty and he’s had polio since the age of six. He is paralyzed from the neck down and can only be out of his iron lung for 3-4 hours and basically he wants to have sex so he gets in touch with this sex therapist that has sex with disabled people (yes this is a real profession) and ill leave off there so you can find out the rest.

1) Caddell, Lisa S., and Linda Clare. “The impact of dementia on self and identity.” Clinical Psychology Review 30 (2009): 113-26. Web.

This article gave me history and insight on dementia and how it affects people’s lives. I felt that it was important to incorporate background information about the disease that destroys so many lives.

2) Genova, Lisa. Still Alice: A Novel. New York: Pocket, 2009. Print.

This novel provided evidence to the debate that goes on with diseases and brain injury. Alice was a middle aged woman who had early onset Alzheimer’s. She was a very intelligent woman working as a professor and research scientist at Harvard University. The book tells her story and the stance Genova takes in the debate she believes that memory loss obliterates your identity.

3) “Memory.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. .
Using for background information

4)Sacks, Oliver. “The Abyss.” The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

This article was a main part in my essay, Sacks belives that although memory might be loss a part of your identity stays. I used this article to back up his statement. Clive Wearing who is the focus of this article was once a profound musician and then developed amnesia after getting a disease. He has no recollection of every playing the piano that once defined who he was. He claims to not know how to play but when sitting at a piano begins to play.

5) Sacks, Oliver. “The Lost Mariner.” The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat And Other Clinical Tales. N.p.: Paw Prints, 2008. 23-42. Print.

This is from a section of a book and it is prominent in my essay to back up Sacks theory.

7) Shulman, Alix Kates. To Love What Is: A Marriage Transformed. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. Print.

I used Shulmans story about her husband to coincide with Sacks, they both share the same opinion of memory loss and identity

Personality to me is easy to read, its characteristics that build up your personality such as funny, confident, energetic, lazy, serious, shy etc. you can get a sense of one’s personality relatively fast possibly in the first meeting them. But those who are shy tend to not open up so soon which would take a longer time to figure out their personality. Character on the other hand, takes far longer to figure out, and I don’t think you can truly know ones character until you’re in a situation where perhaps it relays on traits like honesty, kindness, and responsibility. I feel that character is built on beliefs.